Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-15

EXCITEMENT OF AERIAL
Santos-Dumont Consulted by
the Constructors of the
Royal Balloon-The
Queens Caution.

looming friend-but the young queen from
whom he conceals little and who has all the
English girls sporting courage, raised the
question of the valves and the situation of
the motor. being haunted by fear that AL
fonso might be blown up by motor-fames
;gniting a trail of gas let out by one of the
automatic easers of dilatation. II was
only when Santos-Dumont had personally
assured her that the present dispositions
are safe that the Brazilian specialist was
allowed TO return to his new motor-aero-
plane and his still newer gas-aeroplane at
Neuilly st. James in the suburbs of Paris,
The young kings airship is already called
the Glover Leaf because of its peculiar
shape. Torres Quevedo. who is a mathe-
matician. decided them in favor of 1t for
technical reasons concerning tautness OF
form. so essential in a dirigible. Heretofore
dirigible balloons have been cigar shaped,
but cross section of this long gas bag
resembles the Glover leaf" that gives 1t its
name. 1t is like cylinder that bulges in
three places and shrouding of silk cord
"a. B, c. prevents its losing this shape
Its capacity being 700 cubic meters of hy-
drogen and the weight of It's two twenty
four-horsepower motors ON, Nd counting
as that of a man, the young king will
scarcely be able to take up with him more
than single aid. Santos Dumont approves
the situation of the motors, thanking on each
side the small car (N) and acting directly
sented by the circles Oh, HI. But will AL
fonso be permitted to risk his life in such
experiments?
Ying Watches the Work.
Ostensibly the airship belongs to Don Es-
teban, just as the first automobile that AL
fonso drove belonged to the Duke of Alva.
Daily, now, the king speeds out to the
workshop to note the dirlgible's progress,
driving his forty-horsepower machine to
the admiring approval of the populace. One
day he will step into the car of the Glover
Leaf" and call out: Let go. alli''
The danger is more apparent than real.
The daily use Of spherical balloons for sport
and pleasure goes on all over Europe
without a single accident being registered.
From the viewpoint of statistics, ballooning
Is immensely safer than automoblling AS
to present-day afrships- the monsters or the
French army often seek high attitudes and
run the technical risk of bursting that they
must accept in war, but at the approved
height of twice above the housetops there
is no more danger in an alrShlp than In
spherical balloon.
If the airship falls it falls slowly. and 1t
has the present advantage over the motor
aeroplane that it can be actually started
into the air!
the midst of the worlds aeroplaning ex-
periments Is shown by the latest move OF
Santos Dumont. While his new pure-aero-
plane is almost ready for trial. he has peen
hastily building the most peculiar hybrid
continuance aginable-nothing less than a
gas-aeroplane!
AS the extraordinary little machine Is &C
tually being filled today. you will doubtless
read of its exploits before these lines can
be printed. I should not be surprised IL ne
made forty-five miles an hour with 1t!
It is an airship. and not an airship. II is
an aeroplane and not an aeroplane In
truth it Is an aeroplane in part sustained
by a comparatively tiny spindle-shaped bal
loon of 90 cubic meters capacity, where
that of Alfonso holds 700 cubic meters!
There will be no car. Santos will Sit on
a bicycle saddle Is. d. in front OF hfty-
horsepower S-cylnder Antoinette motor
without 'f1y-wheel CND acting directly on a
large propeller CID, placed closer to tne
balloon and nearer Its centers OF gravity
and traction than ever a propeller was
placed before. 49,,
Santos is a phenomenal lightweight. Inc
| particular motor is another phenomena
| lightweight Nevertheless the ensemble WI
| be 24O pounds heavier than the air 1t dis
| places! The little spindle-shaped, nee
dIe-pointed gas bag will never be able Il
| lift it an inch from the ground.
| What will lift the "spindle?" Why, the
| motor and propeller. just as in any pure
| aeroplane. 1t is an aeroplane In this. tina,
two great planes of vanished SILK stretched
on a light framework will help to sustain II
in the air. so long as the motor WORKS!
Fifty horsepower to drive 2iO-pouno
aeropiane including the weight OF the pi-
lot! Now you will understand the cable
reports when they begin coming!
STERLING HELLO.