Evening journal., 1891-05-29
4 KITE THAT WILL KILL.
Inventor Maxim's Death Deal
ing Flying Machine.
TIE WORLDS WARFARE CHANGED.

NRw YORK, May 29-Hiram S Maxim,
the American inventor whose Maxim gun
and other inventions that have made him
famous, has completed what he calls an
'aerial kite Of war; which he expects
will fly 100 miles an hour and drop dyna-
mite on an enemy. In form the machine
Is a huge kite of silk, to which will be
hung platform carrying the engines and
the screw propellers, which they are 20
move and which are to force the kite
through the air. He believes that he has
mastered the secret Of initiating the ae-
tion Of birds in the air, and, unlike most
men who have interested themselves Ia
the study he is an eminently practical,
hard headed Yankee, in this world 20 do
something and to get money for it,
The Invention of the Kite.
He then describes his work. Il began
two years ago to experiment for the pro
duction Of a flying machine at Begley, in
Kent. My idea was TO propel plane set
" an angle so as to ride upon the air as
fast as the air yields, and so to keep up an
approximately level course. | put up
steel column, like an upright post, with
long wooden arm arranged to rotate on
top Of the column-an arm pivoted, fixed
to the column simply to swing around and
long enough to describe circle 200 feet
Ia circumference.
This arm was staid in every direction
20 as to be perfectly stiff, and it was sharp
as knife SO as to offer little resistance TO
the air. To the end of this arm attached
what might be called a small flying ma
chine, arranged in such manner that
power could be transmitted TO the machine
through the post and arm.
The Apparatus Described.
"Ihe machine had steel shaft that
could be rotated at any speed, and was also
provided with a dynamometer, an instru-
ment for measuring force
TO this shaft Of the flying machine were
attached various kinds of propeller screws
-one at time-which ] caused to be ro
tated at various speeds, The apparatus
when complete was arranged 10 correctly
Indicate the number Of turns per minute,
the actual push or propelling force Of the
screw and the slip Of the screw When the
arm was allowed TO 90 free and the screw
Was rotated at high speed the flying ma
chine would travel around the circle al
"The machine was also provided with a
system Of levers and to this were attached
planes, generally made OF wood and ar
ranged in such a manner that they could
be placed at any angle above the horizon.
tai BY carefully measuring the power
required for a certain speed without any
plane attached, and then attaching the
plane and running the machine at exactly
the same speed, the difference in the force
required for both operations indicated the
actual Force required TO propel the plane
It showed Tendency to Rise.
'The apparatus for holding the plane
was provided with dynamometer, which
measured and registered the amount the
plane would lift when driven through the
air When these planes were perfectly
horizontal and the machine was allowed
70 travel at a high velocity nothing
was registered, but il the front or advanc.
ing edge of the plane was raised slightly
above The horizontal-say one ia thirty
then il was found to have tendency "a |
rise.
'On one occasion, when a plane wac
placed at angle Of one in twenty-five. IL /
was found that il would carry $50 pounds /
TO the horse power IN these experiments 4
Il was found that with every pound of
push given by the screw fourteen pounds
could Be carried by the plane
To Keep the Equilibrium.
'My large apparatus is provided with a |
plane 10 feet long and 40 feet wide, made 1
Of frame Of steel tubes covered with silk |
Other smaller planes attached to this |
make up a surface Of $500 square feet.
"There is one great central plane, and TO |
this are hinged various other planes, very |
much smaller, which are used for keeping |
the equilibrium correct and for keeping |
the flying machine at a fixed angle in the |
air. The whole apparatus including the
steering gear, is l45 feet long The most
novel feature about the engine is the sys-
TEN BY which burn petroleum and gen
crate steam. Petroleum is turned into
gas and then that Is burned for generat-
ing steam. The engines have lately been
tried, and it was found that they gave a
push Of 1000 pounds on the machine.
which seems 70 indicate that the machine
will carry $4,000 pounds
He Has Not Tried It Yet.
81 have not tried the big machine vet. Ii
Is now resting on a track twelve feet wide
and half mile long in my park The first
quarter Of a mile Of the track is double
that is to say, the upper track is three
inches above the lower BY that means
am able to observe and measure the lift OF
the machine when it starts, because the
upper track will hold it down when il lifts
of the lower one. When completed the
machine will weigh, with water tanks and
fuel, somewhere between 5000 and 5000
pounds, and the power at my disposal will
be 300 horse power
One Hundred Miles an Hour.
'The quantity of power Is so enormously
great ia proportion to its weight that II
will quickly get its speed 1t will rise in
the air like a seagull If the engine be run
at full speed while the machine IS held
fast 20 the track IL it is then suddenly
loosened and let 60. II necessary, il can
mount right up, spirally. around ana
around in circle Of a mile In circum-
ference.
"Ihe highest speed got on the small
machines was ninety miles an hour, but
believe this big one will so hundred miles
an hour. If the machine works the whole
world VIII be revolutionized in year.
A Bad Thing to Have Around.
There will be no more ironclads, no
more Notifications, no more armies There
viii be no way Of guarding against what
this machine viii do
1t will drop a ton Of nitro glycerine
into place and you can't stop it. 1t will
60 into an enemy's country and drop
dynamite on the gas works the water
works and the bridges. Instead Of Tommy
Atkins going ahead nuslet ia hand. and
standing the brunt Of the fighting, the big
fellows who get up the wars will have 10
suffer The first thing we viii do will be