Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-25
units. and 1t win be easily supported b,
the atmosphere.
A Dangerous Flight.

a dangerous Fl1ght.
During the past season DR.. Bell had q
body-I do not like to call it kite, for
the word kite gives a wrong impression
of the importance Of the discovery-he had
body of this kind which was about ten
feet high and twenty feet long, 1t was
composed of 1900 of these tetrahedral cells
arranged more closely together than ever
In the past, and yet 1t few successfully.
While 1t was high up In the air fastened by
rope to stake in the ground DIR. Bell
instructed one of his men to take hold Of
the rope and run short distance and then
jump into the air so that his photographers
might take snap shot Of a man APP
parently flying. To his horror the kite
carried the man about forty feet from the
ground, and the picture showed flying
machine with man attached to Its tail.
For time the doctor was greatly alarmed,
and his alarm kept up until the man
reached the earth again.
Inventing Propeller.
In my talk with DR.. Bell he spoke Of
possible propellers for flying machines, say
ing:
That is the question shall now attempt
to solve. We have discovered the unit out
of which the body Of our aerial vehicle is
to be made. We know that it will fly and
what we need now is something to move
1t onward and turn 1t this way or that
You may remember that many of my ex-
perlments have been upon the water and
that l have constructed aerial vehicles
which would float and which when towed
along by boats. at a certain speed, would
rise into the air and fly. I shall expert
ment In somewhat the same way to ascer-
tain the best motive power to propel such
bodies through the air. l do not expect to
attempt to invent entirely new motor,
but shall begin with the best Of our small
commercial motors and work with them.
We may possibly use a bicycle motor at the
start. We shall attach this to a boat in
such way that the motor will work in the
air and be subject to the ordinary aerial
currents. We shall have a framework built
up above the boat and the motor will be
placed upon 1t. 1t will be made to move the
1t is to move the flying machine along. So
far the experiments for such motors have
been made within doors, where there are no
currents of winds to disturb them and
where the conditions are different from the
outside. We shall experiment in the same
way with our rudder; and II we find that
we can produce satisfactory results in NOV
Ing and steering the boat we shall feel that
covery of the proper motor to be used when
we ascend from the water to the air.
When We Shall Fly.
Can you predict anything as to the
future Of the flying machine7 When will
air?"
Il can make no predictions as to that"
replied the scientist 1--WE can only say
that we are making great strides in the d.
rection OF aerial navigation. So far, all our
discoveries have been more or less expert
mental. I know that 1 have ascertained
the peculiar form in which all bodies to
be maintained in the air should be made
have, in short, discovered the unit of the
flying body, and 1 am now ready to go on
to experiment as to the massing of such
units. I have given an order for ten
thousand tetrahedral cells to be sent to
my laboratory at Baddeck. This will en-
able us 10 form almost any kind of struc-
ture or structures we wish"
But have not great successes already
been made in the line of aerial flight?"
Yes, the Wright brothers of Dayton are
doing remarkable work. They have covered
distance of twenty-four miles in thirty
eight minutes on an aeroplane moved by a
gasoline engine, and at the same time have
carried fifty pounds Of pig iron as a dead
weight in addition to their own weight
have not seen their machine, but there is
no doubt but that it has flown successfully
through the air.
What do you think Of Walter Wellman's
plan for reaching the north pole?"
1T is one of great risk. and the man is
indeed daring to make the attempt. Never
theless, Think he has chance of success.
He presented his plans in detail to
some of the officers of the National Geo.
graphic Society, and it seemed to me that
his deductions were made upon scientific
basis. We expect to send representative Of
the National Geographic Society along
with him. do not know, after all, whether
he is risking more in this way than in an
attempt to reach the pole by sleds and dogs
1t can be turned into sled. and the machln-
cry will move it over the ice If anything
should make it fail to fly
DR.. Langley and His Flying Machine.
You saw the first flight of the Langley
model, DR.. Bell. Was his large machine
adapted to successful iight?"
81 have no doubt but that 1t would have
flown had 1t been properly launched" was
the reply. 1.-THE machine was caught on
leaving the boat and thrown down into the
water. It was never sent out into the air
and it Is no more proper to say that it
would not have flown than to assert that
the launching stage and had never touched
the water, would not be able to float If
properly placed in the water.
Indeed do not think that DIR. Langley
was fairly treated as to his flying machine,
and I believe that the criticism which he
received from the press was largely the
cause of his death. He was making the
machine with an appropriation from the
War Department and he felt 1t his duty. to
keep all details concerning 1t as secret as
possible. He also disliked publicity, and
his personal inclinations went side by side
with his conscientious scruples in his at
tempts to keep his experiments from the
press. The newspaper men, however,
camped down about him whenever he at
tempted to make a fight, and when he
would give them no information they be-
gan to ridicule him. When the machine
caught, through the accident in starting 1t,
they reported it total failure, and ridi-
culed the possibility Of it's success. The
attacks were such that they cut Secretary
Langley to the heart and he did not feel
that he could ask Congress to give him
money to make another trial. nor that he
could stand the wear and tear that such
trial would entail. The result was that
the machine was moved to the workshop
back of the Smithsonian Institution, where
I am told 1t stands today
The Tribute Of the Aero Club.
1.-THE last days of Secretary Langley were
sad Ones" continued DR.. Bell, land still
there was one pleasant thing which came to
him before he died. This was tribute from
the Aero Club, an organization made up
of some of the chief scientists Of the United
States, and especially Of those interested in
aerial navigation. At one of it's meetings
this club passed resolution testifylng to
it's high regard for DR.. Langley for his
scientific work and honoring him as the
pioneer in aero dynamics. That resolution