St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-13

of return on the investment, necessary
to experiment with various machines
large enough for safe human guidance.
Automatic movements are only rela-
lively useful in the face of irregular
winds. The small models of Harglave,
which are only a few feet in diam
eter, are automatic, and fly until
the power gives out, and without ade-
quate adaptation to wind changes. 1t
llas been repeatedly shown in expert
mentS by Lllienthal and others that in
irregular winds there must be an in
slant mastery of the conditions, as
shown by birds. WHO ship their weight
to the forward edges Of their wing
aeroplanes while advancing with Q forA
ward and downward movement against
noted by the action of kite aeroplanes,
with weighted forward edges, that a
motor need not necessarily exert suffi-
cient force to make an advance in the
teeth of gale. AS long as the stored
energy CAN prevent a backward drift
the angle OF the machine can be ad-
juSted. causing the wind to lift it like a
kite. When the machine is at a desired
altitude some of it's weight can be
shifted forward, resulting In progress
i've motion against the wind. 1t must
have weight enough to displace a given
volume of air. Iu fact, daily illustra-
ton Of this law Of flight can be seen
near the ocean when the seagulls
change the slant Of their wings In caus-
ing the wind to lift them above the
water.
Use of the Kite.
An interesting colossal statute at one of
the entrances to the building devoted to
electricity at the Columbian exposition
represented Benjamin Franklin hold
ing kite, i'll remembrance OF the one
which demonstrated the identity of
lightning and electricity. 1t is sur
prising TO find that the kite, except in
China, Japan and the Malay archipel-
ago, is generally left to the small boy.
1t is the least expensive instrument for
reaching the upper air, and about the
only ore easily available. Woglom, Nc
.Adie, Davis. johnson, Boynton. Myers,
Thorne, Gortner. Herring and the writer,
in the United States; Archibald
and Taylor. in England; Maillot and
Bazin, in France, and Hargrave. in
Australia, have used the kite for scien-
tIfic purposes. resulting in high altl~
tude and SteadineSs of position. 1t is
also claimed that the kite has been used
neurological investigations in Germany.
AS an anchor for flying machines it was
advocated as useful by Hargrave in
paper presented by him at the aerial
navigation conference. In lifting small
models and other aerial apparatus for
experiment the kite is often far more
trustworthy than the captive balloon.
1t is not to be blown down to one side
by any ordinary wind if rightly made.
The use of the kite as type for fly
ing machine construction has reached
its greatest excellence in the expert
ments of Hiram S. Maxim, who is the
first inventor to successfully attack the
difficulties of flying machine cOnstruc-
ton OH a large scale. The vital facts of
his problem were obtained by him in
1891 by means Of a whiring table, to
which were attached aeroplaneS auto
matically connected with recording
apparatus. In this way he found that
narrow aeroplanes, slightly concave On
the inner side aud driven at high
speed, were the most efficient.
The boiler Of the last machine was
made of several hundred copper tubes
eight feet long and three-eighths OF an
inch in diameter. The tubes were
tested, and
FOUn0 TO EXpIOUo
At $50 pounds to the square foot. He
first supplied heat to the boiler by
means of petroleum burners, but the
resultW dnevennesS OF flame. He was
finally forced to use naDhtha through
1850 burners. The propelllng power
of the machine was derived from two
screws, seventeen feet six inches in
diameter. revolving at 400 revolutions
minute, and giving thrust of 1000
pounds. The weight Of the boiler was
1000 pounds, and yet 300 horse power
was obtained from it. The top
Guiding the side wings, 104a feet
long andthirty feet from the ground to
the topmost aeroplane. The steering
was done by means of pair of horizons
tai planes, one forward and one aft.
The steering apparatus was pivoted by
wire ropes to the deck, and the planes
can be DETECTED in such manner that
the machine will soar or descend. In
the last run with this machine, on July
81, 1894, the entire weight was not lifted
until $50 feet had been passed over,
when the machine, with three men OH
board, lifted, clear of the track, 1880
feet long. for 800 feet.
The first motor flight made with
human guidance carried Hiram 5.
Maxim, weight 21O pounds; Arthur
Guthrie and Thomas jackson, each
weighing 40 pounds. While it is I'M
fortunate that the machine came to
grief, owing to the partial wrecking of
the upper railing along which it ran, it
yet forever settled the question of
ascending power on large scale. No
one can doubt that its equilibrium
I'll Il, win t0I nd nd
ley's successful venture with a rigid
aeroplane gives every indication that
had Maxim's machine cleared the rail
it might have made the longest flight on
record.
it is certain that the superposed
planes OF the Maxim machine ought to
give great stability, as shown by the
cellular kites invented by Hargrave. in
which the sharp edges of cylinders or
square openings dissolve gusts and
Irregular wind impulses near the sur