Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-06-11

est achievement of science. No less a
person that Professor Samuel P. Lang
ley, secretary of the Smithsonian in
stitution, Washington, is the inventor
of the successful and wonderful ma
chine, for which the world has been
watching and waiting all these years. .
Professor Alexander Graham Bell was
associated with Professor Langley in
the secret test which is now made pub
lie, and these two eminent men startle |
the world today by the remarkable
statements they make. The machine
is called an "aerodrOme." 1t is the re-
suit of years of experiment made by
Professor Langley, who always has
been a firm believer in the eventual
practical use of aerial vehicles. The
eminent scientist for long period has
been making his experiments near Oc-
coquan, Va. Last Wednesday Profess
sor Bell was present when the climax
came, and he realized the tremendous
importance of the success of Professor
Langley's experiment.
Therefore Professor Bell with the
sanction of Professor Langley, has pre-
the aerodrome did near the little Vir-
ginia town: Last Wednesday, May 6,
] witnessed a very remarkable expert
ment with Professor Langley's aero
drome on the Potomac river. Indeed,
it seemed to me that the experiment
was of such historical Importance that
it should be made public. | should not
feel at liberty to give an account of all
the details, but the main facts | have
Professor Langley's consent for giving
you, and they are as follows: The
aerOdrOme, or flying machine in qucs-
ton was of steel, driven by a steam
engine. 1t resembled an enormous
bird, soaring in the air with extreme
regularity in large curves, sweeping
steadily upward in a spiral path the
spirals with a diameter of perhaps 100
yards, lntil it reached a height of
about 100 feet in the air, at the end of
a course of about a half-mile, when
the steam gave out and the propellers
which had moved it stopped. Then, to
my further surprise, the whole, in
stead of tumbling down, settled as
slowly and gracefully as it is possible
for any bird to do, touched the water
without any damage and was immedi-
ately picked out and ready to be tried
again second trial was like the
first, except that the machine went in
a different direction, moving in one
continuous gentle ascent as it swung
around in circles like a great soaring
bird. At one time it seemed to be in
danger, as it's course carried it over a
neighboring wooded promontory, but
apprehension was Immediately alIayed
as it passed twenty-five or thirty feet
above the tops of the highest trees
there, and, ascending still further, it's
steam finally gave out again, and it
settled into the waters of the river, not
quite quarter of a mile from the point
at which it arose No one could have
witnessed these experiments without
being convinced that the practicability
Of mechanical flight had been demon
strated. Alexander Graham Bell"
Langley's Explanation.
Professor Langley also made public
a supplemental statement, giving some
important data regarding recent ex
periments. 1t is as follows:
THE aerOdrome, or flying machine,
has no gas to lift it, as in the case of
a balloon, but on the contrary, is about
1000 times heavier, bulk for bulk, than
the air on which it is made to run and
which sustains it somewhat in the way
in which thin ice supports a swift
skater. The power is derived from
steam engine, through the means of
pTopellers, but owing to the scale on
which the actual aerodrome is built,
there has been no condenSing appara-
tus to use the water over and over
Enough can be carried for only very
brief flight, a difficulty which does not
belong to larger machines than the
present example, in which the support
ing surfaces are but about fourteen
feet from tip to tip. The distance
flown each time was about one-half
mile. The rate of speed depends (as
in the case of any vehicle on land) on
whether it is going on a level or uphill
In the case of this last trial Of May
the machine was ascending, that is to
say, it was going uphill all the time,
anu NSAlI through d instance OIL one
half mile or more in one and one-half
minutes, or at the rate of little more
than twenty miles an hour"
Professor Langley has been at work
on this and similar constructions for
five or six years After a thorough and
scientific inquiry into the atmosphere
and its properties, the winds and their
effect upon floating bodies, Professor
Langley came to the conclusion that
the only practicable flying machine
must be built upon the aero-plane prin-
ciple. In this he paralleled the efforts
and conclusions made contemporary
eously by the eXperimentalists in Eu-
rope, where there are many men of
wealth and scientific attachments de-
voting their lives to this problem-so
many, in fact, that they have organ
lied societies, and at least two monthly
journals devoted to the art are pub
lished in Berlin and Vienna Professor
Langley at once set to work upon this
principle, and for several years has
been virtually a slave to his enthusi-
asm. 1t is estimated that he has al
ready spent 100000 in his experiments,
a part of which, it is understood, was
furnished by his friend, Professor Bell,
the remainder having been drawn from
d fund left in charge of the Smithson-
ian institution for that nHrDOSe nv 2