New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-06-29
ITITATORS OF DAEDALUS.
MANS EXPERIMENTS IN FLYING.

PROGRESS IN FLYING MACHINES; BY ' o.
Chanute. c; E. Pp 50S WITH eignty-nWve a,ir nus
trauons. American Engineer anu Haiii odu
Journal"
Only a cursory survey Of the history Of at
tempts to navigate air is necessary TO show that
balloonng depression from. II not an op-
stacle 10. progress in the art OF flying. important
meteorological. military and other services nave
been rendered by ascent In cars hosted by gasoags
Some remarkable voyages. too have been effected
in such vehicles while floating in some great over
head current But neither of these operations Is
navigation, any than is submarine diving or
drifting in oarless. sailess boat on river Nav
igaton implies propulsion and steering, faclhtles
for which are lacking in a balloon, which Is also
unified by It's shape. dimensions and yielding
sides, moving rapidly in a given direction
through a medium offering little friction
and front resistance our atmosphere. TO be sure
for a time. Renard and few less Intelligent foi-
lowers either achieved mild success or aspred 10
holder by adopting horizontal cylinder with
pointed ends for reservoir. and making 1t OF more
rigid material than oiled silk But even then
with screw and rudder they moved only at the
rate Of thirteen miles an hour. and for very short
period Of time AS the wind often blows from
twenty to forty miles hour, and occasionally
from forty TO ninety miles at low levels. this was
no solution Of the problem and. even under favor
able conditions the galvanic or other batteries
taken along by Renard would supply power for
only an hour
These experimenters. moreover. stu resorted to
virtually the same means of overcoming Srdvita-
ton that the Montgoner brothers al In l1ei TINS
was not only needless. but cumbrous. Artiic-'l
support was not CONTEMPLATED by The very ear
experimenters any more than II Is today by MANN
Langley and bland. From first to last The most
sensible projects for flying have been derived from
a study OF the bird ts mechanism ana It's mo-
lions Leonardo ia Vinci. in 1850. designed APP
paratus based such observations. ana only last
year Herr Lilienthal created sensation IN Ger
many by jumping OFF housetops and cliffs. and
sliding down aerial toboggans with a pair OF wings
in exact imitation of swallow. Bret0nniere
D'Es,er-lo Mouiilard and Tatin were working on the
right line, when they measured the angle with the
horizon made by birds in sailing without Tapping
the pinions finding II to be ten degrees. they thus
recognized the all-impOrant principle that an out
stretched fiat surface gives great support TO body
moving in n nearly horizontal direction. Langley
recent researches have developed the theory OF the
aeroplane more fully; but here the essential
fact Avanzni. De LOUVRE and others helped
matters along by experimenting with models 10 as
certain the changes in the centre of gravity and the
trim Of the wings requisite in sailing at different
angles and velocities Penaud. Tatin and Pchan-
courts toy birds devised since 1873. were also prac
teal contributions to the science Of aeronauues
For propulsion, though. wings. paddles and such APP
planes have almost entirely given way nova
days 10 the screw. in which respect there Is an I'M
portant deviation from the living model
The ease with which the albatross seems 70 sus-
tain itself for hours without any apparent motion
Of the wings. taken with numerous kindred phenom-
ena has excited hopes that in the wind alone might
be found all the power necessary to prope the air
ship of the future: although one might well despair
of ever getting a machine TO adjust Itself auto
matcaly the variations In force ana direction OF
an unseen air-current. bird does by instinct
But for the present. the most enlightened and
progressive inventors rely on steam for mis- Iur-
pose; and now that Mr. Maxim has built and o1er-
ated an engine and boiler weighing only nine Tourds
10 the horsepower It Is thought that the question
Of propulsion Is virtually solved. Langley mas
shown that the load which an acroplane can carry
increases with the speed at which II moves PM
lips held up sevcnty-two pounds 10 a horsepower
with moving model. Fargrane eighty-aIne, Maxim
1873 and Langley 30 Chanue saws: We may
safely conclude therefore that 100 poun Is per horse
power can be sustained in horizontal hieht with an
aeroplane" Three-quarters OF this weight might
be apportioned 20 the material II the aiTsh!p and
TO the passengers. and one = Arter 10 tie ENGINE.
boiler and fuel In Maxim's machine. which for
experimental purposes. is lrount"i on rflway %
control its horizontal course. the aeropane Is one
vast sheet Phillips and lIolanl no N,ver. divide
no this feature into a lot II small pieces Ike The
stats OF an enormous window shutter. In order %
avoid any qulvertng vibration Of the Plane when
cutting the air almost cdge~ise. holland mere
over has a pair or screws IN Top r"N'I'l"E III Il
horizontal plane. for lifting and oHerng tn ship.
These three inventors may perhaps be Regarded as
the best represen ajives Of their class some
minor questions regarding material ways 81 start
ing and alighting AMI are sii 10 o. 50 Nel.
| But Chanute considers the maintenance Of eGuili-
| brium In gusts ond ellias. On whirh satey Co.
| ponds so much. the most difficult problem now
| left Apparently IT. stu al the flying IaI'h lie
IS already a success But as vet nobody actually
flies with IT, Cha1ite re,'nmenls trials over
bodies OF water with ne pr,s>rvars and boats at
hand in case Of acci ieht. Sucn wri'-rs az he
| should be carefully consulted by all Who Ash 70
! know the precise degree OF Advancement attained
! by this fascinating b.iach Of engineering.