The Washington herald., 1908-09-01

DirigibIe No. /. Of the United States
army Signal Corps. VIII be Debated al
Fort Myer to-day.
, Lieut. Lahm and two or three other
Officers VIII make an ascension IN a Bald
win spherical balloon some time this fore
4 noon, presumably at II o'clock The
spherical viii be inflated with the 1900
feet OF hydrogen in the Girigible- The
big. round, yellow balloon viii be free.
Where it viii sail depends entirely upon
the wind blowing to-day
Gen Allen gave orders yesterday that
the Baldwin dirigible be debated. boxed.
and Immediately shipped 10 ST Joseph.
No After the gas is forced out Of the
dirisiole. the silk envelope viii be packed
in a box The engine viii be tested TO-
day, and efforts made 20 get It in working
order before being shipped 10 the Military
Exposition After the engine Is properly
tuned Up. the framework Will De taken
apart and Grated in long and short strips
Of wood
VIII Test the Engine
Three days probably will be consumed
IN testing the engine and taking the
framework apart The balloon tent in
which the Baldwin machine has been
housed for the last i've weeks win be
70 the ground, and also shipped
~ St Joseph
This afternoon. however, il is expected
OrviIe Wright viii have his aeroplane
IN the balloon tent beside the framework
Of the dirig{ble- The arrangement yes
tsrday was that the aeropIane should
be transferred from the balloon shed TO
the tent as soon as the diriEIble was de-
fated and folded
While the defation. engine testing. and
dismantling Of the framework Is going on
n the tent workmen VIII be busy building
z wooden house for the aer0pIane and
when the tent is moved the Wright ma
chine viii be transferred 10 the new
b structure Lumber for the house was
placed near The tent yesterday afternoon
Whether the house VIII be built in that
vicinity Is p-0bIematical. however. as Mr..
NWriEht wishes 10 start his flights from
the other end Of the parade grounds II
IS expected the house VIII be completed
tomorrow afternoon or THURSDAY morn
ing
lIr Wright said yesterday he did not
know when he would make his fi-sr flight
but thought his engine would be fl proper
trim for q trial tomorrow The motor,
which has given M Wright and his
mechanics some trouble throughout the
asr four DAYS. was not working perfect
ly yesterday evening. Mr.. Wright said
one OF the bearings was considerably
heated IN the several brief tests. and he
y wished 10 overcome that before attempt
~ flight Other than the heating
u the bearing the motor seemed TO per
form satisfactorily
Prevented the Flight
- mixture in the motor on the Bald
p Eia machine was responsible for the fail
IRE Of the Signal Corps officers q make
the proposed fight from Fort Myer tc
the Washington Monument yesterday
srenilg. In anticipation Of this flight. q
number OF persons journeyed out 10 ths
fort. 10 be disappointed
Leuts- Lahm and FouIols made ons
circle over the parade fed 20 Try out tbs
+. motor and then descended They wer.
J IN the air less than a minute Lieuts
Lahn. FoUIois. and Se-fridgs then start
I'd 10 work on the motor, which was left
Al Fort lIyer IN perfect running order by
the inventor. Glen Curyiss After eacr
readjustme1t by the officers the engine
performed worse than before. and they
finally gave up and had the balloon tow,
I'd back into the shed
The fight made by Lieuts FouIois and
Eahu was the last that viii be made fr
the Baldwin diriEibIe al Fort lIyer What
viii be done with the invention after the
Missouri exposition IS not known. but Il
is probable the machine viii 90 10 For
Omaha 10 be tried by other officers
The trouble encountered by the officers
. was with the adjustment Of air 10 rhg
- rburet0rs on the motor The CurtIss
eS-oureco-s are sensitive and the weight
OF q hair VIII affect them i is. there
fore. absolutely necessary 20 get an ex
act amount Of air on them ar the proper
tine The Carburetors mix the air viii
the gasoline and cause q heavy and
fC-ceful explosion.
should Keep Throttle Open.
Prior 10 his departure M Cu-riss ex
planned 70 the Signal Corps officers t1a.
in order 70 get the proper mixture 1t wa
necessary TO keep the throttle Of the car
buretors open while adjusting the ali
pressure. For some reason this instruc
ton has not been followed. the tnrottl,
being closed each time.
As a result the air did not take tn
proper effect the explosions lacked. force
and instead OF an uninterrupted sp1tte-
ing which means that the motor +
working properly. the engine snapua.