The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-11-06
NO MONEY FOR
AIRSHIP MEN


Aeroplanists' hopes were considerably
dampened by the recent decision of the
Secretary of the Navy to hold up the
advertisements for the navy flying ma
chimes till the next meeting OF Con-
gress.
There was not much money involved
in the decision. The aeroplane experts
of the department wanted only about
$4,000 to experiment with. This could
have been spared out of funds at the
disposal of the bureau of equipment.
But the solicitor of the Navy Depart
ment said, in his wisdom. that Con-
gress had not intended the money to
be spent for aeropanes when it was
appropriated. This probably is the
fact, as aeroplanes at that date were
a very speculative commodity But
the younger officers of the navy were
fired by the success of Orville Wright
at Fort Myer, and were all primed to
buy heavier-than-air flying machines
and make the United States navy the
first in the world in that field.
OPEN TO ANY SORT OF AIRSHIP.
The Navy Department is, of course,
greatly taken with the Wright type of
aeroplane. 1t is not committed, how
ever, to that or to any other type, and
is willing to consider bids for planes,
heliocopters and even tapping ma
chimes, so they fulfill the require
ments.
One inventor who was all ready to
put in bid for a new machine and
something of a radically different type
from anything yet developed was AL
eXander Wilson of Bangor, Me. He is
a friend of Capt. Tom Baldwin, who
furnished the dirigible No. 1 to the
army.
Wilson is an old balloonist and pa
rachute man who has knocked all over
the world and has had a lot Of practi-
cal experience with matters aerial He
has been working for a dozen years
on a soaring device and says it is the
only machine for a man to use.
No tapping machine has ever flown,
so far as the record of aeronautics
goes. But while Wilson's machine can
flap little, it is not built for propul-
sion in that way.
He uses no motor and depends for
progress on soaring like a great bird
The fitting of the wings is dependent
on a peculiarly arranged fulcrum and
is merely for the purpose of balancing |
Some old showmen who knew Wilson |
well laughingly call his machine the |
Flying Flapjack. But they admit he
Is not regulation crank and think |
he may have something good.
Wilson himself says he has scared |
seven miles in his machine and that |
he has been up 700 feet. The device,
according to his statement, depends
more on the skill of the operator than
my other flying machine.
He was preparing to put in a bid for
me of the navy machines when the
specifications were held up by the Sec
'etary of the Navy.
The manipulation of a machine
Without motor sounds almost utopi-
IN. 1t is to be remembered, however,
90 yards in their machine before they
installed a motor, and that Lilienthal,
before his death, flew three-quarters of
/ mile and even assembled with fixed
wings. SO that it looks as though al
most anything in the flying line were
possible.
Wilson has practiced soaring for
ears and has a couple of trees on his
'lace with a wire rope stretched be-
ween them. With this as an anchor
Joint, he has practiced flying and
laims he has remained in the air as
much as two hours.
ORVILLE WRIGHT GOING HOME.
Orville Wright, at Fort Myer, is i'm
'roving steadily The surgeons hope
hat in about two weeks he will be in
to be removed to Dayton,
where he can finish his tedious con-
'alescence at home.
Brig. Gen. Allen, chief of the signal
service, U. S. A., who witnessed the
balloon race at Berlin,
will make a determined effort this
winter to obtain million-dollar ap-
from Congress for military
leronautic purposes.
The new Italian military dirigible
which is being tested, is about
1877 feet long and has a capacity of
1920 cubic feet, 1t has the popularity
Of being two-storied, like aeroplanes,
and of being provided with two cars
capable of accommodating eight per-
sons. It's envelope is cigar shaped and
Of vanished silk.
Lord Northcliffe has arranged to Of
Fer, through the Daily Mail of Lon
don, prize of $4,000 for the first per.
son who succeeds in crossing the Eng
fish channel, in either direction, by
means of an aeroplane during the cur
rent year.
A METEOROLOGICAL OUTRAGE
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