Los Angeles herald., 1905-03-20
SAYS SKY YACHTS
WILL Be COMMON
NEW SPORT FOR WEALTHY
MOTORISTS
Knsbenshue Thinks That Sky Yacht
Ing viii Be as Popular In Few
Years as Auto Boating lie at
the Present Time

Before we are many years older
airshlps will be common, and sky
yachting will be as popular sport
among the wealthy yacht men as auto
boating is today said Roy Knaben-
shue, the famous sky chauffeur, as he
sat in the aerodrome yesterday exam
lining the knots in the net of the
Midget" and waiting for Jupiter Hat
field to let up and give him a chance
at the air.
These phenomenally fast little boats
are the automobiles Of the water. They
are good for nothing but speed, but
they are more than popular. The auto
mobile has furnished an incentive for
enginebuilders to experiment with new
types " motors Of high power but Of
skeleton mold. AS result, fine motors
have ben turned out and perfected
This firt helped the motor boat cranks,
then asthe engines were brought closer
still to the point of perfection 1t was
found hey could be used in airships
Baldwin experimental for years with
enginei before he found one that would
even make a pretense of doing the
work The motor we had on the Ar
row Il st. Louis was not a success,
but tn one now installed Is almost per-
fectioi in my opinion. We expect one
much larger soon, which will be in
stalld in the new ship, City of Los
Angees,' when the frame is done.
Lighter Motors Needed
"Fery one who is experimenting
for ne purpose of solving the problem
of arial navigation agrees that the
gres obstacle to complete success Is
the imperfect motive power. If the
engne has the power to pull the ship
It 4 generally so heavy that the ship
cafiot lift 1t.
with so many minds working on the
prolerl of lighter driving power. and
win the encouragement of Edison's
sttement to the effect that he expects
to be able to make light storage
bstery, I am looking for great i'm
pbvements and changes in the near
fture. When we get the correct power
ye will soon have the airships.
'"On land the automobilist has to be
a the outlook continually in order to
eep from running down pedestrians.
there is also the danger of collision
With cars, or other vehicles, and the
always troublesome ordinances of
towns and counties.
1.-THE auto boat enthusiast is no bet
ter. off, If as well, for he must be con-
lodging slow and cumbersome
merchant craft that pay no attention to
him or his signals, but simply hold
their courses. If he does not give way
to obtain damages.
Now all these difficulties will be
with the sky auto. OF
course there will be rules of the road,
Just as there are on the sea, but there
will be no cumbersome merchantmen,
around in everybodys way. Neither
will the various ships be likely to col
lide, as automobiles do in the street,
because the sky yachts will fly in diff
ferent strata of air. the bigger the
ship the higher it will fly.
"For instance, the Arrow would cor
respond to small runabo automo-
bile and would fly at about 1000 feet
ibovs the earth. The others of her
class would, of course, fly in the same
stratum of air, but that need worry
no one, for there is plenty of room UP
there.
4 "Then the ships in the class of the
new City of Les Angeles would corre
spond to the touring car and would fly
much higher, say about 1000 feet. These
big ships, when successfully built will
travel much faster than the smaller
ones, just as is the case of the auto
mobile and auto boat. The airships
will be forced to fly in different strata
of air by the amount of gas carried;
thus the big sky yacht with powerful
motors capable of lifting it a mile
minute will float away above the crowd
of little fellows and there will be no
danger of loss of life through collisions
or from trains and street cars, neither
will the horses of the farmers get
frightened.
@ No Speed Restrictions
1.-The sky yachter will be free from
as to speed and other
things from the various police forces.
except when he is landing, and so far
there are no ordinances pertaining to
this question. 1 expect we will have
them, but as long as a fellow doesn't
drop his anchor through a win
dow or tie up to a church steeple. I
don't think he will get into serious
trouble.
what do l think of the airship in
war? Well, some day they may play
an important part in hostile maneu-
vers, especially in scouting, but pre-.
fer to build them to flying them for