The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-02-22
BUILDS FLYING
MACHINE On PLAN
OF BIRDS WINGS
Inventor Holland Laughs at the
Vanity Of ''lnfaIlible'
Modern Scientists.
DECLARES M TALK
CONCEALS IGNORANCE
Hopes to Prove Real Flight by
"Air Rarefaction"-Re-
qnires Little Power.

Air navigation is lncOmparably SIM
pier than submarine navigation" said
John p. Holland, inventor of the Hol-
land submarine, who, with victory over
the oceans depths behind him, is turn
ing his attention to the conquering Of
the air. The chief difficulties .%encoun-
tered are not natural ones, but those
imposed by scientists"
Mr.. Holland was explaining how it
was that flying machines were not in
use today. and incidentally taking .
knowledge" His own machine. built
on the plan of a BIRDS wing, had oper-
ated successfully four years ago he
said. and he is only waiting for clear
weather and better health to demon
strate its powers further.
I'm the latter part of the eighteenth
century scientists found that 1t re-
quired three horsepower for a Is pound
goose to support itself in the air. The
~aeronauts of the day despaired, because
If 1t took that much power to lift a
bird, how could they ever hope to lift
themselves? So they we're compelled to
stop, because the scientists said to.
Scientists Continue InfaIlibIc.
Modern scientists are more merciful,
but no less infallible. Octave Chenute,
the ex-president of the Society of En-
g~ineers, summed up the opinion of his
co-workers In their attempts at aerial
navigation in his very valuable work
on Progress in Flying Machines He
says: There is good reason to be-
lieve hat birds in ordinary fight de-
velop one horse power to 20 pounds of
weight, and can, for a brief period,
give out energy at such a rate as to
represent an engine of only five or six
pounds weight, developing one horse
power. That is, q 20 pound bird de-
velops one horse power in steady
flight and five horse power when ris-
ing from the ground and when alight-
ing
THAT is equivalent to saying that
a bird flying for one day expends more
than its own weight would be In coal
if 1t were a steam engine of more than
average efficiency.
isn't that absurd? But we feel
bound to believe it; it is science, be-
cause the infallible scientific authori-
ties have SO decided. We can always
hear reyerently decisions of infallible
authorities on matters where there is
no human experience, but in The mat
ter Of science, where teachers claim
they demonstrate everything and
threaten to excommunicate us if we
don't swallow all they say, they pro-
woke us to irreverence for science"
Mr.. Holland stopped to laugh at the
foibles of science.
Laughs Mt scientists.
"Since the beginning OF the world"
he continued, ''men have observed that
twenty to fifty pound Birds, and eigh-
teen to twenty-pound albatrosses NOV
ed all day on soaring wings. as if
they actually weighed nothing. We are
all aware that their weight can't be
supported without something counter
acting 1t, but when they move on soar,
ing wings-without beating, and the
scientists are asked to explain how it
! happens, and we are well aware that
there is nothing occult aiding the bird,
they content themselves with telling
us that it Is 'mysterious;' that it Is
something beyond the reach of human
knowledge, SO far as their studies in
form them. The trouble with them
! seems to be that each is convinced
that all scientific knowledge resides
under his own particular hat. Had
they taken the trouble to look at ma
ture instead of consulting their W
conceited consciousness, they would
have discovered that flight is the
simplest method of animal locomotion,
and the cheapest of power. It Is so
simple, in fact, that there is no ex-
cuse for elaborate scientific explana-
tions and observations. They did not
take the trouble. and they knew that
ignorant folks would be satisfied If
they called it a mystery.
An Example from Life.
Most people in this country have
often seen turkey buzzards and eagles
launching themselves from rocks or
trees. and almost invariably remarked
the bird head downwards on out
stretched wings, and after having de-
scended about 80 feet. move away hori-
zontally, without making even a single
beat. Sometimes they go miles in this
way.
Now what held them up? The birds
weigh considerable, and must have had
support. Apparently they were not de-
veloping any power, and the wings,
instead of being inclined ~aeroplane
fashion. were held fiat. All naturalists
will agree that this description lis alb
solutely true, and they will admit thai
air ra~refaction over the wings, the
power hat is universally employed by
all flying things, the power which they
have so long failed to observe because
they already knew it all, is really what
supports the birds in the air. The
propuIsive power due to action of the
ends of the wings during Tapping and
beating Hight, or to their alternate de-
scent during soaring fight, maintains
the speed necessary to rarefac-
ton over the wings upper surface, an6
this rarefaction is owing to the fact
that the under surface of the wings, al
each transverse section, is held flat In
reference to the air stream passing I'M
der ii. The thickened, upper convez
edge of the wing. throws the body Of
} air represented by the wings length
and thickness upward, and this up.
ward stream canno recurve instantly
and move in contact with the upper
surface of the wing. but leavessa com
: paratively empty space over 1t in which
the air pressure is reduced about one
half inch water pressure.
, Now in the case of an albatross
r Weighing 20 pounds, his wing surface !.
500 square inches. Twenty divided by