New-York tribune., 1901-07-07
FRENCH MILITARY B4LLOONING.
sEG.FPRorULsIoN ABANpoNED-NEw STEERING:
DEVICES.
DEVICES

From The United Service Gazette.
! The France Militairc' gives an interestin,
account OF some experiments in military aero
1 station which are about tn be carried out by n
French military authorities. In the school of
military acroStatiOn at ChalaiS no great belief
is entertained of the possibility of driving an
aerial machine Of any kind of directing its
course under adverse circumstances by means
of "A motor. at all events until a vast improve
| mcnt has h"en arrived at in the construction
! OF these latter 1T is believed, however that 10y
| the aid of proper apparatus the wind may. i'll
| very many cases. be utilized to take a balloon
| IN any required direction and il is to test the
| appliances which have been designed for tins
purpose that experiments are about TO he under
| taken
| The first series of trials will he carried on
| over the Mediterranean The balloon used viii
| be spherical in shape with IA capacity of thr-.
| thousand cubic metres 1t will he filled witt
! hydrogen and arrangements will be made by
| means of a contrvauce carried in the car To kcer
| tn" balloon constantly fully inflated. The bal,
| loon will ascend from the ISthmus of sah;rttc
from a strip OF beach sheltered 10y Cape Sicit. in
| front of the great harhor of Toulon. and the
object viii be To reach the shores of Algeria. As
| the wind VIII probably be favorable in June
and July, the ascent is announced for the last
| fortnight in June. the car being occupied by
| Count Henry de Ia NaulX. who last year won
| the prize offered for long distance ballonning.
The apparatus carried for the purpose of keep
ing the balloon in the right direction will con-
| sist of two distinct cOntriVanceS. one is
designed with view to keeping the balloon
| for any desired period uniformly at any desired
| altitude. in order that layer of the atmOS-
| phcrc moving in the desired direction may be
| Utilized ne invention can only be utilized
when sailing over water. and il is for this rea-
| son that ii has been decided to make the first
experiment over the sea. OF course. the altitude
| Of balloon can always be varied by throwint;
| out ballast or allowing gas To escape. but as
| neither gas nor the ballast can be replaced the
number of times the height of the balloon can
be varied by thcS' means IS very limited: where
! as. by the cOntriVance now designed it is
claimed that the altitude may be altered when
| ever anu as often may be desired without
| debating the balloon or changing. except tenn
| pordri.y inc weight carried. The 'd6ViateurS.'
which ii is not pretended Will make the balloon
| travel against tt" wind. but which il is be-
! lieVed VIII cause IL to move at an ang'e to the
| direction of this latter. are of somewhat com
| IliCated construction.
AS IL general description it may be said that
| 'hey consist of concavc plates ar. ged tn Il
they can be folded together expanded at will
| by simply pulling nght cord. These are sus-
| pended below the car by two such cords When
| these latter are of equal length tie deviat~-
does not act at all. and the balloon simply drifts
| with the wind. but by pulling and shorten
| ing one or other of the cords the plates of the
| dcviator are made To assume 4 position o
| less obl!que to the wind ma. be desired. aaI
| mus. much as the direction of a boat is moved
| by n rudder the balloon is made to ,viate m re
or less from the direction of the wind