The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-19

tage to man, nor can It ever be, for the
reason that too large q surface is pre-
scented to the resistance of the air to
admit of large bodies being transported
from place to place, it requiring 13 1-S
cubic feet Of gas to raise one pound
weight. Therefore, we must abandon
ballooning as lifting power and devise
a machine heavier than air; one that
will lift large bodies b. its own power.
Can it be done? I think so. / believe
the aero-plane is the only possible solu-
ton 20 aero navigation, but, so far, no
one has been able to do more than glide
for short distance. No one yet has
been able to guide and control one un-
der all conditions of the air.
Important Principles Discovered.
Langley and Maxim have determined
two important facts in relation to aero
planes. Langley has found that the
faster a body is driven through the air
the less the resistance on the body pro
PEELED; and Maxim, that weight is no
bar to sailing in the air, provided the
weight has sufficient velocity, aided by
the air cushion beneath the weight. The
same principle is shown in a mans
skating across thin ice. If he moves
rapidly he passes over without accident:
if slowly, the result is disastrous. We
locity overcomes gravity, and the ice
acts as a cushion bearing the weight,
not on account of the strength of the
ice, but on account of the distance of
the surface passed over in a short space
of time.
These principles are not denied by
those who have given the subject atten-
ton. This being admitted, an aero
plane properly built and driven by a
continuous power, must of necessity fly
or glide over the air cushion beneath it:
1t does not matter what the weight 1fiay
be, provided the surface of the aero
plane or the distance travelled is pro-
pOrtionate to the weight, or the velocity
of the aero-plane is sufficient to over
come gravity of the given body. If that
we're ALL we would now navigate the air,
but there are other conditions to be
taken into account.
Difficulties to Overcome.
We must be able to direct our course
and maintain at ali times and under all
conditions our equilibrium. This is the
most difficult proposition that confronts
the aerial navigator. No man has as
yet constructed machine that can be
controlled by involuntary action, as the
bird in its flight through the air. The
bird accommodates itself 20 the condi-
lions that surround it. 1t does not think
what it will do. but does it by instinct.
Just as a person walking on a beam or
rope moves his body or arms without
thinking what he is doing or going to
do to maintain his equilibrium, but does
il involuntarily, whatever that action
may be.
We know that the air is full of whirl-
pools and eddies; drifting hither and
thither in all directions. There is no
warning to the senses of the operator
on an aeroplane, neither does he sense
the involuntary action necessary to
avoid the plunge to death. Not SO with
the birds; they are engine and engineer
combined, maintaining their equilibrium
by involuntary action. Man, being only
engineer, in navigating the air must de-
pend upon mechanical action and must
be guided by thought alone.
Another important factor In the con-
struction of an aeromotor is that Ii
must be built strong enough to with
stand the strain of rapid locomotion and
sustain the burden il bears under all
conditions of the shifting air currents.
Along these lines I have worked and
directed my experiments for many
years. and have just completed my
latest model of an aeromotor which /
believe contains every essential neces-
sary to practical aerial navigation.
The Gibson Aeromotor.
It has strength TO bear the burden and
strain or rapid locomotion- 1t is COM
posed of two planes, one above the
other. The skeletons or frames are COM