The Washington herald., 1908-05-29

Dayton. Ohio, May 2S.-The machine
which has been brought 10 practical per-
lection. as instanced in the Manteo, n. c..
flights by the Wright brothers, Orvine
and Wilbur, OF this city. is an aeroplane,
a glider some experts have designated
it. The airship Is built Of spruce wood,
second growth ash, steel wire, heavy mus
lin, and a small proportion Of metal.
In appearance It resembles Snothing so
much as a big box kite, consisting of two
parallel planes. 20 feet long and GA feet
wide muslin joining the planes. which
are built Of spruce. Between them, and
just under the upper plane, is a motor,
which drives the propeller. which is in
the rear. six feet behind the disks or
planes.
There is included an arrangement by
which the driver directs the machines
course by raising or lowering the edges
Of the planes and by shifting the dircc-
ton of the propeller. There is also
rudder in the front Of the machine. which
is shifted 10 aid In steering.
Carries Two Men.
The operator in earlier experiments re-
clined prone on a platform just to the
rear of the disks or planes. a movable
cradle on which he lay being utilized by
the operator in shifting the incline Of
the planes. But this year an arrangement
Of levers permits the driver to sit erect
The motor by which the propeller is
driven weighs l60 pounds and the weight
Of the entire machine 100 pounds. in
cluding that OF its two riders or drivers.
Il has no air or gas bag. it's buoyancy
being that of the air alone. The ma
chimes successful flights in which. how
ever. a wreck was recorded. seem marvel
Gus until IL is explained that the airshlp
is built for operation on the centurIes-old
principle of the fat disk which. thrown
into the air. sails by the motion OF its
original impulse for scores Of yards and
then IN falling. skins along over the
ground for an indefinite distance. finally
settling to earth without perceptible col
lislon.
Landing Made simple.
But the Wright brothers. in their trial
flights, have encountered collisions with
the earth from which they were seeking
TO separate themselves. and # WAS not
until recently that the machine was
brought 10 such perfection that landing
was made as simple as that Of the disk
on which the machine Is modelled
In the earlier experiments Of the sons
OF Bishop Milton Wright the first i'm
pulse OF motion was relied on by the
navigators of the air. No motor was
included in the air ships equipment. the
start OF a flight being made from a
height and the principle Of the floating
disk being utilized.
This, Of course, brought the machine to
a standstiU after a time. and II crashed
to the ground repeatedly. its weight be-
ing in slightly greater proportion to its
size than that OF the disks used in illus
trating the simple principle
Then the motor and propeller were de-
vised and the Dayton aeronauts became
known as men who had solved the prob
lem Of flight
Worked for Seven Years.
from the top OF Kill Devil Hin. al Man
teo. merely to solve the problem OF steer
ing their machine. Then they designed
the gasoline motor and propeller 10 OBJ
tain n continuous energy in the place OF
the first impulse which they had gained
from the start from the hnrs top
Also, this year the brothers altered
the arrangement OF levers bv which 20
work the universal and hinged joints Of
the machine, which makes possible the
shifting Of the incline Of the planes. so
that both might ride and cit erect, in
stead Of lying prone. With this condition
came the great step In the perfection Of
the airship TO vehicle in which passen-
gers might be carried in comfort-a step
which is being worked out in the Manteo
trials.