The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-29
MORE ABOUT THAT
FAMOUS AIRSHIP
:iIling About the AerOdrome Re.
Gently Tested With Success.
PROCESS OF ITS GRADUAL EVOLUTION
Its Principle is That Of the Bird in
Flight and II Will, When Developed,
Fly Like a Bird..Thc Commercial
and Military Uses to Which the
Vehicle Can BE Pat When IL is
Finally Perfected.

To the Washington Star we are in
debted for the first satisfactory eNpla-
nation of the now famous airship re-
Gently tested with marked success by It's
inventor, Secretary Langley, OF the
Smithsonian Institute. Says the Star:
Further than the vague Information
already published it may be said that
the Langley asrcdrome has greater
eXpanse of wings than the largest OF
known birds-the distance from tip 10
tip being fourteen feet, while tEat OF the
great condor of the Andes Is but nine
feet. The wings. extending uniformly
from each side, are not put IN motion,
but Incline at an angle, like those NJ a
bird in the act of soaring. a PAIR OF
screw propellers, each having four
paddles OF very light material reVolve
upon bearings on opposite sides of the
rear of the frame.
The main framework, forming the
skeleton body of TIE machine ana sup
porting the working mechanism. Is OF
steel tubing turned to the th!nneSs or
tissue paper and capable of enduring
an enormous pressure per square nch
of surface this strength being due prin-
cipally to Its cylindrical shape. II was
thought that aluminium would be util-
ICED, but that metal cannot be fash
ioned into tubes as light and still as
strong as those of steel.
COMPACT STEAM ENGINE.
The mechanism of the compact steam
engine. having greater strength per
pound than doubtless any other engine
ever built. has after long experience
been arranged so that advantage mas
been taken OF almost every portion OF
.~l- .l..t~ tn<x ~
ders. rods and tubes. In an Inspection
Of the machine there is nothing sug-
gesting the presence Of a steam engine.
The vehicle over all Is said to weigh
about twenty pounds. The additional
weight Of a condensing engine was
omitted because unnecessary to demon
strate the principal Of aerial flight.
Had there been attached a suitable
condenser, the aerodrome, instead OF
verturing only half mile, would the
oretically have travelled around the
world. had the fuel been sufficient. AL
though the theoretical loss Of conden-
ser is nothing, the actual loss IS esti-
mated at less than five per cent. The
additional fuel might have been carried
had the secretary made his engine run
at the rate OF thirty-six rather than
eighteen miles per hour. Tie theory IS
that an aerodrome will double It's
power of support when 1t doubles ITS
speed. 1t is unon this problem OF the
condenser that Maxim has lateIy
worked with great success
That the Langley aerodrome mount
ed the air in a spiral path was not due
to an unevenness Of balance, as has
been supposed 1t Is very probable
that all aerodromes Of the future VIII
ascend in a corkscrew path until reach
ing the air strata in which the desired
current Is to be found. This trick OF
ascending in spiral has been learned
from many birds, principally the spar
row hawk. The common theory that
large birds elevate themselves by re-
peatedly Tapping rneir wings down
ward. thereby producing reacting
pressure of the air equal TO their
weight has been exploded by late in
vestigations. 1t is the more advanced
theory of Professor Langley and 9TH
ers that large birds cannot support
themselves in this way. They travel
almost entirely by soaring.
PURELY SCIENTIFIC INTEREST.
1t is thought that in the larger aero
drornas OF the future gas engines Will
replace those Of steam. Electricity
might be employed should success be
obtained in decreasing the weight and
increasing the retaining powers OF
storage batteries. 1t is not thought,
however, that Professor Langley will
interest himself In the commercial side
OF the ques tion. His function has been
the difficult scientific demonstration OF
the principle. There are many more
scientific problems concerning aerial
flight which the great inventor Is said
to have before him for solution. I'M
portant ones relate to means of
launching and landing aerodromes
without danger. Birds have tricks of
their own for accomplishing these ends.
Many run some distance along the
ground. or dive OF high structures in
starting. while in landing they utilize
their wings az parachutes and thelI
legs and toes as springs.
The story Of Langiey's success Is an
| instance of the reward which falls to
him who fearle ssly and courageo ously
tries. Eorn at Roxbury, Boston, In
| 1884, few years after the locomotive
/ became "a practical SUCCESS he devoted
! the first fifty or more years Of his life
to astronomy. On becoming secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution in 1881
/ he began the construction OF parapher-
MALTA with which within less than nine
| years he has Learned of every bird Its
| secret"
! During these years he has been the
| busiest man in the national capital
In his working hours he has minded
not the ticking of the clock. When seen
| to shut himself behind the doors of his
laboratory no one could ever guess al
the hour when he was to emerge again
to the outer world. He has told It to q
| few friends that in early youth he
watched the flights of birds and con.
2 n1 Sfr Haf. ..
fathom their mysteries.
THE FIRST APPARATUS.
His first studies were made with G
whtrling table, constructed before h,
left the Allegheny observatory. Or
establishing himself in this city he con
structed an instrument OF this kind o,
"a more elaborte scale 1t consisted In .
vertical ROD terminating In bearings a.
| ceiling and floor. From above the CEN
ter of this extended at right angles 6
horizontal arm, giving the instrument
somewhat the appearance of derrick
BY turning q crank the contrivanc,
was made to revolve in It's bearings
To the end of the arm he attached
aeroplanes, like kites of various forms
| BY attaching balances and recordint
devices to these planes he learned how
much power was required to drive then
through the air at given speed ant
how much weight n plane thus driver
could lift. After testing aeroplanes o
many weights, shaoeE and sizes h,
learned which kind would give the leas
resistance to the air and which woulC
lift the greater weight per square incl
Of surface.
This problem solved, the next was Il
ascertain the proper motive power fo
propelling the neroDlnnes. The choic,
was between wings. screws or both
few toy birds had been known to max,
actual flights of few seconds. Pro
fessor Langley knew from the first tha
If small aerodrome would fly large
one would do so even more readily
Minute flying machines OF various form
and size were purchased or construct
ed by the secretary. Those which mad,
actual flights and which may be calleS
the direct ancestors of the aerodrom,