The Washington times., 1906-01-14
MAHAN CONFIDENT
He CAN FLY HERE
Sure of Success With Bird
Airship.
WASHINGTON INTERESTED
Veteran Inventor Will Bring Message
From ChicagO's Mayor TO
President Roosevelt.
WASHINGTON INTERESTED

F. NJ. Mahan. the aeronaut who has
principles which he will build into q
flying machine. stin insists that on the
evening of April %. he viii deliver into
the hands of President Roosevelt at the
White House, message given him The
morning OF the same day by Mayor
Dunno. OF Chicago.
This fnveterate inventor and mechani-
cal engineer. has determined to in this
manner celebrate the eightieth ami
yersity OF his birth. which will come on
the day set and is actively engaged in
the execution Of plans for the compile
tion of his machine upon which he pro-
poses to go careering down the currents
OF the air in hazardous journey of 900
miles upon a schedule of 55 miles an
hour.
Confident Of Success.
Vigorous and active is the old man
and above all is he confident of success.
He has worked out his plans as the
scientist and the mathematician would
elaborate any other scientific possibility
and viii employ his mechanical genius
in converting theory into fact
In Washington much interest is be
ing aroused in the proposed flight of the
bird airship. not simply because of the
fact that if the experiment is a success
this city will be the point at which il
Will be demonstrated. but because the
reputa ton and former accomplishments
OF the venerable inventor give the pub
lie confidence in value of the expert
ment and hope OF great results that may
be accomplished.
Poet and HumOTisI.
In an interview which he has just
given out al his office, 7s3 Lake street,
Chicago. MIR. Mahan shows in his dis
criptlon of his ship and the conception
OF its building. that he is not merely
a scientist but something of a poet as
we'll as humorist, Among other things
he said:
- have gone TO the creatures of the
air-to the birds-to learn the secret of
flying" Re said. THE man who does
not stick close to the lessons OF nature
in aerial navigation is bound to fail.
And what do / find when l look at The
birds? First of ali, and ] believe the
greatest requisite TO successful flying.
is unerTing equilibrium. Add 10 this
the necessary ascensional and propul-
sive power. dirigibility and precautions
against accident, and the thing is solved.
I am absolutely certain that the naviga-
tor in which I purpose going 10 Wash
ington fulhns all the necessary condi-
tiOns.
~r.--
tanned by the peculiar shape OF the gas
holder. all the gravity pun leading TO
a central point of the machine and di-
rectIy under the propeller wings. This
essential assured. l can give my whole
attention 70 the matters of buoyancy,
propulsion and direction.
To Prevent Accident.
Naturally. those who undertake to fly
through the air wish TO be fortified
against accident that would send them
crashing 10 the earth. My plan is to
have a gas holder of sufficient buoy
ancy TO overcome 50 per cent of tie
earth's gravity on the machine and
whatever load il carries.
The other per cent, OF course, would
be met by the wings of the machine in
motion. In case anything should hap
pen to the engine which operates the
wings 0hese wings being at once lift
ers and propellers) the 95 per cent of re-
sistanCe inherent in Lne gas would af-
low the machine TO settle to the earth
so gently that no injury to the aeronaut
could result. In such an emergency the
wings themselves would be used as mar
achutes. still further breaking the force
OF the drop. II the machinery. and the
gas holder should meet with accident
simultaneously there would be more
serious trouble, but such a contin-
gency would be very remote"
What is the general principle of buoy
ancy. propulsion and dirigibiIity in your
machine?''
Aside from the gas used il is exactly
that OF the wild geese used to see f1yiug
over the prairies OF Missouri when | was
a boy and settling into the grain fields
For years I have made study of the
flight OF birds. I have watched the guIs
on Lake Michigan and the pigeons in the
streets of Chicago.
Without intending slang my naviga-
tor VIII be a bird. The gas holder or
body of the machine will be so shaped as
TO oner the least resistance to the air.
Gasolene Operates Wings.
''The wings, which viii be operated by
a gasolene engine from the car by means
OF sprocket chains and wheels, will be
provided with numerous air valves,
which viii open and close on the same
principle as the feathers of the wild
goose. For my flight to Washington I
contemplate gas holder about seventy
feet long, eighteen feet wide and twenty
two feet high. and tapering fore and aft
to a diameter of eighteen inches.
AT the front end will be a guide and
at the rear a rudder-the head and tan
of the bird. With this double mechanism
at each end of the machine / shall be
able TO rise or descend at will or go In
any direction desired. In air navigation
this necessary feature has never been
attained by any other system, and l do
not believe a practical air navigator ever
can be built on any other principle.
The engine to be used in the flight
from Chicago TO Washington viii be six |
horsepower, and need not weigh over
thirty pounds. The rest Of the machinery
will weigh similar amount. In the car /
will be the engine, myself and another