Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-07
INTERESTING NOTES
OF AIR FLIGHTS

For the purpose of making expert
ments with wireless telegraphy from q
balloon, an aerial flight was made from
Washington to Patuxent, Md, last
week in Signal corps balloon. one OF
the passengers being Major Edgar
Russell, assistant to the chief signal
officer of the army. II think 1 car
safely predict" he said, that WIRE
less telegraphy to and from balloon
can be used in war. This means that
l am sure that we will shortly perfecI
an apparatus that can be safely and
successfully used in both receiving and
sending messages from balloon to
any station within a radius of many
miles. We carried only receiving ap-
paratus, and this worked perfectly
We did not try to send for fear or the
danger that lies In sparks from the
sending instrument When up ovel
Washington. we could receive from the
Annapolis station clearly. The ap-
paratus we used was just the reverse
of the ordinary type of wireless sta
ton. Instead of erecting the anten'
nae on a tall mast we hung 1t down
from the basket with wire netting
which took the place of the usua
counterpoise cables extending from the
ISM"
An aeroplane known as Milwaukee
No. /, the invention of DR.. Silverston
has been undergoing some preliminary
| tests on the fair grounds at Milwau-
kee during the past few days. The
trials were made for the purpose oi
testing the engines and steering ap'
| paratus. The engines were run at 8
velocity of $50 revolutions a minute
giving about 800 to the big fan inside
| the cylinder, and this was enough t6
| make Milwaukee No. 1 charge franti'
cally off at the fences, its steering
| mechanism not being designed to oper'
ate on the ground. The 60-foot planes
were not attached and therefore the
ship did not essay a flight, but the test
| of the 40 horsepower engine and the
steering gear was satisfactory except
| that the heavy ground had tendency
| to mase the steering wheel wobble
Mr.. Sidverston said he was thoroughly
| satisfied with the tests, and when the
track was better would perfect the
steering apparatus of the airship OF
the ground and later rig the big lat
erai planes for fight through the air
At Hammondsport, n. Y, last weel
several short flights were made by
Prof. Alexander Graham Bells aero
plane, White Wings. The experiments
were conducted on the race track two
miles from Hammondsport. The aero
plane is mounted on wheels, similar
to bicycle wheels, and has to be rur
on the track until a certain velocity
is reached, when it scars into the air
Many prominent aeronauts witnessed
the test, including representatives OF
the Aero Club of America.
Roy Knabenshue, the we'll known To-
ledo aeronaut, will soon attempt a LONG
fight in a new dirigible balloon. He
will try to make a continuous passage
from Toledo to Cleveland. about IL.
miles. Part of the way he will sal
above Lake Erie. The gas bag of the
craft is cigar shaped, 112 feet long, ane
is constructed of the finest silk. 1t IL
171k feet in diameter. Suspended to the
gigantic cylindrical balloon is the hull
a delicate trussed frame of spruce stee
tubing and piano wire. Three wicker
baskets are suspended from the frame
Henry Farman, the European aero
naut, who was the first to fly cir
cular kilometer in a heavier-than-air
flying machine, has challenged the
Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio, for
a flying machine contest in France for
$4,000 side. 1t is said, however. that
the Americans will ignore the chal-
lenge