Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-06-22
NOTES ON CURRENT SCIENCE,
INVENTION. AND DISCOVERY.
THE AVIATOR" AN ARTIFICIAL BIRD.

Inc pIODltLu Vi hcElhl DN sOnl6
form of blrd-life mechanism continues
to fascinate many really clever scientif-
&c theorists, some of whom have un-
doubtedly achieved success on a small
scale. The latest form of artificial
bird, or aviator" is that constructed
by NJ. Gustave Trouve, and recently
exhibited by him before the Paris
Academy of Sciences. NJ. Trouve's no.
lion was to provide a motor which
should itself contain both the genera
tor of the power to be used and the
propeller, and this combination he
claims to have achieved. He employs
for his purpose an adaptation of the
flexible Bourbon tube, with recurrent
explosive detonations IN the tube which
give the desired impulse to the organ
ism. In the inventors own language,
"lf We cause series of alternately
condensed and dilated pressures in the
interior of the tube, the latter will un-
lego series of oscillations-powerful
vibrations - utiliZable as a motive
power" For the purpose of still
further increasing the energy of the
tube, and also for diminishing the vol
lme of the chamber in which the ex-
plosions of the detonating mixture
take place, Nj. Trouve has fitted in the
interior second tube similar to the
first. This addition increases the elias
tic force of the gases engendered, and
at the same time diminishes the con-
sumption of the combustble.
We now come to a descr iption of the
"aviator" itself To the vibrating ex-
tremities of the tn be are fixed directly,
but with rotary motion, the wings A
and of the apparatus The lowering
Of the wings corresponds to the con-
densed pressnres, and their elevation
TO the dIlated pressures. The chem
ical com bination utilized is the oxida-
ton of hydrogen. This gas Is easily
and quickly obtained in large quantity,
even in a pure state, and oxygen, its
conclusive, is found already prepared,
so TO speak, in the atmosphere. The
artificial bird Cor aviator-generator
motor propeller, as the inventor styles
it, like the genuine bird, thus draws
Al 20 part of its aliment from the
~.
The starting is effected in the fol
lowing manner. The aviator Zig. y is
suspended by a threat from the arm
of support, and the pendulum thus
formed is moved from the vertical, and
is held by second thread against the
support. Two candles, one of them
IA movable, and the other (B) fixed,
placed in the vertical of the point of
attachment, serve to set fire to the two
threads If, with the first flame A, the
first thread be burned, the aviator, like
the Foucault pendulum, will begin an
oscillation. 1t will move from the
position l to the position III descrIb-
ing an arc of circle; but, having
reached this point, its acquired veloc-
ity is horizontal, and the flame B will
burn the other thread. The hammer
at liberty Immediately falls, the cart
ridge explodes, the tube vibrates vio-
lently, and consequently the wings
strike the air energetically on lower
ing. At the same time the aviator
leaves the original horizontal plane.
and, owing to the inclination of the
| tail, takes an ascensional motion, that
is to say, the position 3. Then the dis
engaged gases escape into the atmos-
phere IN a direction opposite that of
the motion, and exert a force of reac-
ton. The vibrating tube resumes its
original form, and the wings rise a
little more slowly than they descend
ed. The magazine, moved forward by
its clockwork, promptly brings cart
ridge to the hammer, which drops and
causes a second explosion, and the
same phenomena occur again in the
same order.
During the third, fourth, and follow
| ing explosions up to the twelfth, the
| aviator travels q horizontal distance
comprised between 245 and 260 feet, in
struggling against gravity and progress
sively ascending. Finally, having
reached the end of It's flight, the avia-
tor does not fall perpendicularly, but
the wings are kept raised by the ap-
preaching of the branches of the tube
and by the silk aerophane, Gig. Il,
whose surface is proportional to the
weight OF the apparatus, and which
acts like parachute, so that the appa-
ratus descends obliquely and slowly to
the ground. The aerophane, repre-
| sented by dotted lines, connects the
rudder with the head, the first joint of
the wings, and the tail of the avia-
| tor.
Upon the whole, NJ. Trouve con-
siders his apparatus as the lightest
aviator that it is at present possible to
construct. Its weight does not exceed
u lbs.
1t will be seen that NJ. 1'rouve's fly
ing machine Is upon a small scale, and
far less ambitious than many schemes
which have preceded it. This indeed
is one of the inventors claims to atten-
ton. Whether it will really advance
the complicated science of aerostatics
in one or more of its problems, and
prove to be the forerunner of scme-
thing still more successful, remains
to be seen. In any case the somewhat
archaeological form he he has given
to his "aviator" is decidedly interest
| ing, suggestive as it is of dragons of
the prime" and other antediluvian
forms of reptilisn origin, with the
wings of the pterodactyl and the long
neck of the plesIosaurus.