The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-09-04
FLIES LIKE A BIRD.
Remarkable Success Of the LaR,
son Air-Ship at Portland, Ma
Dig Machine Rises Steadily to IN AltituAs
Of SIX Hundred Feet and Then
Gracefully Settles to the
Ground Again.

A New York Sun special from Port
land, Me-, says Charles H. Lamson per.
formed feat here the other day prac-
tically demonstrating that a large air
ship or kite capable of carrying man
can be foated successfully and steadily.
He raised his ship with a dummy man
on it coo feet The retaining rope broke
when the ship was at that altitude.
Had 1t not been for this break. Mr.. LAM
son would have sent up a man to navi-
gate his ship. As it was, ". A. Eddy, Of
Bayonne, n. j., an authority on aeriei
experiments, declared that Lamson's
achievement was the greatest step
toward solving the problem of aerial
navigation of the age. Two records, at
all events, Lamson made. He few the
largest kite or airship ever floated. He
carried by means of this kite the heaviest
weight to the greatest altitude on rec
ord. The kite which made the fight il
an invention of Mr.. Lamson and is called
The Lamson Airship." The kite. when
in the air, resembles two large, oblong
boxes parallel to each other and attached
to each other in the middle. 1t took Is
men to carry the kite or ship into the
field from which it was to be sent up.
The cord tested to pSl of 500 pounds.
This was made fast to reel and four
men attended to it. About 400 feet of
the rope was run out along the ground.
and at a signal from Mr.. Lamson the
ship was released. 1t quivered a mo
ment and then steadily rose skyward.
Seated on the car Of this ship was
dummy weighted to $50 pounds. The
ship rose to an altitude of 800 feet, and
was rising steadily, when, with q sud-
den gust of wind, snap went the rope,
showing what tremendous pressure
was brought upon it by the soaring of
the ship. The ship foated out half
mile and descended as easily and grnce-
fully as it went up. Had man been in
the car he would not have been harmed
in the slightest
Mr.. Lamson built his airship after
Hargrave's general plan, but added i'm
provements of his own to make it more
manageable in the enlarged FORM
The passenger, by manipulating
lever, can keep the airship on an even
keel, make it rise or fall, and direct ite
course in coming down. Lateral steer
ing can be accomplished by changing
the weight to either side of the center.
the aerial vessel then turning toward
the side where the weight is greatest.
Each pair of wings Is like the wings
of bird. They are also ribbed fore and
aft, and covered so that the stream of
air can have its full lifting effect fol-
lowing the curve from front to rear
and preventing all shaking or Tapping
Of the fabric.
A heavy MINDLESS loaded with sand
bags held the 1000 feet Of cord. All
that was necessary to launch the air
ship was to raise its forward end lit
tie and take short run, when it sailed
up into the air like q balloon. Mr.. Eddy
and other authorities said that the per-
Torrance exceeded anything that Lii
enthal or any former leader In this work
had done
Mr.. Lamson was disappointed at the
collapse of the rope, but was pleased at
the success of the experiment. He said:
Tho performance of my airship salts
fes me beyond all question that the ship
in it's present form will always ascend
in fair breeze and will remain flying
any length of time under favorable at
mospheric conditions; that kite Of
this size will sustain and carry a man
all right, ard that the latter can regu-
late the direction Of the kite in the ali
and descend. l do not mean that he
can propel the kite. This remains to be
discovered. but 1 mean that, taking ad-
vantage Of the air currents, he can
guide the ship to very large extent
By means of the guiding lever he can
regulate the course up and down, and
by changing his weights he can curve
to the right or left"