Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-08-14
BOY INVENTOR
OF REAL A|RsHIP
Problem of Aerial Nayi
CATION Solved By School
Boy

Pedaling about the sky near Column
bus, Ohio. with a bicycle frame sus-
pended beneath mammoth silk gas
bag, 14-year-old Cromwell Dixon is
the wonder OF the mechanical world. In
flying machine of his own handiwork
the lad in short trousers flies directly
against the heavy currents of air.
across them or with them at his will.
He floats now UP a thousand feet, now
down just above the tree tops. He
darts up as the eagle flies, and he
drops as though he would strike the
prov of his wonderful machine into
old mother earth as battleship would
jam rival He steers his craft. weird
bird Of passage that 1t is, like q pilot
would steer a yacht. He travels at
whatever speed he likes. He rests
when tired and spurts when the notion
seizes him. Seemingly he has per-
fected the means for aerial navigation.
Carries Flag High.
Cromwell Dixon has carried the
American flag higher than any other
person. Eight thousand feet into the
air he bore small silken flag present.
ed to him by the women of Mccoy
Womens Relief Corps--so high that
his 36-foot machine looked a speck in
the sky.
There are no engines, no gasoline
tanks on this newest of the airships.
An air bicycle. the boys inventor calls
1t. And an air bicycle 1t Is. In fact.
And with the old bicycle frame and
pedals and handle bar he steers about
at viii. just as he would run a bicycle
on the smooth streets. He uses the
pedals for motive power. the handle
bars for steering, the seat for the same
purpose the micycie manufacturer in
tended 1t.
Young Dixon Is a natural inventor.
The flying machine. with its silk bag
50 feet long and is feet in diameter.
it's frame of wood and bamboo, it's net
work above the gas bag. and even the
apparatus for generating the gas, are
his own handiwork. Alone he drew
the models; alone he wrought until
success came. Only the tired hands of
his widowed mother lent assistance.
she sewed In a dressmaking establish
ment at rs cents day, and then help
ed the lad in the thousands Of stitches
in the big gas bag. All the other work
the boy did himself.
Aptitude for Mechanics.
From the time he was in kits.
Cromwell has shown an aptitude for
mechanics. His ideas, however, have
not run to the commonplace things. He
has been creative. even visionary. But
the boy studied and learned. Around
the corner in the blacksmith he whiled
away idle hours. He visited the big
and little machine shops in the COM
munity and in local automobile fac
tories he has been spending whole day.
at a time. The lads first invention was
motorcycle OF his own make. He Sc
cured from a machinist fond of him
because of his love for mechanics, an
old gasoline engine. This he remodel
ed and attached to his bicycle.
The boy will take long distance
flight within the next few days. He
expects to travel farther than any aer-
onaut has ever gone, He will put in
his summer months perfecting his in
vention and has refused all offers from
amusement resorts. His mother Is
managing his affairs When he went
5000 feet in the air with his Ameri-
can flag the boys said that his craft
yielded so nicely to the impeller and
rudder that he could have covered al
most any distance He made about
eight miles on that trip, across the
current of the wind. which was not
very strong, but enough to carry him 6
third, of the distance when he stopped
pedaling.