The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-02

the most resistance. and the higher you
mount the less resistance there is When
your statuscope warns you that IL Is wise
TO descend a BIT You put your hand mp 70
a little white bag nj one side OF the car
and pull the rope end you ind therein.
This Is the valve rope. As soon as you
pull IL a certain amount OF gas escapes
through the opening of the valve doors
at the very top Of the balloon. and you
Immediately notice that you begin 10 fall.
The descent does not cease. although IL
modihes. when you close the valves. Your
next step TO stop the descent Is to take
a little wooden spoon and indie out your
sand ballast until you notice that the bal
loon floats steadily. But suppose I'm the
meantime something has happened max
ing IL imperative that Won should get
down to earth just as quickly MS possible.
You put your hand up TO little red bag
Oh the other side OF the basket aad give
hard yank at the rope-end you ma
therein. This rips a segment which 10
sewn in the side of the balloon and per-
mits the gas to dissipate with much
greater rapidity than the valve. Should
the gas escape entirely the envelope will
form perfect parachute and deposit the
passengers with. very little Earring upon
the ground There you have the story
Of a balloon pure and simple. Such bal
loon costs from $500 TO $1,000. There are
about Is TO 20 OF these balloons owned
by amateurs throughout the United States.
II you are n member OF the Aero Club or
America you will insist that every ANA
teur shall have ON board an expert pilot
This pilot Is licensed by the Aero Club
OF France. He il put through an un-
usually rigid examination, ana In sup
posed TO have some acquaintance with the
treacherous wind currents which are ad-
m tedly largely uncharitable as yet. The
man who knew them best is the man who
lost hts life in proving his theory concern
ing them That was NocQuet. the sculp-
-. a .Nat1. lna 4Vy
on Ions. Island. There are only five or
six professional pilots In this country
Their Zee is $50 and all expenses paid.
and IL they attend to the detail OF infia-
ton you v $40 more.
The difference between a balloon and
an airship Is that one simply scars In the
air without any steering gear or machip-
cry while the other generates Its own
gas and II steered by rudder ana pro-
peller that II driven by an engine Pc
gasus' was the first successful airship
to navigate with power applied in this
country.
Mr.. stevens showed me Pegasus" You
can see its shape In the picture which
was taken during its first flight on Sep
TENDER 10. 1902. The silk of which the
envelope OF this balloon was made In
Japanese silk that was woven especially
for this purpose. 1t cost the owner $4,000.
The only steel that he could use. for the
car was brought from England. The en-
CINE, a Bouton. was made IN France Al
together. the machine cost Mr.. stevens
$4,000 when Il was finished.
The envelope contains $4,000 cubic feet
of hydrogen gas. This lifts q total OF
39s pounds. which is calculated TO be
equal to one person and 80 pounds of
ballast minus the weight Of the car.
The car is built OF steel. Just above.
little to the rear Of the operator. there
is n tank Of gasoline The oil flows into
the carboreter. which is the mixer OF the
NJ IL ~f..st. .s..tx fxxfxx .tn
the motive power into the engine. The
engine is built forward, and all the In
struments necessary for manipulation are
well within reach Of the operator. In
front is the propeller. and In the rear the
rudder. Just underneath the operator. on
a long bar running the length of the car.
hangs a torpedo shaped water tank. This
tank can be shifted by sliding move
ment anywhere the operator desires. This
is the medium that balances the car.
When the ship lis to shoot up In the air
the balance is thrown to the rear Of the
car. When IL Is to descend the position
Is reversed. IL IL is TO ride level the
tank is simply shifted to the center
The navigation Of airship simply 10
the same as the navigation of boat In
the water. Just imagine ship In
stream using Its propellers. The only DIFF
ference is a reversal of the manner In
which the power is utilized ship, 10
pushed through the water by it's propei-
lers. An airship Is drawn through the
air by its propeller.
All airships now anoat in this country
were bailt nffer this model In this fac
tory. An airship costs about $1,000 to
S.. 900, and Ii costs $50 to initiate IL every
time ascent is made. Stevens latest air
ship IS built with a four-cylinder engine
In each end and has propeller mt each
end. IL is 06 feet long and Is feet wide.
At the present time he is engaged In plan
ming a balloon made of Japanese silk to
he II feet by IL feet. and to weigh but
80 pounds complete, with all It's netting
and tackle, and collapsible car. You will
appreciate the interesting side of this
when you know that the Iigbtest balloon
at the present time packed for shipment
weighs about It's 200 pounds He pur-
poses to make this new balloon COM
pactly that II can be packed fin a couple
of suit cases and carried into sleeper.
OF the future OF bailooning and aerial
for utiitarian purposes he has
that the purely unitarian purpose will
that the bulk of balloons will soon he
gas which will carry more In a smaller
space. At present one cubic foot OF by-
drogen gas carries ounce of weight.
as much. With the discovery of lighter
ing problems will be solved. one OF which.
be possible to use fine steel for the pur-
ma terial ARNOLD kRCCKMAN.