The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-28

Nlnu CuTIcIltS WHICH lney SOdASu-
He discovered also what Langley has |
aoundantly proved, that the soaring birds |
by a simple process of adjustment. are able |
to advance into the teeth Of a strong |
wind without moving their wings. and that |
Il is only the smaller birds like the spar
row and the partridge who flap their wings |
continually, that seem TO derive any ad- |
vantage from travelling with the wind.
Ii is scarcely worth while to go at any
length into the details Of Turvlles first
bird cycle since time ago he
abandoned the lateral wings. But some OF
his early experiences interesting. Like
the other experimenters in soaring de-
vices, he has been conducting his expert
ments on the side Of rather steep grass
slope, taking a run down the hill and float
ing of for as much as a hundred two
hundred yards before alghting on level
ground.
Turville even progressed so that, like
Lilienthal. he could shift the weight of his
body in such a way that he could move
in slight curves at will. His first expert
mel1z with the winged bicycle was started
on the same hillside. The soaring planes
had a stretch of something over sixteen
feet each. OF thirty-seven feet from tip TO
tip. Turville had increased their size some
what TO make up for the extra weight OF
the wheel. which was simply light racing
machine weighing about twenty pounds.
That first experiment came very near beng
his last He started at the top of the hill,
put his feet on the coasting rests, and let
her go. Fifteen yards down the slope the
machine was going faster than ne had ever
been able to go in his runnIng starts, and
at twenty yards the whole contrvahce lift
ed bodily from the ground and sailed
out into space. To his mingled de-
light and CONSERVATION the demon
machine continued TO mount instead
of gradually descending, and in moment
he was two hundred meters from the hill
side, and skimming fifty meters above the
ground. His previous experiments stood him
in good stead, and he was able to maintain
his balance. but constructed his ma
chine was. fully quarter of his weight was
above the plane of the wings. and a sud-
den puff of wind would certainly have sent
him 10 keep company with poor LilienthaI
BY the most careful maneuvering he man-
aged to bring his machine down. luck
would have it. exactly astride a picket
fence around his fathers private racetrack
half a mile from the starting point. The
aeroplane was pretty well wrecked. and
Turville escaped with only a sprained
wrist
WORKED AGAINST WIND.
But the young experimenter was delight
ed. He superintendent the construction OF
d fresh set of wings, with his arm in a
sling. In the new machine the wings were
set higher. so that the aeronaut's head
was just on a level with their upper sur
face. AS soon as he was able he expert
mented around the private racetrack, and
found that with brisk start of fifty yards
the continuance actually lifted clear of the
ground and would skim for a consider
able distance. and even mount slightly If
there was a fairly steady wind in his face
Strange as it may appear TO the uninitiat-
ed, the aeroplane actually worked better in
the teeth OF the breeze than travelling with
the wind. But Turville kept to the level,
and never again equaled his first involun-
tary fight from the hillside.
Then he decided that he must have an all
around lighter continuance, and he started
on the construction OF his present machine,
which has been finished only three months,
and with which he has performed his most
remarkable feats.
The bicycle part of the continuance Is a
wonder 1t built under his own direc-
ton, and, not being intended for regular
road or track use, 1t admitted of the very
hghtest construction. The tangent spokes
of the wheels are of spring steel wire a
sixty-fourth of an inch in diameter. The
rims are also Of steel wire, skeleton built.
10 hold the most remarkable tires ever fit
ted TO wheel. The tires are of rubber
coated silk. and are twenty inches in diam
eter and inflated with hydrogen. Their
lifting power reduces the total weight of
the machine on the scales to three pounds,
exclusive, Of course, of the aeroplane. In
he
the wing construction which made all his
earlier flyers look like grotesque BIRDS and
eas built single big flying roof Just high
enough above his head to allow him to sit
comfortsbl bly, upon the bicycle. The forward
end OF the flying plane has slight curve.
Ike the edge OF a boomerang. Its extreme
width Is thirty feet. and ii is connected
TO the bicycle by light but rigid tie sys-
TEN of very thin steel angle irons and
piano wire.
The chief virtue of the new arrangement
Is that II brings the center of gravity we'll
under the flying plane. and makes it almost
impossible to turn the machine over i'm the
air Finally he has added to the lightness
of the whole device by a contrivance that
at the same time largely overcomes the
air resistance. He has surrounded the
whole Of the bicycle mechanism, as high
aS the fioer shoulders, with bottomesS
canoe-shaped framework of very light bam-
boo covered with silk Inside this is a very
Hight envelope. also of oiled silk inflated
sitn hydrogen, but so shaped that it does
not interfere with the bicycle mechanism
or with the riders legs 1t merely occu-
pies all of the superfiuous space inside the
ooat-shaped framework. and has sufficient
hfting power to bring the weight of the
whole machine exclusive of the rider down
10 eleven and quarter pounds. Turyille
weighs 143 pounds. so that the aeropIane
with its rider, weighs but 154 pounds and
has sustaining surface of little over
SO square feet-roughly speaking, a little
less than half pound to the square foot
OF surface.
LIKE LEARNING TO SWIM.
Turville by no means claims that this Is
either an ideal or practical flying ma
chine, but he has accomplished some very
remarkable feats with IL and has added
UNNECESSARILY TO the worlds knowledge
OF aeroplanes and the action on them of
air currents Once having got a start he
can circle the half-mie track. only touch