The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-12-12
AERIAL FLIGHT IS ASSURED.
Solution of Flying Machine Prob
lem is at Hand.
Unprecedented Developments Expect
ed in the Coming Decentralization
of Automobiling May Result

London.--The question of a per
fected navigable flying machine is
now regarded by experts here as one
Of the probabilities of the immediate
future, and every inducement is being
held out to inventors to produce a
reliable machine.
The air for the last few days has
been metaphorically humming with
a~eroplanes, motor kites and other
heavier than air flying machines.
Santos-Dumont's partially successful
| experiments in Paris and the Wright
brothers apparently far greater sue.
cegses in America, to which, by tho
way, little attention was paid here
until the enthusiastic admiration OF
the Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls was
cabled over, have given a strong filip
to the interest in air travel and led
to the publication of numerous inter
views with aeroaautS and engineers.
There is a consensus that the yeaI
1907 will e unprecedented develop
ments and that ere long automobiles
will be discarded as a slow and old.
fashioned pastime for the more novel
and more exciting tours OF the air.
The chief obstacle to the develop.
ment of air travel for the moment
seems to be the lack Of . motor which
is equally light and powerful. San
tos-Dumont is convinced that 1907
will find motor makers paying atten-
ton to this problem and that the diff
6culty will soon he solved. This, &C
cording to the cable reports, seems
to be the main trouble with the
Wrights, but their achievements are
held to be Of far greater Importance
than Dumont's.
Sir Hiram Maxim, who has for q
long time been an advocate of the
heavier than air machine as opposed
to the balloon type, is enthusiastic
G the Ohio experiments and their
success. He says they are just as
much greater than Dumont's as thir-
ty-ive minutes is greater than TWEEN
ty-one seconds, which, he under
stands, represent the durations of the
respective flights. He admits that
Santos-Dumont has led the way in
Europe, but is not greatly impressed
with his achievements as compared
with that of the Wrights. He says
Dumont has adhered too long to the
dirigible balloon ideas, and is con-
vinced that these will soon become
obsolete. ...
Major Baden-Powell, an exper-
fenced aeronaut, who has had made
valuable experiments with balancing
aeroplanes, agrees with Sir Hiram
that there is nothing very wonderful
in the achievements of Santbs-Du-
mont as compared with that of the
Wright brothers, as Dumont's ma
chine seems to be very liable to turn
wei and always comes to the ground
with a damaging thump. What all
the eXperimenters are now crying out
for is more money to hasten the sue
cess of the work. Santos-Dumont
complains of the terrible expense of
his efforts which he has borne him
self. Sir Hiram Maxim says that al
ready he has spent $4,000. He
urges that the British Government
should grant an appropriation for
The experiments, as the United
States, France, Germany and other
countries have already done. Eng
land, he says, has plenty of men ca
pable of utilizing the money to the
best advantage and they would prob
ably be able to outdistance other ex-
perimenters. There is no sign as
yet of the Government complying
with his suggestion, but private en-
terprise is busy, and the public is al
ready looking skyward in anticipa-
ton of satisfactory experiments.
Colonel Fullerton, of the Royal
engineers, lecturing on November Is,
discussed the recent progress In
aerial navigation and its relation to
the next war. He said he did not
doubt that flying machines would
play a great part in the next great
conflict. They rould operate against
each other, against land forces and
against warships.
There would be a light class OF
machines, weighing anything from
10000 to $1,000 pounds, with a
crew of three or four men, which
would have a speed Of from forty to
eighty miles an hour. The impor-
tant features of their utility would
be an abundance of ammunition and
lhrst-rate gunnery. Their work
would be to destroy the enemy's air
ships. Then there would be q heav-
Ter GLASS with heavy armament for
firing downward at warships, forts
and large bodies of troops. Their
weapons would be similar to torpedo
tubes. Flying machines of all kinds
would be particularly effective
against cavalry, as it would be al
most impossible to keep horses
steady under a fire from above.
Doubtless, the lecturer said, these
war machines would have the most
difficult task. Many would be lost
because all sorts of guns for firing
upward from the ground would be
invented, and although the flying
machines would be difficult to hit
they would be extremely vulnerable.
Countries using these machines
must keep a large stock of them
ready for service at a moments no
tice. He recommended that the
British Government appoint a COM
mission to Investigate the whole SUBJ
ject.