Gilpin observer., 1906-07-26
HUMAN FLIGHT POSSIBLE.
Progress Made in Flying-Ship Con.
struction Prophetic of Early and
Complete Solution of Problem.
BY HENRY HELEN CLAYTON.


or the Blue Eli Observatory.
But little more than 100 years ago
the first successful trip of man into
the blue sky was made by Montgolfier
in France, and our own BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN. who witnessed this first
flight. or one Immediately succeeding
1t, said ''It is an infant to-day, but
1t may become a giant"
How soon the brain of men became
busy with this thought is shown by
letter to Franklin on May "a, 1884,
from Francis Hopkinson, in which hs
suggested that the balloon be made
not spherical, but oblong or spindle
shaped and driven by wheel at the
stern.
The first elongated balloon was
built by Rufus Porter (of the United
States) about 1893. Successive i'm
provements along this line were made
by the French engineer Gaffard, by
Tissandier, by Renard and Krebs, and
finally by Santos Dumont, and by Le-
baudie. who have brought the speed
to IL or IA miles an hour. But even
at these speeds the balloon is but the
plaything of the wind which at a
height of 500 to 1000 feet has an ay-
erage speed of 15 or more miles an
Eour. so that the air could only be
navigated by this means in quiet
Calculation showed that it would
not be possible to increase the speed
greatly, without bursting the flimsy
materials of which the balloons arc
built and it is not possible to mako
these stronger without losing the
needed lifting power. Hence, thought.
ful men had ceased to look forward
with any great hope to success along
this line
On the other hand, an army of eager
workers was endeavoring to solve the
problem of initiating the bird and
driving themselves through the air on
lifting planes or wings. Volumes
have been written to describe the
many attempts along this line. Hun
dreds of experimenters since the days
of Daedalus have attempted flight and
failed, but hope springs eternal" and
men rise on stepping stones of their
dead selves to higher things"
Finally amid universal failure signs
OF success began to appear. Lilien-
thai showed that it was possible to
glide down hill on outstretched wings
or planes for many hundreds of feet
and land safely. Langley succeeded
engine for about a mile in free flight
Hiram Maxim built a large flying
machine. driven by wonderfully
light engine of 300-horse power, which
actually rose into the air for a brief
interval lifting a weight of 1000
pounds. but was speedily wrecked.
Langley built man-lifting machine,
which was caught at the moment of
launching and wrecked. A wave of
skepticicm and ridicule swept through
the country and many thought tnat
man-flight was an impossible dream.
But already quietly at work were
two young manufacturers. the Wright
brothers of Ohio, who. following in
the footsteps OF Lilienthal of Ger
many and Chanute and Herring of our
own country. were learning to glide
down hill in n properly constructed
machine. to balance in the air and to
land safely. Ingenious improvements
were devised and introduced and the
machine was ready for the trial of a
motor. Profiting by the accumulated
experience of those who had previous
ly tried and by the very light motors
which have been developed for auto
mobiles and boats, an engine for
driving their machine was built and
successful but brief preliminary
flight was made in December. 1908.
Brief though it was. the possibility
of human flight had been demonstrate
ed, and they set about perfecting the
machine. BY the autumn OF 1905 the
machine was so far perfected that
there began over the prairies near
Dayton. o.. a remarkable series of
flights. On September &c one of the
Wrights made flight of little over
IL miles. On September so this was
increased to IL l-5 miles, on October
3 to 10 1-5 miles. and on the 5th to
24h miles. during which flights the
operator remained in the air 3S min
utes. The flights were made in cir
cles or figure eights. returning to the
starting point. and were at speed of
about IS miles an hour.
After centuries of effort, successful
fight is at last accomplished. After
hundreds of failures. the loss Of many
lives and of many thousands of dol
lars, one of the greatest achievements
in history, the conquest of the air.
bng