Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05
ISRAEL LUDLOW, INVENTOR
Moves South in 9Th Street Along
side Old Depot.
CASTING PROVES DEFECTIVE
Repairs to Be Made Without Delay
Diahedral Planes Used-1ndi-
cations of Success.

A defective casting. coupling the a.
horsepower petroleum engine to the seven
foot propeller of his heavier-than-alr
! flying machine. was probably the only
thing that prevented Israel Ludlow. the
inventor. from celebrating the national
birthday anniversary by successful
fight. The machine had been in course
of construction by Mr.. Ludlow, assisted
by F. l.. Rice, in the abandoned Pennsyl-
vania railroad station in this city, by per-
mission of. the War Department officials.
andvesterday was far enough advanced to
warrant n trial. Taking advantage of
newly laid strip of asphalt pavement. Mr.
Ludlow wheeled his machine out into 9th
street yesterday afternoon and started the
mechanism. Only his crippled condi-
ton caused him to surrender to r. Moore.
one of his assistants. the controlling seat
i'm the aeroplane. The machine responded
quickly to the pull of the propeller. which
is located in front. unlike most flying ma
chimes. 1t sped rapidly along the street
and the front wheels were just lifting
clear of the ground when the coupling
snapped and the test was at an end Re
pairs will be made at once, and with the
installation of more powerful engine an
other trial will soon follow.
LudloWS machine differs from others
in the embodiment of diahedral planes
in the framework to afford stability.
Some of the Dimensions.
The big plane was put together during
the past fortnight in the trainshed. 1t
is the lightest plane with the greatest
area of supporting Surface that has yet
been tried. The width of the double
deca plane is twenty-five and one-half
feec. the height between surfaces five
feet ana the length about twenty-five
feet. with some space between the three
sections in which the plane is built. The
total area of supporting surface is ST.
feet. and the weight with the operator
is a little less than 500 pounds.
Lateral balance is secured by the de-
vice that has been feature of all Mr..
Ludlow's planes. the dihedral angle. This
angles to the line of fight and rising
at an angle of IS degrees from the CEN
ter of the lower plane 1t is a feature
that none of the successful planes of
Henri Farman or Delaggrane have pos
sessed, and the trials that have been
made when flying the plane like kite
have shown that II is the most satisfac-
tory and simplest form of balance that
has been devised.
Develops Strong Pull.
The motor in use in the trial yesterday
was only fourteen-horse power. but with
the propeller in use it develops a pull of
l2o pounds. and it is possible that this
will be enough to take the machine off
the ground for a short flight. One of the
greatest handicaps that the designer has
suffered has been the inability TO get
a larger engine, but if the trial flight
which is to be attempted within few
days proves as successful as the effort
yesterday indicated a larger motor will
be installed and public exhibition made
The work has been badly handicapped
to date by lack of equipment but the
showing yesterday was so favorable that
it is believed this will speedily he over
come.
is to throw the draft of air back with
full force against the supporting planes
and aid in lifting the weight from the
ground.