Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-18

A DIRIGIBLE airship built on ex-
"a tremely revolutionary principles
"A In fact, going back to first prin-
ciples-and reversing many of the ac-
cepted plans for steering gas-contain-
ing airships Is the invention OF a Los
Angeles man-C. w. Sirch-which Is
attracting the attention of many au-
thorities on aeronautcs. The prin-
ciple used In sending up the first bal
loon ever made, abandoned and ever
since in disuse except by parachute
jumpers was declared by all leading
writers on aeronautics incapable OF
further improvement" but the Los
Angeles man has raked 1t out and
modernized 1t.
"It is simply a proposition OF mathe-
matics," says Mr.. Sirch. KNOWING
the specific heat of air and the num-
Der of heat units contained in the fuel
consumed per hour, when 1t Is found
that upward of so per cent of the heat
contained In the fuel of the engines
operating the two propellers is con-
tanned in the exhaust, a simple calcu-
lation shows that much more heat Is
generated than could possibly be used
in sustentation.'
UtIlizes Heat
It is part of the Sirch idea to utilize
that heat for the heating of pure air
by radiation, which is held in an en-
velope much as gas Is held IN the or
binary balloon. In addition the inven-
tor contains in the envelope IAN eff
cient type of the Bunsen burner To-
Gated in a radiator of ingenious de-
sign; this Is to be used when the en-
gines are idle or in maneuvering." The
Sirch idea differs from the so-called
"hot air" balloon scheme in that the
latter is filled with the product of
in
twice the weight of heated air. The
balloon from which the circus or park
entertainer cuts away his parachute
Is literally a gas bag, while Mr.. Sirch' 8
transport Is entirely removed from any
right to that appellation. so objection
able to balloonists. He uses heated
air; not burned air or gas.
When this idea seized on Mr.. Sirch,
who has made more than a national
namo for himself as an inventor OF
electrical apparatus, that 1t would be
possible to design air craft in which
the envelope should contain pure air
heated by radiation, he set at work on
models to utilize this principle. After
constructing a number, including fly
abouts'' as we'll as dirigibles, Mr.. Sirch
made a model of what he calls the
"Sirch transport" He is beginning
work on full-sized ship, which will
be 240 feet long and with a maximum
diameter of forty-nve feet. 1T VIII nave
sig independent sections, any one of
which may be heated or cooled as
unit.
Nothing like this has ever before
been attempted in the history of
mans attempts to conquer the air, yet
so great an authority as Octave Cha
mute says in a letter to Mr.. Sirch, after
reading a description of the latter's
plan, II deem it possible to build a
,Aatx Ixxr h0t n In
Chanute made the first biplane aero
plane, from which the machines of the
Wright brothers. Farman and all 9TH
er aeroplanes which have flown were
modelled.
How revolutionary the Sirch trans
port is as compared with the generally
accepted idea of a dirigible airship- may
be gathered from a comparison on an
attempt at a transcontinental trip.
While the desert air which must be
passed through presents an enormous
uplift in the daytime to the gas bal
loon OF any type because 1t is heated,
the same reason would make the Sirch
transport sink, not ascend, because the
air outside the envelope would be
brought up more nearly to the temper
ature of that used in the envelope for
sustentation Mr.. Sirch has antici-
pated this, and he says that he will
have ample reserve means for raising
the degree of heat. The contents of the
envelope in his large Sirch transport.
he says, will lift about sixty-five
mounds per degree of temperature rise.