The weekly tribune., 1893-08-25
AN AIR CYCLE NEXT.
THAT is WHAT'S WANTED BEFORE
THE FLYING MACHINE.

Must Learn Essential Lessons First.
The Frenchman who covered the dead
walls of Paris with calls for subscriptions
to a Society of Aviation, to start with q
capital of 100000 francs, may have been
lacking in the highest qualities of public
spirit. He was placed in Jail for taking
money for his little private flying ma
chimes, costing from $500 to g., 900, which
he failed to deliver. But his merit lies
in discovering the want that fills the
breasts of large number Of men today
Il is only the somewhat headlong method
Of gratifying that yearning which has
interfered for time with his loco
motion. Had he but had the forethought
to invent, to beg or to borrow fairly
efficient flying machine, nothing short Of
cage would now prevent him from TAX
ing leave as French as himself.
Though he should languish for the rest
of his days in prison, M. Delprat will
have the glory Of the discovery that the
bicycle no longer satisfies the longing Of
mankind toward freer movement over
the face of land and water. If we are
to believe the evolutionists, man is the
result Of gradual aspiration, from the
worm that walloweth on portion of its
anatomy unsuited to ears polite, through
the many footed, the four footed and four
handed beasts, up to the natural lord of
creation who runs perpendicular on two
feet The present century has seen man
become what the old legends would have
termed the ''whirling one foot" Why
should not this progress continue and
the next century find man rising from
that single pied II terre into more or less
sustained aviation?
The flying machine still holding to
earth by one wheel has already appeared
sporadically in England, according to
Engineering. Mr.. Philips published
the results of his trial of q machine rest
ing on a light car and claims that he
flew, but the front wheel of the car new
er left tho ground. This is quite as it
should be. We creep before we walk,
we graduate from tricycle. to bicycle,
and now we are at the unicycle age.
Who is the man to lift us finally clear of
the earth?
The principle of the balloon, useful as
it is in overcoming gravity, has carried
generations of inventors into a fools
paradise.
Birds are lighter than beasts, but they
are not soap bubbles. And to the bird
we have to return indirectly or directly
for lessons in the navi i5ation of the air.
The aCroplane, III which our able await
ors are now reposing So much conf
dence, but upon which they take care
not to repOse their own brittle bodies, is
the result of study of the soaring of
birds. Latterly it has been reasoned
out that individual feathers have a
powerful influence in supporting the
bird in air. SO the aeroplanes are made
not solid, but with Stats, and in some
cases Join!ed in sections, SO that while
one portion is i'll one plane another may
he tilted mp or down to get the lifting
power Of change Of angle. This power
is SO great that our leading ayiators,
like Hiram Maxim and Professor Lang
ley, expect to obtain great velocites if
they can once get their airships under
way and under control.
The money spent by these inventors
ana investigators is mounting to a great
sum, but who shall say it is wasted. con
sidcrinS the benefits to accrue! The re-
mark attributed to Giifard when diving,
that lie would not reveal the secret of his |
airship because "he thought he saw the
air ensanguined by war as the seas have
been, and the EARTH" need not disturb
us. If he did say that, he was Temporal
rily i'll state of weakness, for the fly
ing machine will do more than ANYTHING
yet invented to break down the preiu-
dices of one nation for another. Wars |
are the result of such prejudices care
fully intlamed by ambitious men, and |
while the aviation is not going to stop
all wars it will surely reduce them to n |
minimum.
More important than such machines as
Lleutcnants Renard and Krcbs Success
fully steercd from Mcudon to the walls
of Paris and back again are the small |
flying machines developed from the BIZ
cycle, which seem now about to make
their appearance. The bicycle with elcc-
trio motor il invented. Now comes the
turn OF combination of bicycle and
aviator which shall permit the rider to
leave earth and skim aInug for 100 wards
or So without deirimc,t to hins"lf or
his machine. BY way Of these inven-
tions will come the discovery, step by
step, of means and methods Of sustain
ing flight for longer periods and also
the actual training in motion through
the air which is now wanting to man
kind.
The inventors who are constructing
on paper or in actuality great flying ma
chimes are like men of an inland race
who have for the first time seen broad
piece of water. Before learning to pad
die canoe they are already building a
frigate; before understanding the prin-
ciple OF the steam engine they are set
ting to work to make an ocean steamer.
What is wanted is popular air cycle,
an lair safety" to lead the way to larger
air wagons with sustained flight. Who
will invent one:-New York Times.