The sun., 1895-05-09
MAN CAN FLY.
IfHe Doesn't, the Fnnit IL the CapitaIist's,
Not the Inventors, Says MIR. Zuberbuc hIcr.

II He Doesn't, the Fnnlt IL the CapltnIIst's,
Not the Inventors, Says Mr. Zuherbuc hIcr.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: In IL late
letter. Herr Otto Lilienthal, tho "original and
only" flying man. after mentioning that he is
constructing copies OF his sailing apparatus for
quite large number OF scientists in London,
Dublin, and elsewhere. gives vent to the hope
that the buoyancy of spirit which springtime
begcts may this year reawaken among scientists
and capitalists "dic Luazum FlsJen"-longing
to ny-morc ycarnngly. more resolutely, and
more generally thaa ever before.
When flowers and bcdbugs costly come forth
And mochins birds, frogs, and mosquitoes begin to
Then man. more or less dreamily. longs for easy
To sour aloft awayaway cen to the far fur, farther
don't you know. Not that Mr.. Lilienthal ex-
pressed it just that way. however.
Every reader, intelligent or not. must be
aware that students of acronautcs have. of late
years demonstrated at least the possibility of
rational mechanical flight. ! refer. in pnrticu-
lar to Mr. lilicnthars remarkable experiments.
his oft-repeated actual flights extending
through hundreds Of yards ut a height OF rs
No ono may reasonably Geny that the accom-
plishment of man flight will prove OF the ut
most Importance. commercially, socially. gen.
orally; It will. of course, be achieved by some
thoughtful student and ,cXperimentcr. backed
capitalists The importance the almost awful
importance of success in this field and the
harmful influence of failure warrant due con-
sdcration by ent husiast!c would be experiment
crs and their philnnthropic or speculative bac OK
crs OF the following suggestions:
!. That hazy. unripe projects dealing with I'M
known forces or untried agents out OF date
because in the inclined plane is given a tried
simple. evidently sufficient means to nc
complish the desired end.
=. That the prcssnrrs developed by inclined
planes moved rapidly through the air, and the
force required to obtain such pressures have
been determined with accuracy sufficient to
show the worth or wOrthlessness OF any proposcd
a"rial" machine utilizing the inclined plane
Ignorance or disregard Of this fact accounts for
at Hight lately made in this city.
s. That the problem OF mechanical flight has
SUBSTANTIALLY been reduced to one of scientific
APPLICATION of the inclined plane
i. That demonstrahly, the antique so-called
screw propeller can play no important part in a
successful. most scientific application of the In
clined plane neither as sustaining nor rs pro-
polling agent. In support of this quote Herr
i-iientha!. as yet the only successful flying
scF"w-propelled aerial vehicles made by Mr.
MANN. lrof. Langley, and others merely show
US how not to DO it," This with due regard for
the fame of these scientists, and with greater
regard for harder facts
IN conclusion, have been variOusly reminded
o! Ihe COLLAPSE or my prOgnostcntion in THE Sun
OF MHrch \, lSOl. that man would be able to fly
~ W!il. at any time. and in any direction within
Twelve months from that date. one rOiIsz-r0usf
taliSt. u possibility not deemed worth consid-
Grafton ON VI arch \, 1898. Respectfully
"a, j. Il. j. .Ii'DFRBUEHLIR.
oij East TWELFTH STREET, May 3,