The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-10-26
|AIRSHIP FLIES A
FIGURE 8 COURSE.
Baldwin Machine at World g Fair
Successfully Qualities for
Coming Contest.
New York Sun Special Service.

New York Sun Special Service.
st. Louis, Oct. 26.-The first really
successful airship flight ever made in
the United States was accomplished yes
| by A. r. Knabenshaue, the noted Toledo
aeronaut, in the big Baldwin dirigible
balloon.
In the clear autumn day the great
eeigalE1shaped bag which supplied the sqs.
sene outlined against the sky. The
white propellers and rudder of the ma
chine could be clearly seen and the form
| of the operator stood out distinctly as
| he worked his complicated apparatus
and made the great silken bag above
him turn and re turn at his pleasure.
The excitement caused by the appear
ance of the balloon just at the noon
est, was extreme, especially when it
was seen after the qualifying maneuvers
that the operator was trying desperately
to send his airship back over its course
to the world IS fair and that something
was the matter with the steering appar-
against the wind, tho he turned his ma
chine westward half dozen times,
and thousands become anxious for the
fate Of the daring .balloonist.
An hour later, having held his balloon
the business and dwelling houses Of the
east side, Mr.. Knabenshaue descended
leisurely and quite safely in a cornfeld
bit south of East st. Louis.
Qualifying Maneuvers.
Rising from the east door Of the aero
drome, the ship sailed smoothly and
gracefully a few hundred yards with the
wind. Then at the touch Of the oper-
ator s hand it turned in the very face Of
the fresh l0mile breeze and sailed back.
Again obeying the rudder, the Bald
win invention turned as a swallow on
the wind and sailed eastward for the
building occupied by the board Of lady
managers. AS he passed over the con-
Goodbye, everybody and great
cheer went up from the watching crowd.
AS soon as the ship was well in the
air over the lady managers home,
Knabenshaue steered straight for the
office of .President Francis in the Adj
ministration building. Directly, over.
scribe a perfect figure "eig ht,'' there
by qualifying for the world s fair aerial
tournament. Then the ship was headed
with the wind and carried by breeze
and motor sailed rapidly and with ut
most grace away toward the east, over
the domes Of the exposition, the man
SlOuS VI Cuo W0SI duu Lu0 Shy SCIdp0IS
of downtown, over the broad river and
the city Of East st. Louis.
+ Drive Chain Broke.
After Knabenshaue return to the
aerodrome late last evening he stated
that the balloon obeyed his every wish
till the drive chain connecting the. pro
peller and the motor broke. This same
weakness had been demonstrated before
the flight, the break repaired and the
ascension proceeded with. Mr.. Knaben-
shaue believes that this part Of the
mechanism must be greatly strength
ened before the next flight is attempted.
"Something went wrong with the
propeller while was still over the ex-
position site,' he said. "When I dis
covered the propeller was not working
right, tried to turn and sail back. 1
succeeded in turning, but could not
make the propeller work against the
wind. suppose I5put too much strain
upon the drive chains connecting the
propeller with the motor and this chain
snapped. The loss of control of the
propellers made a return trip impossi-
BILE; so was forced to let the machine
20 with the wind till could find
place to land.'' ~-r