Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1903-05-17
Inventor Takes Almost Daily Spins in His
Small Rur-a- Bout.
SPEAKS ENcOURAeINGlY OF LEsAUDY
Hopes to Be Able to Make Forty Miles
Per hour or Better
OTHER SCIENTISTS NOT so CONFIDENT
Lebaudy Brothers Make Several
Successful Trips During the
Past Month and
Half.


| Copyright, 1903, by Press Publishing Coz
PARIS, May 15.-(New York World Ca
blegram-Special Telegram.l 1.-THE World
correspondent sat for an hour last evening
with Santos Dumont on the balcony of his
handsome entresol at ia Champs Elysecs,
at q time when the avenue was swarming
with the finest array OF equipages in the
world, returning from the Boie de Polgne.
Santos was just back from an afternoons
outing in his 31k-horse power runabout air
ship, known as No. 8, and the conversation
was about the Lebaudy balloon trial and
the possibilities of the future. No petty
| jealousy of rivals is haroored by Santos
| Dumont
IT was delighted with the outcome of the
Lebaudy trial." he said. Anything to ad-
vance the cause of ballooning is heartily
| welcomed by me. ! only wish that over
head there was a parade of steerablc
balloons like this procession of carriages
rolling by below. And 1 believe the time
will come when there will be.
'T am going to try my No soon, max
ing upward OF forty miles an hour. The
advocates of flying machines without bal
| loon attachments assert that any such
speed will shatter balloon. will show
| them the contrary.
and, while 1 believe navigation possible
without balloons, it will always be limited
to two or three persons in car; whereas
my confidence in No. 10, which can take
up twelve people besides the engineer, is
unlimited. The success of the Lebaudy
! trial bears out my optimistic predictions.
1 saw the big Deutsch balloon inflated at
Saint Cloud today for the first time and
shall await the experiments with it in
terestedly
Beats the Eagle.
"The reason think flying machines pos
| sible is because we have motor which
can generate one-horse power for every
six pounds in weight which is even more
| than the wonderful American eagle can
do, not to mention the turkey, which can't
| ny at all, and both weigh much more than
six pounds. Yet believe the conquest of
| this problem will be achieved by steerable
| balloons capable Of carrying many per-
sons"
Emmanuel Aime, formerly Santos Du-
mont's factotum and secretary, told the
World correspondent that in his opinion
| both Lebaudy and Santos are on the wrong
track He thinks balloons will never con-
| troll the air, even with motors capable OF
| making headway against strong currents,
| for much resistance would shatter balloons.
| Such attempts he deems interesting as ex-
periments, but practically useless. He is
himself working incessantly at Nanterre
ON a flying machine without balloon. He
| believes it will raise his 9-year-old son and
maintain its equilibrium at a height of
several yards and that when this is ac-
complished all will be possible.
| NJ. Calletet, a member Of the institute
and Of its committee on aerostatics, agrees
with NJ. Aime that the conquest Of this
problem can be achieved only by machine
heavier than the air and that the future
flying machine will no more resemble a
bird than the Deutchland resembles a
whale. The Lebaudy airship is 17O feet
| long, 80 in breadth and has capacity Of
2,5SS,OO0 cubic feet.
Ex-Queen Natalie OF Servia visited San
tos Dumont's aerodrome last Tuesday, as
the guest Of Mrs. William A Slater, and
was greatly interested in the airship she
saw there
Lebaudys Are Confident.
The Lebaudy brothers are greatly en-
couraEed by the recent TRIALS of their ma
chine, the Siderable Yellow" They have
had Il under cover at Moisson during a
period Of bad weather, in which the San
tos Dumont's apparatus sustained eonsid-
erable injury, and they have taken ad-
vantage Of the time to make extensive i'm
provements both in the machine and in the
! shelter IN which 1t Is stabbed.
| Formerly Il took seventy men TO take the
| airship from the barn 10 prepare II Tor
| fight. Now 1t Is set on a cradle which
moves along a track laid in a deep trench
from the barn TO the point OF flight The
crew has been drilled in handling the shin.
At the word OF command each springs TO
his station. and, instead OF a slow and
tedious operation. the ship Is moved to its
starting point In two or mree minutes.
Among the changes in the ship itself IA
the reinforcing OF the ropes sewn to the
envelope to strengthen IT, These now make
the entire circuit of the balloon, and their
number has been increased both at the
head and at the rudder post. In the LAT
ter case the lines are carried from the
platform to the extreme stern Of the shin.
The rudder, though seemingly of small
dimensions for a balloon of such volume
really exerts great force through a snecIai
grouping OF vertical and horizontal vanas
arranged on the plan OF an arrow. Tbese
vanes create currents OF air which STRIFE
full on the rudder and increase its senSi-
tiveness. Finally, the taper OF the stsrr
Of the balloon has been fined down
basket capable OF holding two car.,.'
pigeons has been attached. so that the me-
sengers can, in case OF need. communics,a u
with the home station.
Make several Trials.
The shelter for the ship has also h.aD
improved. II now presents the annear-
ance OF a well equipped work sbon An
needed parts for the airship are nada a.
the premises and a powerful ire anns,. 49,
has been installed. During April ,ha
Siderable Yellow" was out four tin,ss
with NJ. Juchmes acting as pilot. On AprII
1. in rather a Hight wind, II made a c,rcui,
of eighteen hlometers Cabout eleven mile,
On April II, in a considerably fresher
breeze II went eleven kilometers (nearly
seven miles). On April ls. with a prettv
stifi breeze blowing during the return 4,
covered about sixteen kilometers (about
ten miles, On April 20 a made
circuit from Moisson 10 IaProcbe-
GuyOn 10 Freneuss and return. a parabo-