Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-18


structed for the aerostatic division of the
French army, had a successful trial at
Nantes sur Seine today. The airship was
Unanswered over the plain to Lavacourt
and as tar as Bonnieres. ten miles, and
back to the starting point here. being aloft
one hour and fifteen minutes with five men
in the car. Gen. Picquart. minister of war,
was present. The Patrie Is constructed on
the same general plan as NJ. Lebaudy's pre-
vious airship.
German War Balloon.
A Berlin dispatch says: The technical
commission appointed by the emperor to
investigate modern bailooning conditions
has decided to PURCHASE the Parseval dirigi-
BILE balloon for experimental purposes.
Although this step is not decisive in re-
gard to the future type OF airship to be
adopted by the German army, experts con-
slider it a foregone conclusion that the Par
seval balloon VIII be introduced.
A message has been received by the Aero
Club Of America from the Wright brothers
OF Dayton. Ohio. giving a report of their
progress. They say:
Even in the existing state of the art it
Is easy to design practical and durable
flyer that will carry an operator and sup
plies of fuel for flight of more than 500
miles at a speed Of fifty miles an hour.
1T is evident that the limits of speed
have not been closely approached" They
wrote,- lin the flyers already built, and in
the matter of distance the possibilities are
even more encouraging
At the same time they repeat their as
sertion that they traversed the air for
more than twenty-four miles in continuous
fight at speed of thirty EIGHT miles an
hour.
These assertions were made in connection
with a report to the club The Rela-
ton of Weight, Speed and Power of Fly
ers,' which marks the first time the
Wright brothers have broken their mys-
FERROUS silence in nearly year, and the
second time that they have made public
any of the results of their experiments.
Patent Difficulties.
Ever since the revival of interest in
aeronautics. six years ago, the eyes OF all
inventors and enthusiasts hopeful of navi-
eating the air have been turned with keen
interest toward Dayton. but SO far no
public demonstration has been made of the
success of the Wrights. The flights have
been made inside Of a high Enclosure and
at times when there was the least proba-
bility of observation. Vague reports of
success from time to time reached the out
side world, but the first authentic proof
came year ago, when few residents of
Dayton were allowed to witness flight
IL was acknowledged as the reason for
this secrecy on the Iart of the Wright
brothers that they had decided to keep
their invention to themselves until they
had, made a sale of it to one more gov
ernments at high price They had nego-
tiations with a representative of the French
government last spring, but so far is
known sale was conSummated. The
British government it also was reported
had opened negotiations with them.
Inability to obtain patents on their in
ventions is the real reason for the extreme
secretiveness of the Wrights and others
who are experimenting with aeroplanes.
Israel Ludlow, who was so seriously in
jured last spring when his aeroplane col
iapsed in Florida that he is still confined
to his bed, has made an exhaustive study
of the patents obtained. His judgment as
a lawyer is that every possible contrivance
now in use by experimenters was patented
so many years ago that the rights have
long since lapsed, with the result that If
genuine success is attained within a short
time, as is so confidently predicted by en-
thusiaSts. the public and not the inven-
tors will necessarily reap the benefit. The
actual cost of construction of an aero
plane will be comparatively small. and
there will be plenty of men able to repro
duce successful machine.
Early Trial Flights.
To aeronauts the chief interest in the re-
port of the Wright brothers, which has
just been made. lies in assertions made
with regard to the amount of power found
to be necessary to carry given weight.
THE flyer of 1903 carried a four-cylnder
gasoline motor of four-inch bore and four
inch stroke the Wrights reported. Com
plete with magnetic, radiators, tanks,
water, fuel and other accessories the
motor weighed little more than 200
it developed sixteen horsepower for the
first fifteen seconds after starting. But
after a minute or two the power did not
exceed thirteen to fourteen horsepower.
At 1,020 revolutions a minute-the speed of
the motor in the flights at Kitty Hawk on
December Il, 190S-it developed about
twelve horsepower.
THE flyer of 1904 was equipped with a
motor similar to the first, but of one-eighth-
inch larger bore. This engine. at LOO
revolutions a minutes, developed twenty
four horsepower for the first fifteen
seconds, but only sixteen to seventeen
horsepower after a few minutes run. Com
plete with water. fuel and other accesso-
ries it weighed 240 pounds. This engine,
with few notifications in the oiling de-
vice and the carburetor, was used in all
made soon after the flights of October,
1905. revealed a gain of three horsepower
over tests made just before mounting 1t on
the flyer in 1904. This gain is attributed
to the increased smoothness Of the cylin-
ders and pistons produced by wear. The
small output of these engines was due to
lack or experience IN Duilding gaSoine
motors.
High Speed Possible.
In the last year further improvements
have been made, and our latest engines of
four-inch bore and four-inch stroke pro-
duce about twenty-five horse power con-
tinuonsly. The Improvement in the relia-
bility of the motor has been even more
marked. so that now flights of long dis
lance may be attempted without danger of
failure on account of the stopping of the
motor.
In 1905 sixty-two pounds per horse
power was carried at a speed of thirty
miles an hour. IN 1904 ffty-three pounds
at thirty-four miles an hour. and in 1905
forty-six pounds at thirty-eight miles an
hour. It win be noticed that the weight
carried by a horse power is almost exactly
in reverse ratio to the speed, as theory de-
mands-the higher the speed the smaller the
weight carried horse power.
'.Since flyers can be built with approx
mately the same dynamic efficiency for all
speeds up to sixty miles an hour. flyer
designed to carry 745 pounds at twenty
miles an hour would require only eight
horse power. or two-thirds of the power
necessary for thirty miles an hour. At
sixty miles. twenty-fou horse power would
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