Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-06-26
THE BEAcHY AIRsHIP.
Aerial Navigation Almost as Practical
as Water Navigation.

as Water Navigation.
Washington, D. c., J,-e 25 (Special)
For day or two the statesmen In
Washington discussed aerial naviga-
ton; what the demonstration Of young
Beachy in his airship forecasted in
the way Of practical utility of this
method of transportation. and the
various phases Of sky traffic.
The performance of Beachy made it
perfectly clear that in an undisturbed
atmosphere aerial navigation Is al
most as practicable as water naviga-
tion OF course there is more danger
in the air because of. the frailty, Of the
support-the texture Of the gas bag
but with the gas bag made burst
proof" the element of danger, on
still day. or with but slight breeze,
is to large extent eliminated.
The exhibition around and in front
of the capitol completely answered
the question as to the practicability of
Walter Wellman's scheme for reaching
the north pole in a great airship.
Barring winds and some unexpected
development or attribute of at
mosphere in that unknown latitude,
Wellman Is pretty certain to return 10
the United States with a good sized
SILVER hacked from the north pole.
Makes Good Speed.
Beachy's air ship travelled easily at
the rate of from IL to Is miles an
hour, propelled by a gasoline engine
so small that it was invisible until
the ship came within close range.
With an engine Of two or three times
the power, which need to have added
30 additional pounds weight to the
outfit, a speed Of 20 miles could be
attained. Beachy was alone on his
ship and was engineer, pilot, lookout
and ballast all at the same time. In
fact he was Obliged to do several
things at the same time. frequently
and yet he appeared to have not the
slightest difficulty. If he desired to
sail in higher altitude he simply
took a step to the rear. This caused
the back part of the ship to tip down
slightly and the bow to rise. If he
desired to decend he took step for
ward and the bow settled The air
ship, when in motion, travelled in the
direction Its nose pointed. If it point
ed at an angle of 20 degrees downward
the propeller drove the ship in that
line until the equilibrium was changed
by the operator shifting himself. To
sail on level the operator stood in
the center of the frame which sup.
ported the machinery, and the ship
maintained an even keel. indefinitely
and pursued straight course If the
equilibrium was changed in any way
the course Of the air ship was also in
stantly changed to correspond.
!, Propeller at Front.
Contrary to public fancy, the pro-
pellor of the ship was located at the
front, instead of at the read end The
rudder was at the stern and consisted
OF frame of bamboo covered with
duck cloth. This rudder was very
much larger than one would suppose
to be necessary 20 steer the ship. It
may have been larger than necessary,
at any event 1t operated to change the
course of the ship. from right to left
very speedily, in fact when Beachy
put his helm hard to port" the air
snip described circle on a very short
axis.
In any kind Of wind Beachy's air.
ship would have hard Shedding. In a
hard wind or overtaken by a
squall or sudden blow, the craft
would be blown into smithereens: at
least it would be as helpless. as a
feather, although If the gas bag did not
collapse or ropes break and the oper
ator hung on, the outfit might reach
the earth without fatal results. The
fact that Beachy realizes this is shown
In his refusal to make the trip from
Luna park, which is in Virginia, to
the monument lot, where $4,000 people
had assembled to witness his maneuv
ers, because of the wind, and posi-
bilities of rain, although the breeze
was very light. While Beachy declar
ed that the small wind would not
bother him to speak of, he thought II
best, under the circumstances, not tc
take any chances.
On a quiet day, or with but slight
breeze blowing, the airship which ma
neuvered about the monument and the
dome of the capitol, could travel for an
indefinite period, the length Of it be
ing dependent upon the supply of gaso
| line.
In general way, the airship il
which Wellman expects to reach the
north pole is similar to Beachy's ship
1t Is several times larger and equipped
with gasoline engines of so and 81
| horsepower and a propeller at the
bow and one at the stern The course
of the ship, up or down will be deter
mined by shifting the equilibrium as
in the Beachy air-ship.
Needed Aid to Make Start.
The fact that Beachy was unable tt
land or start without the aid of sew
eral persons, in holding the ship from
the ground, makes it very evident thai
one of the difficult problems before
Wellman will be to start again If he
has to touch earth after starting. Il
the air currents at the extreme nortl
are not fierce, Wellman ought not tt
be compelled to alight, at all, as will
two sets of engines and two propellers
j he will always have one available. anl