New-York tribune., 1908-07-27
AERIAL NAVIGATION
Continued from first page.

Continued from FIRST page.
against the wind. and there viii also De reau'
an endurance test, in course OF Whioh 'he -
chine must remain in the air at least an houi
and be steered with perfect controi anu eau-
1;hr;r,o The successful aeroplane must also pe
ahle 10 reascend' promptly from any place Wheie
il may aIight This viii require a simple s'ai' :
ing device and a means of safe descent III as
of accident TO the propeller Both paiioohs aiiC
aeroplane must be so constructed tiiao ,
corps enlisted men of average mechaii'" NJ ~,
edge win be able to handle them in reasoilaOie
time.
THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON
In building his gas bag, which VIII De IN
rated at Fort Myer in the next TWO y.
davs Captain Baldwin has followed lhe liie0iio
advanced by DR.. Albert Zahm as 10 the SHAPE u
the bag The blunt end is at the loF"afo 0
OF the shin the propeller also being placed Ia
go, Tho latter pulls the machine instead OF
,sh,,v II II throws a current Of wind on the
engine thus aiding in cooling it. The propeher
is of wood which has undergone speclai PioO
ess The two blades are five feet long, anu inc
nropesier has thrust" OF from forty 10 lor's-
three miles hour
The Curtis engine to be used compares la'oi
ably. it is said with the French Antoine''e
Rotor used by the leading aeronauts in Europe.
II is capable of making 450 revolutions nn-
,,te which Captain Baldwin believes TO De pet
ter adapted TO the purpose than an engine mar
ing one thousand revolutions. The framework
which is light is of Oregon spruce, supported oy
usne strips which have withstood weight or
ninety pounds to the inch The gas bag is Vul-
canized rubber. lined on both sides with SILK
snd has stood a test Of Einety-five pounds to
the inch width. thirty pounds more than the
specifications require
A bauoonet separates the gas from the walls
of the balloon. This balloonet is under the
control of the operator by means of a valve
,be ,,rircipJe of q safety valve on boiler being
carried out centrifugal blower is connected
with the haIloonet by means Of which air will
be pumped into 1t when necessary. The bal
loonet is an important factor in the control Of
the machine
Control Of the machine is one of the problems
which Captain Baldwin VIII have to contend
with: in fact, IT is the only one that is giving
him concern. Heretofore he has controlled the
balance of the airship by shifting his position in
the framework but the contract will not per-
NIT him to do so with his new machine. The
vertical movements Of the ship will be largely
controlled by several movable planes In order
To familiarize himself with and 10 thoroughly
test the new methods of controlling the dirtgi-
BILE Captain Baldwin will make several unoffi-
cial trials
PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS.
IF / make twenty or thirty preliminary
tests ne said yesterday, 'T will be able to
make the trials 20 to 30 per cent more sue
cessftIl. The work of assembling my dirig1ble
will be simple and viii only require four or five
6ays I Will be assisted by force of mechan-
scians who are experts in balloon construction.
and who will be hand Monday, so as to be-
gin work as soon possible. shall make about
ten or twelve preliminary flights to get the bal
loon in smooth working order before undertak-
ing the official trial flight before the board of
army officers 1 do not expect to begin these
preliminary flights until about the second week
IN August although my machine may possibly
be ready before that time
The dirigible / have built is about ninety feet
long Il has a displacement Of 1870 pounds
and will carry two men. Its operation is sc
simple that any learn to run it within
a short time OF course. experience alone de
x-elors skill IN the management OF a dirigible
balloon in the air. and the longer an aeronaut
experiments with his machine the more he
learns about its operation and management
I have gone over the country over which the
flights are to he held, and far as am con-
earned 7 think il is ideal The drill ground
where the starting point will be located is large
and has wide sweep of level ground, which
will afford satisfactory starting and stopping
point for botkrsfhe dirigible and the heavier
thsn-air si1achines which are 10 be tested next
month
u believe Captain Baldwin continued, that
the dirigible balloon will prove valuable en-
gine of war Experiments abroad have gone
further than they have in this country and the
progress Of foreign aeronauts has been unusual
" rapid However, there is every reason to
believe that within the next few years Ameri-
can aeronauts will be able 10 equal, if not eX-
eel the work which is now being done abroad
by Count Won Zeppelin and others. The bal
looms USED by European aeronauts are as g
rule. larger than those used in this country, but
as soon as we have passed through the expert
mental stage larger machines will be con-
structed"