New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-31
TO NAVIGATE THE AIR.
r4u,ther Step Taken Toscdrd This
Long Desired End.

nh, are interested in aeronautic science
= the number is increasing every day-win
....-ly scrutinize the plan worked out by Pro-
80 a Graham Bell. The prominence which
=, ,uxentor Of the telephone has enjoyed for the
= ouarter Of a century alone justifies pro-
800 curiosity Examination OF the scheme
- moreover, shows that it is important
toward the solution of one Of the funda-
-, rroblens Of aerial navigation. The in
,srs;o merit Of the proposition itself will become
o,1so.,s on inspection.
NTH the questions Of steering and propulsion
-rosessor Bell has not troubled himself. Both
:, sbese are already so nearly worked out that
-, REQUIRE no special study. Future develop
sent IS likely 10 occur along lines already indi-
-ated. Far more vital is the matter of obtain
s,r fifting power. Two general methods have
.,sen proposed. One large school, OF which San
,,sDuront is a conspicuous representative re-
rss la~zely or exclusively on gas bag Tie other
,-il1zes the principle which sustains z card
s,,rr edeewise horizontally So long that
,hisct is moving the air sustains il. Lilenthal
and Chauute, in their gliding experiments, and
znrley and Sir Hiram Maxim. in their flying
,schines. employed that resource Lord Kelvin,
.,ring his last visit to America. expressed the
beief that if the flying machine ever amounted
m much il must be based on the principle Of
the aeroplane.
Another illustration Of the same idea is found
If a BOYS kite II that wonderfully suggestive
toy thing which in many ways has served the
use Of science-ascent is effected by pulling
r.. in trent. instead OF pushing from behind
T. string takes the place Of a screw propeller
3 i is the action Of the air that does the
p ssness When once q certain elevation has been
r. he'd. and the boy stops running. the kite
ma IS practically stationary. Neither pulling nor
pushing is needed. because there is a current of
air moving toward il So far as the controlling
influence is concerned. il matters little whether
the aeroplane advances over a stationary layer<
Of air OF a layer Of air flows under a stationary
se-oplane The law holds good whether the
kite is Of the old fashioned type or is developed
into q cellular or box form by a Hargrave It's
soundness has already been demonstrated by a
number Of the kites employed, balloon fashion,
for military observation. Colonel Baden-Powell.
Of the British Army. and Lieutenant Hyde (once
stationed OF Governors Island proved this
years ago. In his rather complicated aeroplane,
recently exhibited to the British Admiralty,
Z Cody merely followed established prece-
dents.
i Is a somewhat curious but common fact that
many devices viii work well a small scale,
but fail when enlarged. So able a scientist as
Simon Newcomb has feared that magnification
OF The kite would similarly prove unsatisfactory
Internationally he was right when certain forms
Of kite We're considered. The special beauty OF
Professor Bells idea. the outcome of many
years Of study and experiment, is that he evolves
model which can be enlarged without loss OF
value As he shows in his illusions to the Har-
grave device. much material must be put into
the latter for braClng purposes BY substituting
thu tranquil or '1ecrahedTal' cross section for
the quadranguia-. he gets cell which is self
braced This is the keynote Of the whole plan.
L ena bles him TO multiply size Indefinitely
without spelling the original ratio between the
Weight % the kite and its lifting power More
O. er from the very outset he provides d Kite
rhst is lighter and stronger than the Hargrave
stterD.
Following are extracts from the distinguished
inventors own description Of his machine The
full description viii appear in the June number