Evening star., 1894-02-03
TO FLY THROUGH AIR
The Possibility of Being Able to Do L
Without Motor.
"hen Air Currents Are UnderstoeA
ms sonring Birds Under-
stand Them.
Written for The Evening Star

Written for The Evening Star.
Having for a long time had before my
mind the problem of aerial navigation T
nave been much interested in the recent
oiscusslon OF the subject and particularly
In the important contributions thereto which
have appeared in The Star.
some nine or ten years ago 4 nut ,nto
"ritng a few observations and conclusion.
On tnis subject which I was satisfied at
'he ime' as am now. Were correct ana
SOUND, but which 1 could get no one 10
accept or even to listen to with patience.
since then have watched the develonment
OF the modern theory Of flight. have seen
tne subject gravely taken I'D by men OF
science, and have noted the nearer ana
nearer approach OF accepted results to my
oNn conclusions. until now the latest sug-
gestion presupposes the whole of INV pron-
osition, save Its essence
The flight Of a bird IA a nbv.,c., o..
the result OF physical laws ana force. In
the case OF bird which flaps its vinr.
night, without doubt, is the direct sffect ~
ehe operation OF the wings upon the air A
resisting medium, just as the movement
Oh steamship Is the result Of the action
oi 'he propeller upon the water. There can
De no scientific doubt of this ana mona 4
imagine. Is now entertained. Rut son.
birds, the largest and fastest OF the aiers-
do not nap their wing lis it to be sun
posed, therefore. that their fiEht is NOT
likewise the result Of the operations OF
naturai forces! Certainly not in this scien-
tific age.
The Air Currents.
Roughly stated. the Tapping bird sp.-
tains and propels itself by beating the air
downward and backward with its wings.
But II. with its wings in the no.
sition in which they do the most
work. the bird were acted on by a cur
rent OF air the exact counter-eouiyalent of
that produced by the motion of the vtnesN
,,o.l eaffvht' ,i' IN other words. which would do
upon the wings the same work that the
wings IN Mapping do upon the arr its fiisht
would be the same. Such a current In in
Simplest form, would move. presumably. up-
ward ana forward In the direction OF the
birds course. The wings of the danning
prds, however, are small in proportion 10
their bodies. and receive comparatively
niue ,ho resistance from the air. Hence, In
the supposed case, the lack of wing ex-
pahse would have to be compensated for by
strength OF current But strong sustained
olasonally upward moving currents OF air
are not common in nature. and n IS for
this reason, 1 take it that the small.win9ed
plrds have usually to rely upon their own
work in flying.
The soaring birds. on the other hand.
are provided with large wings by means
or which they are able to support and pro-
pei themselves in still air with slower
strokes In proportion to weight the work
required must, however. be approximately
the same. the greater grasp or purchase
OF the larger wings requiring greater ef-
Tort to move them. What the small-wineed
oira accomplishes with number OF light
rapid strokes. the large-winged must per-
form with a single heavy, slow one
Inc dinerence between the two methods
OF doing the work is the same as that
between lifting a hundred pounds a foot
high in a given time, pound by pound ana
raising the whole mass at one EFFORT This
greater tax OF strength imposed by the
larger wing entails certain limitations For
example. soaring birds OF the best devel-
oped type can rise from the ground at q
low angle only. 1t is stated that the con-
DOR can be confined in a very low pen. II II
birds of this type are not partial to stili
air or low places.
What the Soaring Bird Requires.
The open space and the free breeze are
the element of the broad-winged soaring
bird. The wide expanse of surface he can
present enables him TO gather from Q
zephyr the force 1t would require a gale to
impart tc a small wing. His task in flying
Is not to exert upon the air the force neces-
sGry to lift and propel him. but to receive
1t from the wind in such q manner as to
guide him toward his object. and this he
does by adjusting his wings according to
the force and direction of the current
through which he is moving.
Taking this view of the flight OF the soar
ing bird, do not have 10 imagine the Gre
alton of any force not explainable by the
ordinary laws of nature. or to seek for any
pulsations or vibrations within the wind
itself, which could be expected to beat q
heavy body upward rather than downward,
or rather than both ways at once. The
flaws. gusts and eddies of the breeze un-
doub.edly have their effect upon the wings
Of the bird, as they have upon the sails
OF the ship, but they are more apt TO be
deterrent than helpful. Why look TO them
for potent causes and neglect the steady
sweep to which they are mere fncidentsf
Is the wheel driven by the swirls and
swashes Of the mill stream or by the rush
of the body Of the water itself?
II objection be raised en- the ground that
a weighted plane surface placed horizontal
ly in the air viii certainly sink 70 the
that the wings OF a bird In the act OF soar.
ing are not a plane surface placed hori-
zontally. They are inclined at a constantly
changing angle to each other and to the d.
rection of the breeze. so as to receive from
its pressure each instant In due proportion
the necessary vertical or lateral impetus
according to the well known principle Of
the parallelograms OF forces.
The suggestiveness of all this In the d.
rection of the flying machine is that with
the proper appliances. which doubtless can
be devised and the necessary skill. which
may perhaps be acquired by cultivation, IL
is possible for men to fly. without the An
of a motor.
FRANKLIN W. LANrZ.
Washington JAN "a. 1894.