The evening times., 1902-07-11
Description of the Man
and His Invention
WILL MAKE TEST SHORTLY
Certain He Can Navigate the Air Per
fectly-Needs no BaIIsst-Says II.
Santos has Only 4 Balloon With a
Propeller Attached.

Mr. T. c. Benbow. the Carbon county,
Montana, inventor. who has been in
Washington for the past month building
the model Of an airship which he claims
win be able to show a clean pair Of
wings to anything NJ Santos -Dumont
can turn out, is a typical hustling West
crner. with remarkable facial resem-
blance to Thomas Alva Edison.
Nr- Benbow's s experiments with aerial
navigation have covered a period Of
about ten years. For the past two years
he has been striving to produce a ma
chine that would combine the qualities
Of absolute dirigibility, safety, and
speed.
He thinks ne has it now, and he has
succeeded in convincing number Of
practical capitalists that his ship will
be able to do what is claimed for it
The first test VIII occur in few days.
at Frankfort. y. Y
Description Of Machine.
The distinctive feature OF Mr.. Ben
bows machine are the four immense
fan propelIers. with automatically fold
ing blades constructed Of hollow steel
tubing and silk By an ingenious and
simple cam-wheel arrangement. operat-
Cd by levers from the car Of the ship,
these folding blades can be set so as TO
open and close a. any given point in
their circuit without Iessening the speed
Of their revolution
The resistance Of the pTopelIers to the
atmosphere can thus be brought TO bear
on the downward stroke of the DroDel-
Ter If the aeTonaut wishes to rise in the
air or vice versa Il he wishes TO sink
gently 10 the eiFth, CT al any angle
necessary TO produce an oblique line Of
fight, on eithe- an ascending OF de-
scending plane.
Mr. Benbow claims that this arrange
mcnt viii do away with the necessity
Of carrying ballast, and that he can de-
scend to the earth as gently as a bird
does from its flight The folding blades
OF the fans are much broader at their
outer ends, thus giving them a greater
degree Of leverage than the wings Of q
bird
Viii Weigh Less Than GOO Pounds.
The whole machine. when completed.
will weigh between 500 and 600 pounds.
It is supported in the air by two obIong
gas bags. The idea of having two bags
instead OF one is TO guard against dan
gerous falls by reason of puncture.
Il one bag should spring a-Ieak the
Other ene Is sufficient TO support the
mac ne and hold the faccid one free
OF the wings and the machinery. Either
& gssolene CT an electric motor viii be
used to propel the craft In discussing
the invention, Mr.. Benbow said:
4 claim that with my machine I can
sail either over or under the Brooklyn
Bridge. Ny suggestion TO the St Louis
Fair authorities was to have a number
of hurdles set Cp on the ground TO test
the dirigibility of the aiTships. I am
certain that with my machine I can
sail alternately over and under them.
II. Santos Has Only a Balloon.
'..Bl- Santos machine is nothing but q
balloon. with a propeller attached. He
IS forced TO use ballast to rise and q
graphing line when he wishes 10 de-
seend
1T is hardly fair to the American in
yentors that he should be allowed to
come to this country and practfcaIIy
dictate the course over which the trial
1t the St. Louis Fair IS TO be held Yor
viii see number OF American ma
chimes at the fair, I predict. The reason
that the foreigners have taken the lead
so faF in this branch of science is that
they have paid more attention TO #
They have rad the money 70 spend II
experiments.
Il do not think that there ever viii
be practical aeropIane in operation
There must be some power 70 hold the
machine in the air Even our largest
birds are very poor fiers. Look al the
ostrich and the turkey, for instance"