The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-03-13
QudrteriNg Flight Overhead
Solution of the FLUNG Machine Problem


! including o. chanute and S. ?. Langley.
AS a matter Of fact, most Of Chanute's
successful experiments were along lines
laid down by Mr. Herring.
The sport is exciting" says Mr.. Her
ring. and the sensation Of flying
through the air delightful
The great popularity which distin-
cuisines the sensation Of riding in the air
/ IS the extreme smCothnsss and elasticity
/ Of the support. It is more slippery than
ice and softer than the softest down
Despite rapid ascending or descending
motions impaired by disturbances or
high winds. there is never the slightest
shock felt"
The sensations referred to were ex-
perienced on gliding machines built by
Mr.. Herring. The glider resembles one
cell OF a large box kite. spreads 134
square feet of supporting surface, weighs
twenty-thTee pounds ard supported a
man at speeds as high as ffty-seven
miles an hour.
The method of fight with this appa-
ratus is to gtart from the top Of a hill.
holding the front side of the machine
depressed, so that the wind strikes the
top Of it until the operator is ready. He
then takes firm hold Of the trusses be-
meath the machine and turns the front
edge up until It catches the wind, in the
meantime taking a running start.
The apparatus gradually carries more
and more Of the operators weight until
Inc is entirely sustained. From this
point the machine carries him the bal
ance Of the flight through the air at
speed and at an angle of descent de-
pendent almost wholly upon the await
or's viii and his position on the
machine.
Rapid Transit by Air.
] This speed has varied all the way
from ten 70 forty miles an hour in ref
erence to the ground. or from eighteen
to ffty-seven miles per hour in refer
/ ence to the air. at the VIII OF the Op-
orator. \ perfect index to the speed
Of the machine in reference TO the air
is furnished by the pitch Of the note
which the wires and framework make
in passing through the air, a note sim
liar to the shriekiug Of the shrouds Of a
ship in a storm
In strong winds the gusts. which re-
semble waves in the ocean. make con-
siderable fluctuations in the Fight. on
occasions raising the machine and Op-
orator as much as forty feet In the air.
The sensations produced by these sud
den variations are similar to those ex-
! perienced in a quick starting elevator.
These gliding flights average a drop
OF 40 feet in an advance of go feet
Mr.. Herring's first experiment at fly
ing with power was a compressed air
motor. A steel tank which would con-
tain compressed air under pressure Of
500 pounds 20 the square inch was car
! ried. This reservoir would only carry
enough air to propel the eighteen-foot
machine and it's operator about 100
feet.
Speaking of his latest model ana the
light gasoline engine by which it is
driven. Mr.. Herring says:
I have succeeded in building an en-
CINE that viii lift itself. assisted by the
aerocurve. and stay in the air as long
as its fuel supply lasts.
ION my model have succeeded in
| building an engine that viii lift itself,
assisted by the aerocurve and stay in
the air as long as fuel lasts.
This engine viii develop A OF a horse
| power ana 10 OF horsepower Is ali
that is necessary to support itself and
the aerocurve.
The entire machine weighs seven
pounds and spreads eleven square
feet. 1t may be interesting to know
that the motor gives four times the
power of man and weighs but two
pounds. 1t is the smallest gas engine
ever built for practcaI purposes
With a reservoir smaller than q
shoeblacking box full of gasolene. this
machine has twenty times flown a mile
and a fifth both with and against the
wind and alighted without damage.
Il now have under way in the shops
of the SpauIding Gas Engine Works at
St. Joseph. Mich. a gas engine tEat will
develop twenty-seven horsepower on q.
weight of fifty-three pounds. When IL
is finished I shall be ready TO fly pub
licly."
Mr. Herring is the editor Of Gas
Power" and is looked upon by sas en-
CINE people as an authority on the sub
| Ject.