Evening star., 1908-01-12
llopEL OF LHNGLEuHERoDPQf

chine modelled on the turkey buzzard
principle. and who after this feat became
Prof Langleys assistant in his earlier
eNperiments is also looked upon as pos
sibility. as is Mr.. G. F. Manly: frot
Langlcy's principal assistant IN Tn" per
fcct!on of his last aefodoine. MT. Many
probably knows more about compact en-
sinss tnan aay other man living. II was
he who fell into the Potomac with the
Langley machine when tie launcL.ilS
apparatus broke p"ior TO its test. IRIS
machine never has had a test. 1t Is now
in the custody OF the Smithsonian and
whether the War Department VIII enter
1t In the test is not at present WFltliS
knCwn to the Smithsonian authorities II
would. however. appear to he an odo at
titude on the part of the War Depart
ment to ignore altogether a finished Dut
untried aerodome belonging to 1t, on
which ii has spent about $4,000, and
whose aeronaut is ava liable for test.
Kind of Dirigible Balloon Wanted.
The dirigible balloon which Gen. Allen
hopes to obtain for the Signal Corps as
the result of the other series of tests must
be designed for imitation with hydrogen
and the material for the gas baS-slk.
covered with an aluminium preparation.
-euuiring no varnsh-will he furnished
by the Signal Corps. He wants bidders
to state in their proposals the number of
The dimensions and shape of the balloon
bag will be left to the inventor. but IL
must not be over 40 feet long. Inside
the gas bag he wants one or two nal-
Ionets" having total capacity one
sixth that of the gas bag. Balonets are
little ballcon-Iike bags inflated inside bal
looms in order to keep their envelopes al
q uniform st,ifnass. Those inside the new
army dirg BILE ,,alloon must be connected
( hy. tubes to a blower which will maintain
u-=tr tr,i -, q air pIeSGIrP. The
fabric OF these Httln bags will also be
supplied by the army. The suspension
rrama supporting the car and motor
should be made so that it can be quickly
assembled or taken apart.
This airship. Ike the aercdrome. must
"a ry two persons. or $50 pounds but in
addition 1rp pour Is of ballast. which VIII
compensate FOR the increased weight OF
the balloon should it get wet. The de-
sired speed is fixed at half that wanted
in the aeru6rone. or twenty miles per hour
in still eir Fifteen per cent Of the cost
will b added suhtractcd for each mile
per hour mad above or below this The
trial course will b. between two and five
miles against and with the wind Fuel
for two hours must be carried and the
engine must have cooling arrangements.
There will he three trials for speed and
three for endurance. as in the case of the
anrodrOmeS. and ascending. descending
and maintaining equilibrium must be reg
ulatad by shifting weights. movable
planes or use of the ballonets, rather
than balancing by the aeronaGt. Bidders
for this airship are required to accom-
pany their proposals with a certified
check for L. per cent of the cost at the
twenty-mle speed.
Cen Aliens assistant in preparing for
the competition is Capt. G. de F. Chan
dler. the principal ae"onaut of the army,
who recently won the Lahm cup for
ong-distance flight in the army's new
balloon.
Capt Chambers photograph. posed be-
ore the basket of the balloon in which he
won the cup is published herewith.
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.