Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-06-21
FLIGHT IN The AIR

DR.. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL,
EXPERIMENTING WITH
KITES.
Eminent Inventor at His Summer
Home In Baddeck, Nova Scotia. is
BusiIy Occupied Trying to Solve the
Mystery Of AerieI Navigation.
Tho study of flight in the air has a
peculiar charm to one who engages in
it. The problem, SO simple that the
smallest Hedging may in dozen efforts
master it, leads to dream of the con.
quest of space and time, perhaps the
greatest of which the human mind has
ever taken though. For the past Ave
years DR.. Alexander Graham Bell the
inventor of the telephone, has been
experimenting 1t his summer home
near the little village of Baddeck
Nova Scotia, with tetrahedral kites as
the means of devising an aerial loco
motive.
The region is one most favorable
for the study of aerial fight and exper-
1ments with different devices to accom-
plish it. Baddeck, made famous TWEEN
ty-f1ve years ago in Charles Dudley
Warmers quantity humorous book.
"Baddeck and That Sort of Thing" is
a little village of 800 souls, far out
of the Travelled pathway of commerce
and pleasure, where the inventor may
ply his trials of kites and motors with
out an ever-present throng Of quizzical
spectators or incredulous newspaper
reporters.
When Dr. Bell first took up the study
of kites he made use of the old-fashion-
ed Hargrave box model. This was in
vented in 1892 by Laurence Hargrave
of Australia. The box kite as a unit
flies well, but when enlarged is I'M
wieldy, and when multiplied in many
units does not go together sufficiently
well to encourage the use of it. Trl-
angular kites were next tried, and later
those with circular cells and with
cells of six, eight and twelve sides.
None of them succeeded. The ratio
between the weight of structure and
the buoyant surface soon demonstrated
that they could not be employed After
many failures and much careful study
DIR. Bell hit upon the tetrahedron as the
unit form for his kites.
Maximum of Lightness and Strength.
The tetrahedron is simply solid
figure with four faces consisting of
equal equilateral triangles. The east
est way to get an idea of it is to take
six sticks of equal size and length, lay
three of them so as to form an equilat-
eral triangle, stand the other three
sticks at the apex of each angle, aud
bring the tops together. The word
tetrahedron is derived from two Greek
words meaning -four" and base" as
the figure has four equal bases. The
result is construction braced equally
in every direction, the strongest that
any unit form intended for the kite
construction can secure. Essentially
the Chinese thousand years ago made
tetraohedral kites in form The COM
bination of the Chinese idea and the
Hargrave scheme of multiplying units
has brought out the Bell kite plan,
which thus far is the most successful
known, and seems likely to lead on
to ultimate success in aerial naviga-
ton.
The tetrahedral cell possesses mar
Vicious lightness and strength. 1t is
braced in every direction, so that it
may be constructed of the least weight
or material in proportion to sailing
surface. A special advantage also ap.
pears in the fact that no matter how
much the unit form is multiplied, the
result maintains the buoyancy of the
single cell. Kites of unlimited size
can be built, and with adequate means
of starting can be managed as success
fully as the smallest This is something
which has never proved true with other
types of construction. DR.. Bell is now
1 able to combine tetrahedfal cells SO as
\ to produce kite forty feet wide and
requiring the power of a steam tug tc
start it on it's flight. Many OF his kites
are so large that he starts them by
fastening the guide rope to the collar
| of horse, which is WHIPPED to a gal
flop across long field. In a good vino
such start as this easily sends the
kite soaring upward quite as buoyantlN
and successfully as would be the CASE
with small kite.
At the Baddeck laboratory, which
has been fitted up without stint of ex
pense, DR.. Bell employs number o.
/ expert mechanics both in the construc
ton and trial of the kites. The frame
work usually is made of thoroughly sea
soned black spruce. At first the sails
placed on two sides of terahedror
were made of silk No wthey are made
of nainsool1, which is found to be light
err and much stronger. There is nov
being constructed a kite consisting Of
hundreds of tetrahedral cells, in which
the frame is of hollow aluminium tub
ling Aluminium weighs little more thar
the spruce. and is several times strong
err. The sails are attached only at thu
points of the trangles. The triangle'
are hinged together, so that they ma,
be taken down and carried fiat unde
the arm. The stock of single tetrahe
dral cells once made, the height ant
breadth of the kite is wholly subjec
to the wish Of the owner. He cal
make 1t as large as he chooses.
DR.. Bell has given names to his var
;oue large kites. calling them "Whit,