, 1896-07-08

properties III the ar by Wnlcn they are aplo
TO skim aIong-rising and falling, soaring up
and sailing down and turning about IN
circles without any tapping of their wings or
apparently amy other effort. Just what these
propvrtip, were he attempted to find out and
develoo bv experiment. l believe that in
this WORK ne was associated with his friend,
Graham Bell. or at any rate, Professor Bell
spent a great deal Of time over the same sub
iect. and las a mass Of n0Je books filled with
records Of his experiments.
Well. the upShOt Of the matter was that
from those experiments 1t was demonstrated
that a machine, not d balloon. can be made
which viii produce enough mechanical power
to support itself in the air and fly. Though,
Professor langley adds, "thio is not saying
that we have yet got skill enough to manage
this power ST. as to rise and fly about i'll the
air and descend safely" What IS actually
demonstrated, repeated hundreds OF times
in The laboratory, and finally with the suo-
cessful machine which Professor Langley
built, is that the flying machine is possible.
All that now remains IS to perfect 1t and
learn how to manage 1t.
The experiments which Professor Langley
carried ON resulted in showing that all ex-
pen,iture Of one horse power, in horizontal
flight. Will support about geo pounds and at
LtlC bdiIe tlnuC Cbll1 AfiH - ~
fifty miles an hour through the air. Now
there have recently been built steam engines
which with fuel and water for a short flight
weigh a good deal less than twenty pounds.
The relative weight Of all engine decreases
with the number Of its horse power, so thas
there seems no reason to doubt that what
Professor Langley has done on 4 small scale
may be done OH Il large one, and very shortly
at that.
A THOUSAND TIMES HEAVIER THAN AIR.
Professor Langley's machine measures but
fourteen feet from tip to tip, weighs com
plete tweuty-four pounds, is solidly built OF
steel, and. compared with the air which sup
ports it, has u weight Of q thousand to ore.
1t has no balloon arrangements of any sort.
and instead of trying to build a vessel
lighter tian the air and filling it with gases
to make it rise, Professor Langley has prac-
ticalIy built a machine as heavy as he likes
aud relied upon It's shape and power for sue
cessful flight.
This is Just the opposite Of what almost
every other eXpenmenter in this field has
tried to do, although ii was apparent to every
one that a tving machine to be of amy COM
mercial or practical value whatever would
have to be heavy enough and powerful
enough to drive straight against or across
and in and eat Of the stoutest gale that
blows. Otherwise it would forever be at the
mercy Of the element. What was necessary
was a snip which would ride a storm in the
air a., a great ocean liner rides a storm at
sea.
Professor Langley has been very careful to
say that he never expressed his opinlo2 that
man could fly hy his own strength. But he
has demonstrated that powerful machines,
thousands Of times as heavy as the air itself,
can be built to navigate the air. As to just
the measure Of his present success the secre-
tary of theSmithsonian is exceedingly r%eticent
AS rpticent, in fact, as Professor Bell is
enthusiastic. The latter says that he enter
tains no doubt whatever that a practical air
shin for use in war is but a very short way
of.
Indeed, Professor Bell i%Aclines to the idea
that within five years his friend Langley's
invention will have absolutely changed the
face of warfare, will have made armies an i'm
pertinence and our four million dollar prize
battle ships so much useless junk. Just so
soon. he thinks, as it is possible to build q
machine that will carry half a ton or a ton
of dynamite through the all and be easily
manageable nobody will want to fght.An army
will not care to rest under the constant APP
prehensive of having a ton of high explosive,
sufficient to blot them out In a second, dropped
tham Nor will Il hattle shin