The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-08-10
HIGH FLIGHTS OF KITES.

Blue Hill Experimenters Get Valuable
Records-Ehey Have Sent Their Kites
Up Mile and Quarter Without De-
rangement of the Recording Ma
chines-Piano Wire Used for String
Greater Heights Attainable.
The flying of the kites at Blue Fill by
the assistants Of Mr., Rotch, which was
part of the regular work during al
most the whole of last season, has been
witnessed by hundreds and even thou
sands of visitors to the summit of the
hill, All these persons will be inter
ested in description of the new appa-
ratus which is there employed for the
securing of such phenomenal heights as
mile and upward--heights which 1t is
now possible to attain on any day when
the conditions of wind and weather are
all favorable--wh require very diff
Terent construction from the old
flights of a quarter of a mile with the
cord.
The old box with its reel, which was
Serviceable enough for the needs of last
year, has been replaced by regular
winch, such as is in use on derricks,
and this, with two strong assistants at
the handles, is none too powerful for
the strain which three large kites ex-
ert when flying in a breeze of from
twenty or thirty miles an hour. The
winch is mounted on wheelbarrow
or truck, construction which permits
4 of it's transportation easily from the
shed in which 1t is stored when not in
use, and also makes 1t easy to point the
reel the right way; for the wire must be
fed out % the kites and taken away
from them again in straight. line.
When the direction of the wind changes
or the upper current of air causes the
kites to veer, the truck is simply
wheeled about so that the draught of
the wire is at right angles to the axis
of the winch.
The great Improvement which the
Blue Hill men have introduced this
year is the substitution Of piano
wire for string. All kinds of cord and
thread were tried last year and the
year before each one recommended by
its manufacturer as especially suited
to the purpose and phenomenally strong
in proportion to its weight; but several
breaks occurred when the kites were
struck by gusts of wind, and the instru-
mants were lost a number Of times in
the treetops of the Blue Hill range, so
that the experimenters came to a
knowledge that the principal problem
for the present lay in securing a light
and suitable string This year they
made experiments with piano wire, and
these We're SO successful that they have
now on hand somewhat moro than two
miles of WIRE and have another mile or
two ordered from the makers The pi-
ano wire seems to fill all present re-
qllirements; it is exceedingly strong,
having a breaking point not below 300
pounds; it is Quite light for its weight,
and is so small that 1T exposes but lit
tie surface to the wind. The latter is
matter OF considerable Importance,
for, small as the cord of kite seems to
be, a great length, a mile or two for
example, does not amount up in the
surface which it presents to the wind
to a number OF square feet, and the
pressure upon this Increases quite rap
idly as the winds velocity increases,
80 that the pressure OF the wind on the
cord may equal IN pounds the lifting
strength of a large kite
The wire which is used, amounting
at the present moment TO about two
miles and an eighth is stored on a reel
attached to the winch. and the kites are
let out and pulled in directly by this
reel. There Is a peculiar force exerted
upon the reel, which is a surprise to
one who has not experimental with
such matters, and to insure safety the
Ict hn ann " ct o.
If you wind a cord about the fingers
you will find that as more and more
cord is wound upon them pressure is
felt which increases constantly. This
is cumulative pressure the result of
the sum of the smaller pressure exerted
at each turn of the cord So with the
pressure of hundred pounds continu-
ally exerted on the drum through the
pull of the kites on the cord the ten
sion on the drum sion mounts UP into
tons, and already one or two weaker
reels have given way to the pressure.
The present one, an oak spool of a foot
in height and about the same diameter,
is enclosed in a strong casting and fur
Their supported by four strong bolts, the
nuts of which, must be frightened from
time to time.
With wire instead of cord the height
of a mile vertically above the country
surrounding Blue Hill is as easy as
were the former flights Of fifteen to
eighteen hundred feet and in fact, it
seems to be but the question of more
wire to permit of a height of couple
of miles. The record for the last week
was three ascents, all of them carrying
the recording instrument a full mile
above the country, one of them reach
ing mile and a quarter, and at this
elevation the instrument was maintain
ed for considerable time. The records
which have been secured have been adj
Ilirable ones, the instrument working
perfectly in every instance save one,
where some jar caused the ink to spill
out of one of the pens, and the great
dryness of the upper air evaporated
the moisture of that which was remain
ing, SO that it made no mayk until in
descending it passed through a cloud
which wet the ink again and permitted
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