Evening journal., 1905-04-12
HOW 1T FEELS TO FLY
Aeronaut Tells of His Trip With
Montgomery Aeroplane.
SCARS LIKE A BIRD IN THE AIR

John II. MaIoney Found No DimcuIty
In Guiding Machine Invented by
Scientist In santa Clara, Cal, Dur
Eng Flight OF Eighteen Minutes.
Operator sits on. saddle and works
the Wings with Hands and Feet.
John IL. MalOney. the aeronaut who
has made the flights with the Mont
gomery aeroplane, is enthusiastic over
the success Of the experiments. says a
special dispatch from San Jose, Cal, !
TO the Chicago Record-Herald He de-
clares that these tests have demon
strated that It Is possible FOR a man 20
fly and believes the problem Of aerial
navigation is solved. During his recent
flight. which was the most importantly
and successful SO far, MalOney remain
ed In the air for more than a quarter
OF an hour and on one trial covered
several miles with no other motive
power than his own hands,and feet.
Speaking OF his trip. Mal0ney said:
81 never felt anything like Il before
In my life. You simply soar through
the air as II you were ON the back OF
bird The sails are great wings twenty.
four feet long, and the. tail sticks out
about as far behind. The whole thing
only weighs thirty eight pounds. and
you have to do a good deal Of the guild
ing by twisting and balancing the body.
Il went up with hot air balloon and
got 5000 feet above ground before
cut loose. For a few minutes / simply
poised in the air and then few around
In different directions. clrcllng back
and forth, up and down. as easily as
an eagle could have done H. / was up
in the air eighteen minutes and never
had the least difficulty In guiding"
Dr. John Montgomery. the inventor
OF the machine, Is son OF Zachary
Montgomery, assistant attorney gener-
al under President Cleveland, and
cousin TO Bishop Montgomery. He is a
native son, graduate OF St Ignatius
college and doctor Of sciences at San
tn Clara. The experiments OF actual
operation were conducted within. two
weeks in the Santa Cruz mountains
and as a precaution against possible
failure were kept quiet until absolute
success was obtained. Father h. II.
Bell, the eminent physician Of Santa
Clara college, assisted In the expert
ments and a number Of unlmpeachable
witnesses attest every detail Of the op-
erations.
Professor Montgomery has devoted
all his energies 10 solving the problem
OF sustaining and controlling the flight,
leaving in allegiance that OF lifting the
machine to the proper height. for which
a hot air balloon Is used. The Santa
Clara, ns he has named the aeroplane,
resembles a huge bird OF butterfly The
frame is OF spruce timber. very tough
and supple, and the wings Of fortified
canvas. There are eight of these wings,
and each is shaped like an isosceles tri-
angle cut across the point. In each
wing there is an upward curve con-
structed scientifically with the same
concavity that is 70 be found in the
wing OF bird. The operator sits on a
saddle. and the wings are worked part
" by the hands and partly by the feet
by means Of stirrups and steel shafts
Steel wires preserve the shape Of the
wings. and the guiding is done from
the back.
Soaring at a rate Of six miles an hour.
the aeroplane can be stopped and turn
ed within a distance OF forty feet with
turn Of the hand by the operator A
contr2ry wind appears to make little
difference in the speed. as the machine
progresses rapidly against a strong
breeze by a series Of tacks. An i'm
portant point fully established is that
the machine was able at all times 70
return TO the point Of departure and
light without any difficulty or force Of
impact.
AS the Santa Clara exists at present
II can soar IN the air as long as the
strength OF the rider holds out, and,
though the nervous strain is intense,
the physical exertion required is not
great Professor Montgomery contem-
plates supplying form Of motor which
will serve the double purpose OF raising
it In the air and regulating the wings
I'm their flight The time does not seem
far distant when he will have develop
ed the machine TO the point OF carrying
passengers.
Dr. Montgomery is awaiting the ar
rival Of his patents and after a short
rest will personally supervise the con
struction OF several aeroplanes OF diff
ferent sizes TO accommodate the
weights OF different operators.