The Washington herald., 1908-07-27

The balloon tent n which the dir.gI5le
balloon constructed BY Capt. Thomas s.
Baldwin, ot New York. VIII 5e assembled
is expected 70 arrive Il Fort Nyer. Va.
to-day, and Il viii be pitched on the driu
ground, where the starting point Of the
ofacial course viii be located. The gas
beg, car. and motor for Capt. Baldwin 5
dirigi5le have arrived al Fort 1Iyer. and
the work OF assembling viii be begun as
soon as Tie tent Is II position.
4 force q mechanics viii assist Capt.
Baldwin n the work Of assembling his
tirlsib-e- These experts arrived IN Wash
irgton yesterday. and viii begin work to
day
Capt Baldwir's balloon is about 90 feet
IN length, and has only one baUoonet IT,
tie gas bag Il has a displacement Of
l-7s5 pounds. and VII carry -vyo men, one
% operate and steer the balloon. while
tie other may devote al his tine 20
making observations - the country trav-
ersed The gas bag is Of SIX. re-eo-
forced with ru5oer. ard IS capable ol re-
s-stiug q pressure eGua- % niaety-G-e
pounds 20 the square inch The engine
is a eJ-horsepower motor. which VIII drive
fore part Of Jhe d.-isible. The co-struc-
tion q Capt BaIdwln's balloon Is 50
simple tEar Il can be assembled within
thirty-siz hours.
Aerial Navigation Solved.
The science OF aerial navigation said
Capt Baldwin. has been solved. but the
next few years viii see great improve
nsnts IN alrship construction Count Won
Zeppelin. the German aeronaut. has had
sreat success with his large dirlgi5le. and
the Wright brothers. a VI Herring. the
association which built the Juaebug. AID
many other aeroplane inventors. have
demonstrated thar heavier-thar-air ma
chimes are also quite successful I be
lievs 81 viii be only snort time before
we SHAH see q successful cJubina-l51 OF
these two types of airshlps. and the
problem OF aerial navigation viii then be
completely solved.
Capt Bal6w-as d-rigi5le Is unique be
cause Of The fact that TIE specifications
prepared by the Army Signal Corps wal
not allow h!-c 70 raise and lower his ma
chine by sliding his position in the frame
work he has introduced several box
kites for this purpose Eight kites have.
been arranged - sets Of four each tore
sad aft. or Jhe framework OF the car
They are controlled by levers and change
their positions according 70 the viii OF
The operator Another new feature n
Capt Baldvtu's dirigible.is q rubber net
ting which contracts the lower parts OF
the gas bag as the gas expands unCer che
influence OF the cooler outside afr.
Open Gas Bag n Mistake.
'Aeronauts have often made the mis-
take" Capt Baldwin continued. "of
leaving The mouth Of the gas bag open.
II case tEis is done, air enters the gas
bag and weakens the lifting power Of the
gas. This happened in the international
race from ST Louis last year. where sew
sraI Of the contestants were obliged 70
descend uremaJuCely from waste Of gas
Il the mouths OF their gas bags had been
closed. they could have remained IN the
air an indefinite time With further i'm
proveueEts IN the material OF the gas
bag and additional protection ot the gas
within, I believe that within q short
space OF time the dlrfgible balloons OF
navigate the world without once land
ms.
Ny dirigibIe." said Capt Baldwin. is
q combination Of discoveries made by
other aeronaUts- I have gathered 10
E=tler what regarded as the best ideas
and combined them IN my machine. There
are many experiments now working upon
The problem Of aerial navigation. and
believe i- VIII be only q few years before
il has been accomplished