The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-16

which 1t was clearly demonstrated that a
mans weight could be suspended IN the air.
when the flight was made directly against
the wind It was known that as soon 80
II was possible to construct mechanfsrns
which would sustain mans weight when
going directly with the wind the probiem
of aerial navigation, after the manner az
blrd night, was practically solved
faTly inns year a machine was built
with "a mechanism designed by Octave
Chanute ana A. NJ. Horring of Chicago
II was made by the latter for New York
amateur 1t was tested recently at Dune
Park, Ind, and as the result of more than
100 flights without accident IL was found
that a flying machine had a last been
constructed which could be made to devil
ate from the line of wind, at times even
TO the extent of going quartering with It.
IL the development of the mechanism
which made this great advance possible
| should contine ii may not be long before
man may pack his grip and take a Jour
hey over the treetops. II might be sup
posed naturally that men engaged in the
study of flight through the air would not
| be ultra-conservative. but that they are in
the fact Notwithstanding the victory of
the year, Octave Chanute will think of
nothing beyond the question of equilibrium
until that question has been thoroughly
solved. A. M. Herring however while
end Is close at hand that he has already
commenced experimenting with propelling
engines.
Some years ago Otto Lilienthal, who was
| killed in Germany while conducting flight
| experiments glded through the cir on an
apparatus constructed by himself, by
/ means of which it was shown for the first
| time that mans weight could be support
| ed In the atmosphere on wings. During
| the few years prior to his death, he made
I hon d..
| they were all made, however against the
wind, save on one or two occasions, when
| he succeeded In going quartering with it.
| but his machine could not be depended up
| on 10 do this save at the rarest intervals.
! The recently constructed Chicago ma
chimes will go quartering with the wind at
any and all times at the will of the navi-
| gator, and therefore the gain made is
/ positive and abiding.
| Lilienthai preserved his equilibrium in
i the air by movements of his body so that
/ whenever the amount of the pressure I'M
der his wings shifted he shifted his weight
to correspond and thus maintained his
! balance. The Chicago aeronautic scien-
| list Octave Chanute, who had made a
| close study of Lilienthal's methods, came
| to the conclusion that a reverse of the
| Germans operation to maintain his ball
ance might be preferable.
| The Chicago man thought 1t might be
| better to provide some moving mechanism
! within the machine itself which would
serve to bring back the supporting sure
faces over the center of gravity of the
man, so that he need not move at ALL The
experiments which were conducted In In
| diana In 1896 were designed to test the
value of this idea. 1t was shown that Mr..
| Chanute's theory was sound in every par
tcular. Two machines were built during
that season, based on that same general
! principle, but provided with different mec-
| hanism. These machines are believed In ho
! safer than any machine hitherto devised
| The air navigating apparatus built this
! year and which. has shown an ADVANCE
| the science nothing short of startling is
! superior to those of last year In CONSTRUCT
| ton only by better proportioning of the
parts and by better methods in connecting
| them together
During the Indiana experiments of 1896
there was used, among other machines,
| one which instead of having pivoted wings
| was composed of superposed concave sur
| faces stretching sixteen feet across the
line of motion with a breadth of four feet
| three inches. The lower surface was cut
| away at the center to admit the body of
the operator. The machine was provided
with a combined horizontal and vertical
( rudder The first few trials developed the
| fact that the sustaining power was too
! great. The bottom surface was too near
| the ground at the start, and 1t was accord
| ingly removed. The result was a two-wing-
ed apparatus, which, with certain altera-
| tons and with the sustaining surfaces
and the rudder connected by an automatic
| device designed by Mr.. Herring, forms
practically the machine which has proved
so great a success this year. and which
! has raised the hopes of the aeronautic
world as high as the flight of the birds
which they wish to emulate.
Scores of flights made last year before
1 the machine was so improved that il
would go partly with the wind showed
that 1t was steady, easy to handle before
| starting, and under good control when in
| flight. A motion of the operators body.
| an authority says, of not over two inches
| proved as effective as a motion of five
| or more inches in the Lilienthal machine
| 1t was experimental with in all veloci-
ties of wind from ten TO thirty-two miles
| an hour, and an article in THE Aernoutio
AnnaP' by Octave Chanute says "the lat
ter velocity is believed to be higher wl.ad
than any gliding machine had been tried
In heretofore, and yet the equilibrium
was not compromised, the machine gildine,
steadily at speeds of about seventeen miles
per hour with reference to the ground ana
of about twenty to forty miles an hour
with reference TO the air of relative wind
On one occasion a relative speed of fifty-
two miles an hour was acquired in a de-
scent"
Mr.. Herring who was with Mr. Chanute
and others when the experiments of last
year were made, succeeded in making one
flight Of 1853 feet at a speed of 25.6 feet
per second. The hight fallen was 62.1 feet
The machine of this year proved that Il
had all these excellent qualities In an in.
creased measure. and that n possessed be.
yond doubt the quality of being able to a
at least partially with the wind-a quality
sought after by the acronautic scientists
for years before they could hnally see any
{ evidence of success.