The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-02
MACHINES THAT WILL FLY.
An Experts Comments on the Ex-
Deriments of Prof. Langley.


Deriments of Prof. Langley.
| hiram Maxim's Letter to the London
| Times.
As the experiments with flying ma
chimes by Prof. Langley, secretary Of
the Smithsonian Institution, seem to have
| excited a great deal of interest in this
country, 1 think some description of
what has been done with that particular
| type of flying machine of which Prof.
Langley is an advocate cannot fail to be
interesting to the British public.
Prof Langley and myself have been
experimenting for many years on exactly
parallel lines. We both commenced our
| experiments with a specie Of merry-go-
rounc-that is, very long and slender
arm was made 10 travel round a large
| circle to which machines could be at
tached. In this manner we were able to
ascertain how much power was actually
| required to perform artificial flight. The
machines that l experimental with We're,
however, about ten times as heavy as
those experimental with by Prof. Lang
ley his machine carrying a weight Of
about four pounds, and mine about forty
pounds, and while he carried about 250
pounds per horse power, l was only able
to carry 1873 pounds.
As the apparatuses were very similar,
this seemed TO point to the fact that there
+
known factor as relates to size which was
unfavOrable to large machines. In both
cases the lifting effect was produced by
an aerOplane driven through the air at
an angle, the prOpelling power being a
screw. We were able to measure with
great degree of accuracy not only the
thrust of the screw, but also the actual
power required for driving II, as well as
the lifting planes, at all angles. The best
that 1 was able to do was to lift about
| fourteen times the screw thrust-that is, o.
If my screw produced a thrust, we will
say Of three pounds, could lift fourteen
times g. or AZ pounds.
At that time we were both agreed that
If large machines could be made to work
as economically as small ones, the max
ing of a flying machine that would ac-
tually lift itself would be a compare
lively simple matter, but we both had
our misgiVings as regards size. However
l went on and built a very large machine,
having total spread of more than 100
feet, and with engines which actually
worked up to 1862 brake horse power. but
very great difficulties were encountered
in building this large machine.
1t was found necessary to stay il in
every direction with numerous wire ropes,
and I found by experiment that it re-
quired a great deal of force TO drive the
ropes and framework through the air. So
when the machine was finished, the very
best I could do was TO lift five times
the screw thrust. With a screw thrust
of 900 pounds. the lifting effect was
about 10000 pounds at a speed of forty
five miles an hour, and as the machine,
with water and crew, weighed about 5000
pounds, it left a very narrow margin OF
lifting effect above the weight of the ma
chine. Moreover, the engines were only
made, IN the fist instance, to give a
screw thrust of 1000 pounds, so that IL
may be considered that when they We're
working up TO a screw thrust of 229O
pounds, they were developing rather more
than double what they were originally
acfn nn IN n n gn ~
safety was very low.
Prof. Langley experimental with a very
much smaller machine than my own, the
sale being about l inch TO the foot, and
the volume occupied by the machines in
all their dimensions being about as Is
70 LIPS In my experiments with large
Machine | provided myself with a rail-
Vay track extending over a field of 800
feet in length, but Prof Langley OBJ
tained a houseboat, and placed his rail-
way track on the roof of the boat. This
WAS anchored in still water, and he made
his experiments by allowing the ma
chine to run along the roof and off into
the water. If the adjustment of the ma
chine was such as to make 1t plunge,
it fell into he water and was not broken.
After a great number Of experiments
with numerous adjustments he at last
succeeded in getting machine that
would practically steer itself, but with
my large machine It was not possible to
make these hne adjustments, as the least
accident meant three months for repairs
and an expense of about LOO
Prof. Langley has experimental with
many machines, but 1t appears from the
recent engravings that he employs two
systems of aeroplanes with vertically NOV
ing rudders, that it is driven through the
air by two screws revolving in opposite
directions, and that the source OF power
Is a steam engine. In all these respects
.BtNfsi exactly like my large machine, and
sngrhvings of it might well pass for en-
CRAVINGS Of the large machine made by
myself at Baldwyn's Park.
The wooden model of my machine now
on exhibition at the auto-car exhibition,
Imperial Institute, is in appearance al
most a counterpart of the Langley ma
chine, and almost exactly the same size.
Whetn / applied for patent on my ma
chine In the United States Of America my
application was rejected on the ground
that the machine was not provided with
gas bag, and consequently had no means
Of lifting itself and therefore, was not, in
the eve of the law, a useful invention.
They demanded that l should furnish
them with a working model in order that
they might be convinced. Prof. Langley
has made the working model, and it lifts
itself and flies without the use of gas
bag.
chimes, 1 would say that if machines are
to be made on the aeroplane system small
ones Will be found to work much better
than large ones. Should Prof. Langley
increase the size of his machines suffi-
will fnf that the building material, which
is steei and aluminium, is not relatively
so strong for a large machin9 as for
small one.
He W il md that a large machine, in or
der to lift, has to be propelled al much
higher speed than a small one. He will
find that, whereas small aerODlanes may
be MADE light and thin and require no
supports large ones have to be made Of
considerable strength and supported by
wires, and every bit of material which
has to he driven through the air consumes
a great deal of power.In my experiments
[ have found that a piece of three-inch
tubing eight feet long held the machine
back fourteen pounds when running at
f0rty-miles an hour.
1 thinl ] am safe in asserting that until
a very recent date the greater part Of the
experiments on flying machines have been
little better than charlatans and mounte-
banks 4 Is only recently that men of
science lave actually taken the matter IN
hand, and during the last six years great
deal of valuable information has been OBJ
tained rot based upon theory, but upon
actual experiments. 1 feel sure that it Is
now possible to make successful and
-, 14t5o.,r fr-frg machine which will AT