The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-01-06

fE "a AsEiA ea7 ar9n
People 81 general lite mucA Tess
miliar with Gle work 81 DR. Lhenihal
and-AIr Pitcher than with tbe lying
machine f Mr. Maxim and the aero
dromes Of Prof Langley Yet the
courage with which the two former
undertook to attack the problem of
flying in the moss direct way surely
deserves recognition. There is at
present q great and hitherto insuper-
able difficulty ia tile way ofthe maker
of flying machines, as distinct from
nagigable balloons, which is that Of
the balance. Minute observation has
shown that every region of the att
mosphere is constantly subiectto in
fnitely varying currents andcounter-
currents Of air. NomatteFh how stead
lily the wind may seem to be blowing
in a certain direction. or even how still
the air may seem, there is always a
complex series Of minor aerial dis
turbanees to be considered. TO steer
a flying machine among them on an
even keel is much like attempting to.
ride a bicycle over a surface moving
like the channel in d gale.
a bird, indeed, scars with perfect.
ease and equilibrium, and is only
overturned or driven out Of its course
at d very gusty corner, even then re-
covering itself with certainty. But
the bird possesses an extremely sensi-
tive nervous system, which has been
attuned through countless genera
tions Of habit to the task Of p~resery-
ing its balance through the most rap
idly varying conditions Of the air. 1t
meets every minute variation in the
strength or direction fthe aerial cur
rent on which it is soaring by an in
%stinctive and involuntary adjustment
Of the wings, exactly as the practiced
bicyclist conquers a swerve of his ma
chine, OF as each Of us balances in
walking alongaroad. To devise a ma
chine that shall do this seems as yet
far beycnd the powers Of our inven-
tors. The balance chamber Of the
Whitehead torpedo, which keeps that
~projectile at a constant depth below
the surface Of the water is properly
considered as one Of the most ingeni-
Gus contrivances known to our me-
ehanical science. But the 'balance
chamber" has only to control move
ment in two dimensions, whereas the
flying machine is subject to constant
alterations in three. The problem
thus set is incredibly more difficult
than that solved by Mr.. Whitehead.
And it is complicated by the consid-
Grafton, uelypresentedin
recent story Of Mr.. Wells, that a mo-
m~entary failure in adjustment means
practically certain death to the aero
nauts. The step from the model to
the real thing Will involve more than
those bands Of triple brass which are
allotted to the heart Of the first sailor.
It was this consideration which set
DR.. Lilienthal and, following him, Mr..
Pitcher and a few others to study the
conditions Of balancing in the air BY
experiments in which personal agility
a~ndcourage were substitutes for com
plicated apparatus. No small meas
ure of success has attended them, in
spite Of their premature fate. DIR.
Lilienthal was able to fly hundreds of
yards at time, and was about to
tackle the second problem ~ofturning
into the wind when a sudden suuall
hurled him dead to the earth. Mr..
Pitcher tells us 'that after only three
months practice he was pretty sure Of
his balance in the air, and ''was able
to land without damage and without
falling, even when soaring over the
ground very fast" Ii. is noteworthy
that his regrettable accident was ap-
parently due to q defect in the ma
terial rather than in the principle Of
his apparatus.-Londo Spectator.