The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-03-06

AIR NAVIG TOR
FAMOUS AERoPLANE TO MAKE
FIRST FLIGHT TODAY.
invades. of ETHEREAL Element Designed
and Built in BrownsviIle-Second
Attempt Made by Inventor Prem
tice A. Newman.

and Built in BnoWIasyille-SecOn
Attempt Made by Inventor Prem
tice A. Newman.
The finishing touches were being
put on the Brownsville aeroplane
today. and the big invader of the at
mosphere is expected to make its in
itial fight this evening if weather
conditions are favorable. At least,
that is the plan mapped out by Prem
tice A. Newman, the inventor of the
machine Mr. Newman stated at
noon today that he would be ready
for the flight by 4 p. m. or shortly
after that hour. Mr. Newman will
be accompanied in his fight by T. R.
Tumlinson. one of the stockholders
in the company that furnished the
capital with which to build the aer-
oplane.
1t was the intention to make the
| test yesterday. but owing to the IN
favorable weather conditions, it was
postponed.
The big air navigator which will
make its trial flight this afternoon
and which has attracted so much at
tention, not only in Brownsville but
all over the United States, is the in
vention of the man who will go up
with it in the first trip this after
noon=Prentice A. Newman As most
Herald readers know, this is not the
first airship Mr. Newman has built
Barely two months ago he launched
a similar machine in San Antonio,
xx-hi 1or-
than the one just completed, yet it
was more nearly a success than most
first attempts along this line of in
yention have been Mr.. Newman's
success in the San Antonio venture,
while not complete. was so nearly so
that he at once decided to build an
other airship, on a larger scale, and
devote to its construction more time
and care, doing the work along more
scientific principles.
After looking over different fields,
Mr.. Newman was induced to launch
his second venture in Brownsville.
This was partly due to the fact that
his brother is connected with the Rio
Grande Machine shops here, where
the iron work for the aeroplane was
made
Mr.. Newman's aeroplane is built on
plan strictly original. the idea hav-
ing born in the builders own brain.
1t is frail looking craft, and there
are probably few people who would
trust themselves to ride in it on
level ground over a smooth road to
say nothing of taking a scar skyward
in it. The main frame of the ma
chine is made of angle iron, thin,
light pieces that give the least pos
sible weight. The main frame proper
is about nine feet high and twelve
feet long by four feet wide at the
bottom, tapering towards the top to
a width of four inches This frame
is mounted on a double pair of BIZ
cycle wheels, two in front and two
behind. The frame is made to tilt
from front to back, when starting on
its flight
Extending nineteen feet on either
side of the main frame are the wings
double deckers, eight and half feet
wide The framework of the wings
is of wood and the covering canvass.
On top of the main frame, standing
upright is the fin three feet high
and twenty-six feet long, designed to
keep the vessel in an upright position
when in the air. In the rear are two
rudders and the tall the former
designed to guide the ship through
the air, and the latter to regulate its
upward and downward course. The
rudders are 3x6 feet and the tail is
5x12 feet with three sections about
three feet apart.
The entire mechanism is controlled
from the drivers seat in the front of
the main frame Beside the drivers
seat, is another for a passenger and
behind the seats is a place for the
5O-horse power gasoline motor that
is to be installed to propel the ma
chine. The motor has not yet arrived
and the flight today will be made
merely to test the buoyancy of the
machine. With the motor will be
two propellers, eight feet in diameter
and having capacity of $50 revolu-
lions per minute. These are intended
to move the machine through the air.
The outside dimensions of the aero
plane are 32x4O feet. the greater di-
mension being its breadth from tip to
tip of the wings. The other dimen-
sion is from the front of the main
frame to the tip of the tail The en-
tire canvass area is S14 feet, about
two and a half times that of the air.
ship built at San Antonio
Mr.. Newman expects confidently to
make flight this evening and there
is no small amount of curiosity in
the city to see him. A big crowd will
probably congregate in West Browns
vile to witness the event
Loved and Hated