The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1907-03-23
AERIAL NAVIGATION.
~Heavier Than Air" Flying Machines
Now the Goal of Inventors.

! machine Of the heavier than air" va
riety. offered by English and French
/ enthusiasts, have caused great activity
| among would be inventors, and some
| Of the most prominent aeronautic eX-
perts predict that the year just begun
will be marked by remarkable adj
vances in the science and practice of
/ aerial flight. To the gasoline engine
/ and TO the extraordinary mechanical
progress made in automobiliSm is due
| the hope that something definite and
/ worthy may be achieved by those who
seek to solve the problem of aerial trav-
I cling.
The ordinary balloon, it is agreed,
has little practical value save as an ex-
citing form Of sport and for purposes
of observation in calm weather. N
anything like n stiff breeze il IS the
sport Of the winds and quite useless
from a practical point OF view. Better
things are said of the cigar shaped con-
trivances utilizing both the gas bag
and the gasoline engine. Six years ago
Santos-DumOnt was able TO steer an
airship of this kind around the Eiffel
tower, running with and against the
wind. Since that time hundreds or
similar Siderable balloons have been
built in France until today they are
nearly as common as the spherical gas
bag. Nevertheless il is realized that
these are far from representing n solu-
ton Of the problem of practical naviga-
ton of the air They have, in fact,
only stimulated the desire for some
thing that will represent radical i'm
provement. such as the successful
heavier than air. vessel would be.
The latter would mean. naturally. dir
igible vessel which could be driven in
any kind of weather and in any de-
sired direction. 4 fortune in prizes al
ready awaits the inventor of such a
vessel, TO say nothing of the monetary
return in a business way. Two prizes
other in France, await the inventor of
the successful aeroplane.
The mechanical difficulties in the
way of producing perfectly dirigible
airship are immense because of the
number of contingencies that must be
provided for in travelling through such
q mobile and treacherous element as
the air. Machinery that can De de-
pended on not to fail and precipitate
the heavier than air" machine to the
earth is the most necessary qUalitica-
ton, but this can he provided, IL Is
known, If the method of propulsion
can he invented. The screw propeller
idea is by no means ideal because OF
its great bulk. its poor lifting power
and its enormous waste of energy. 4
Tapping propeller. moving from side to
side, seems to give promise, but many
sound thinkers favor an approximation |
to the bird method of flight. though |
serious difficulties lie in the way of |
converting circular motion derived /
from n motor into the complicated and |
various motions performed by the |
wings of n bird. Even If such motion |
could be Appropriated by mechanical |
means great skill would be required in |
directing the controlling mechanism, |
as the constantly changing aerial con- |
ditions would have TO be .instinctively |
provided against. i
Toy models working after the man. |
ner Of birds wings have successfully /
a few yards, but have failed |
Of success when enlarged TO any ex- |
tent. That the air is q region in !
which man can travel has been proved. |
however, and that under conditions he |
can sail or fly through 1t by the aid of |
power has also been DEM |
but many years are likely |
to elapse before any practical method /
Of aerial navigation can lie attained. |
It is q problem that will not he solved |
but that solution will come
eventually is now almost a settled con-
viction with students of aeronautics, |
md the incentives offered abroad with |
In the past few months give the hope
that great progress, if not actual
achievement. will mark the current
year.-New York Sun.