The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-05-25
Believe Airship is Commercial Necessity

By Santos Dumont in the Chicago In
ter-Ocean.
believe in the practicability of the air.
ship Not only for the purpose of sport or
pleasure, but for commercial purposes as
well. Why, in ten years 1 firmly expect
that there win be line of airships cross
ing the Atlantic ocean at such a rate of
speed and in such a degree of comfort
that the present-day ocean liners, magni-
ficent as they, are, will seem fitted only
for freight carriers or people in search
of the healthfsilness which comes from
making journey on the sea.
The possibilities of the airship have
. never been dreamed Of Three years ago if
any one had said that a man would be
able to Sail an, aerial vessel to and fro
without regard 10 the wind he would have
been called fool. Yet today l have ac-
eomplished such,a feat, and this do not
hesitate to say is but the beginning of
what 1 will do.
But do not misunderstood me and i'm
agine that i think only of myself. 1 hope
that every one who is interested in aerial
navigation will come to see my ship when
1t is set up, and that its construction
may help them to ideas which In turn
may lead 10 improvements upon this one,
Nothing is patented. Every one is free to
use for his own any idea or piece of me-
chantsm in the Santos-Dumont, as call
my ship.
The speed that airships will achieve In
lime is SO nearly illimitable that do
NOT care to make any predictions at all
fhaf L n
an hour will be considered merely Or
3inarv speed Even now a good atrship
should be able to Dsake forty miles an
hour. and we are still in the infancy of
tha purs,Iit. I have made twenty-three
miles an hour with my old machine (No.
. 81 and my new one (No. y will readily
make forty miles an hour or better A
good airship will sail faster than the
speediest yachts or ocean iners-fuly
twice as fast
concerned l do not think 1t more hazard
Gus than travelling by rail or steamer. In
nv airship it is almost impossible to
fail swiftly because of the construction.
In one of my earlier machines l fell from
height of 800 meters, but 1 was not in
jured.
have brought with me the framework
and machinery for the Santos-Dumont
No. Z, as call the next dlISulp am
building, and 1t will be much larger than
any other 1 have built 1t is between 16C
and ITO feet long and about twenty-five
feet in diameter. These, of course. are
the balloon part dimensions. The motor
is of forty-f1ve horse power and weighs
270 pounds This ship, am convinced
will carry at least five persons and may
be more.
have never taken any one into the
air with me Except, of course, in bal
loons), but If I try fight in America
l should be glad to do so. l cannot, how
ever. make any flights IN America unless
there is a sufficiently large prize offered
to cover the expenses for flight costs
several thousand dollars.
OF course when airships become more
comm on the cost, both running and initial
will be greatly decreased. There is GER
tatnly vast sum of money in the airshiI
business for any one who will put VI
few thousand dollars now to promote
inventions and arouse. more interest. am
dnnhdept that there ere many men IN