Evening star., 1909-05-16

the development of suitable motor. 50
the perfection of the aeroplane for prac-
tical purposes must await the develop
ment of a motor which will be extremely
light. have exceptional power and above
all, which will not fail while the machine
is in fight. The Wright brothers. who
had for "A long time maintained that
eventually aeroplanes would be driven by
man power. have now reached the con
clusion that a more perfect motor is the
necessary requisite. They are on their
way TO this country and will conduct ex-
periments secretly for the purpose Of per-
fecting motor of greater durability than
that which they now have.
Ever since the question of flight hy
heavier-than- machines driven by the
power of a gasoline motor has received
serious consideration inventors have been
hampered by the lack of dependab lie
engine Gen James Allen of the Signal
Corps. who is enthusiast over aero
nautics, although he places more faith in
the dirigible balloon than in the heavier
than-air machine. is planning 10 give in
ventors the benefit of experiments which
he proposes to have the officers of the
aeronautical division conduct at tort
Myer this year for the purpose of de-
termining which are the best motors for
aeronautical use.
The Wright brothers will not install
their new motor in the machine which
they will deliver to the government. even
though they shall have completed their
experiments by the time they reach
Fort Myer. 1t is understood that they
have made a contract with the British
government which is based principa lily
upon the results which they will attain
I'm their efforts to perfect this motor.
They will carry on their experiments
at Dayton Ohio. where they first began
their attempts at flight. and will come
to Fort Myer some time during the month
of June They are to receive the Aero
Club medals at the White House, on the
10th of that month.
As the Wrights have instructed various
men abroad it is not expected that they
will have much difficulty in teaching the
army aeronauts the manipulation of
their aeroplane. Lieuts. Frank p. Lahm
and Benjamin d. Foulois probably will
be selected to be taught by the Wrights.
Lieut. Lahm is at the head of the aero
nautical division. and Lieut.. Foulois is
one of the most promising aeronautical
students in the army. Together they
will instruct the other officers and men
of the aerona utical division i'm the hand
ling of balloons and in the further expert
ments which are to be conducted at Fort
Myer and Fort Omaha.
The Wrights will have a new device
on the machine which they will use at
Fort Myer This is a part OF their in
vention for controlling the equilibrium of
the aeroplane automa tically. and consists
of two vaneS placed one al each end
on the rod between the two planes.
When in flight one of these vanes as
sumeS an oblique position 20 the wind,
and while the Wrights have made no
thorough explanation of the effect of
this device ii is believed that II aids in
keeping the machine on an even keel
The patents for this We're recently issued
TO the brothers in England.
The machine which was wrecked at
Fort Myer in September was forty feet
from tip to tip of the wings. and the two
superinposed planes were OF an average
width of six feet For approximately
one-third of their length at each end
these planes were warped or bent by
means of the controlling levers. This
warping aids in guiding the machine and
in keeping 1t i'm "A horizontal position when
a gust of wind strikes the machine and
tends to force 1t on side Steering
the machine on its course was accom-
plished by pair of verticalN rudders IN
the rear combined with the effect of the
Warping of the planes. pair of hori-
zontal rudders in the front of the ma
chine and slightly I'm advance of the
skids. which are used in landing. afforded
the means by which the machine was