The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-28
FLYING ON WHEELS
PROFESSOR MAxIM's MACHINE HAS
NOT YET LEFT THE EARTH.
The Total Outfit Weighs 1000 Pounds
and Can Get Up a Speed of Forty
Miles an Hour.

az It dlCiSCO EAdfIllueTs
There was a kissing and a spluttering as
some pumps got to work. and then pres
emily the port propeller began TO revolve
with n rapidly increasing whirr-r. and the
cry went up to lookout" In a few Sec
onds whirr-r-r-r went the starboard pro-
peller also. The platform on which we
stood rocked and quivered with the vibra-
ton. A hurricane seemed to spring up,
laying the hay fat far and wide, and scat
terlng like a whirlwind the shavings in the
workshop. twenty yards away. Every one
grabbed his hat with one hand and chung
for dear life with the other 10 a rail. Sud-
denly. when the tornado had reached its
height and the whole machine was shak-
ing and straining at it's anchor like a grey
hound in the leash. a shrill whistle gave the
order to 'let co. and the huge structure
bounded forward across the meadows with
a smooth-sailing motion at a rate increas-
ing up to forty miles an hour.
AS the end Of the track came in view a
look of horror set in. There was nothing
| apparently but a quickest hedge to arrest
our wild career. a rope was stretched
across the path. We crash through it.
Then another; then another, and finally we
come to rest in the easiest. gracefulest
manner imaginable within a few feet of
what looked like perdition. Then We all
laughed. 1t was a most delicious sensa-
ton. wiping out forever such tender men,
cries as switchbacks, toboggans and the Sc
ductive water-chute. 1t was unique, in fact,
and unlike anything that the world has ever
seen; for the occurrence just described rep
resents the crude residual impressions Of
a first trip over the rails on Hiram Maxim's
| giant flying machine made by a corre-
spondent.
Then the questions began. How was the
power generated, what was IT all made of,
and, most important of all. would il really
fly? To take them in order, the machinery
for developing and applying power is one
of the most ingenious bits of steam en-
| cheering to be seen. 1t consists OF a novel
water tube and the thinest sheet steel on
top. The water is contained in about 1000
bent Upper tubes only three-eighths of
an inch in diameter. heated by over 1000
gas jets arranged in rows. The fuel is
naphtha or gasoline. which is stored in a
LIQUID form and pumped into a vaporizer
which transforms IL into gas and supplies
L at a high pressure. All manner of cum,
| ming lodges are associated with the fuel
supply. For instance. there is an exceed
ingly pretty automatic escapement which
pressure in the vaporizer. and the thrush
Of gas at the rate of two miles per minute
is utilized TO suck in the necessary amount
Of air as well, both being under the most
perfect regulation.
HOW STEAM IS MADE
The feed water for the boiler Is sup
piled through rows of pipes no larger than
one-eighth Of an inch in diameter. These
are heated by the waste products from
the flames with such success that the
water is raised to go degrees. at which
temperature ii does not boil, on account
OF the pressure, and the gas products them
selves are 50 completely robbed of their
heat that they do not even blister the
Brunswick black on the thin sheet-steel
4 covering. which r0DrQSRnrS the ton OF the
boiler. There is a beautiful automatic
gauge for registering the amount of feed
ingenious device by which the pressure
of the water itself is made TO give the
stesm csn be pof nv IN 10 t ms ni 5pGpredibIS
short space Of half a minute. Condensers
were used at first. but an unlucky smash
paratus and now the steam exhausts into
the air in two long wavy jets from the
cV so much oh fne grea ste aenIp,sns Tierne appli-
ances, which weigh only 1000 pounds in all,
and are placed in the very front like the
bows'of a ship, SO as not to catch the wind.
The engines themselves are an equally re-
markable piece of engineering. They are
s sboat sldbt f fw9-efy ram the e fadr and p sbsnt
six feet apart. They are Independently
governed and will furnish loo horse power
each. which. considering their total weight
Is only 600 pounds, gives the extraordinary
efficiency OF Two pounds weight per horse
power. This is something which will make
CsASlACClo ~ up dnu Olll WnClAlCI lllcy
are dreaming. The high and low pressure
cylinders are five and eight inches in diam
eter, respectively. and the stroke is twelve
inches long. A beautiful device Is used for
regulating the bypass for the steam into
the low-pressure cylinder.
When going at full speed these engines
give 45 revolutions per minute to the gil
gantic propellers that drive the machine
along. These are in appearance like two
are square instead of rounded at the ends,
and are broad and thin. Inquiry revealed
the fact that they were built up out OF
overlapping strips of American pine, planned
smooth and covered with blued canvas. The
propellers weigh lbs pounds each; the
feet. the width at the ends five and one
half feet. the pitch Is sixteen feet and the
maximum thrust they give is about two
thousand pounds measured on a dynamom-
eter. They are carefully stayed by steel
wires to their own shafts. or the first rev.
olution would snap them off short.
The propellers are by no means the least
wonderful part OF this wonderful machine
and were evolved out OF endless expert
ments. Arranged as a trophy inside of
Mr.. MaXim's house are no less than thirty
two different models Of propellers OF every
sort and shape, which were used in making
experiments.
IT is VERY
To turn to the structure itself, the ma
terial OF which the framework is built is
thin steel tubing. 1t is so light that a
length of it taken in the hand gives the
same shock of surprise as does a piece
OF aluminium, which Mr.. Maxim considers
far inferior to steel for purposes of
strength. All the ropes and ties are of the
best steel also. capable of standing a strain
of one hundred tons to the square inch.
The body of the machine is practically a
"bogie," oblong in shape, with the forepart
cut away like a water-chute boat, and a
long counter at the stern over which the
propellers revolve. 1t has canvas stretched
all over IL and a wooden grating to walk
on. -Four strong-ianged wheels run on a
pair OF broad-gauge rails, and at the end
of a pair of long "out-riggerS" are other
wheels which run under a wooden railing
when the machine leaves the track. BY
these means IL is prevented from rising a.
present more than an inch off the ground.
So far the description might have served
for a skeleton locomotive. What trans
forms IL into "a flying machine is the aero
plane. This is made of fine balloon cloth.
High overhead. like a gigantic awning. is
the main aeroplane, tilted toward the front
at an imperceptible angle and stretched
taut. The area of this is 400 square feet
This is increased by side wings to 2,1G
square feet, the total width of the umbrella
being then $50 feet But besides these
there are side aeroplanes arranged in three
are pivoted and serve for vertical steering
When all these are on the machine would
probably rise like a bird. But Mr.. Maxim
Is a careful man. He tests every steT
and every detail first; and II may be
months or even years before he ven
lures TO crowd on all his canvas at once
and chance the result. At present he is
quite content 20 run his machine on wheels
down the little track a third or a mile