The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-09-07


Recently Made a Most Remarkable
Flight, Says Submarine Boats and
Arships Have Same Conditions to
Contend With - Anxious to Meet
Santos-Dumont In a Race.
A. Roy Knabenshue, the young aero
naut at Toledo, O., who recently sailed
through the air a distance Of three
miles, landed on the roof Of ten story
Office building at Toledo and then re-
turned directly to the exact spot from
which be started, states bis views on
the future Of aerial navigation as fol-
lows, says the New York World:
ITO begin With, this subject has oc-
cupied the minds of scientists for the
past 200 years, and every conceivable
method Of navigating the air has been
invented and tried repeatedly, with
practically no results. Santos-Dumont
pointed out the way by taking the
engine from bis automobile and at
taching it to his balloon. He is the
first man to successfully navigate the
air and should receive III the credit
due him. he has had mauy followers,
but they seem to have mace failures
of their attempts.
MY visit to the worlds fair was for
the purpose of studying this subject
and to meet Santos-Dumont as we'll as
any other competitors for the 100000
prize offered for the successful airship.
It was while there that met Captain
Thomas S. Baldwin, which meeting re-
suited il r:y riding the air in the Cali
fornia Arrow.
II made FIVE trips at the fair and
five at Los Angeles, CAL, last winter.
Each. trip taught me more Of natures
laws and what should be done to over
come the many obstacles connected
with the successful navigation Of the
air, and now I have concluded the
problem resolves itself thus:
"First-The air itself has weight, and
to ascend into it one must have body
l1S,AlSA lAou l1C al.
Taking the theory that air has
weight, then a complete vacuum would
be buoyant. But as it Is almost i'm
possible to secure complete vacuum
we must then use other means. Air
at the sea level weighs approximately
seventy-two pounds per 1000 cubic
feet. Hydrogen, the lightest known
gas, weighs approximately seven
pounds per 1000 cubic feet, leaving us
a buoyancy Of the difference, sixty-fve
pounds per 1000 cubic feet. An en-
velope constructed of silk and thickly
coated with a preparation Of linseed
oil will successfully hold this gas, and
with netting to hold this envelope we
have the means Of getting into he air.
"Second.-After securing thWneans
Of ascending into the air, we must then
find q means Of propelling and direct
ing the course Of the air vessel.
1.-The screw propeller at once appeals
to us, and we then attach q perpendic-
ular rudder for steering. So there Is
no secret connected with navigating an
airship. One must first thoroughly un-
derstand the conditions under which
be is working, and to my mind the rest
Is easy.
"a submarine boat and an airship
have the same conditions to contend
with. A submarine travelling against
q swift current is capable Of making
as many knots per hour as is the differ
ence between the speed Of the boat
and the velocity Of the water.
"The same Is true with an airshtp.
For instance, If we have wind blow
ing at the rate Of fifteen miles per
hour and the speed Of the airship Is
twenty miles per hour in calm, we
would have when travelling against the
wind the difference Of five miles per
hour. I speak Of this merely to show
the disadvantages Of going against the
wind, while with it the airship would
make a speed Of nearly thirV-dve
miles per hour.
"As we have the buoyancy, the pro-
pelling powers and the ability to steer,
we then have aerial navigation, but
we are limited as to speed and the
amount Of weight we can carry. We
can increase our carrying power by
adding more gas, but in doing this we
add resistance to the air on account Of
bulk, and to overcome this difficulty
we must add power.
1.-THE problem then becomes ques-
ton Of three things-weight, power
and resistance.
I'm my present airship I have built
everything as light as possible con-
sistent with strength and can handle
it with perfect ease, going and coming
at will.
"As to what will come from the air
ship in the future, it is hard to say. 1
have turned my entire attention to the
subject and will continue to expert
ment as long as can procure the
means. have associated myself with
Mr.. Charles J. Srobel Of Toledo, who
will manage the business end, and we
will tour the country, giving exhibit
tons. 1 expect that the many ascents
will teach US more and more about