The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-17

certain, sure. Little or nothing must
be left to the peculiar skill OF the
chine that can go out only when the
wind is Just so. 1t must be a ma
chine that can go out when the time
tai ole says it should go. regardless of
Weather conditions.
Il don't believe the ~aeroplane will
ever measure up to these require
ments. l hin the principle upon
power is necessary to sustain it. An
enormous amount Of force is re-
CURED to drive an inclined plane
against the air SO rapidly that it will
rise and carry weight"
He was asked to give bis idea Of
what a flying machine s~hould\be.
IF l were to build a flying ma
chine" he replied, Il would plan to
sustain it by means of a number Of
rapidly revolving inclined planes, the
effect of which would be to raise the
machine by COMPRISING the air be-
a machine would rise from the ground
as a bird rises. Then l would drive
the m~achine~ahead With~a propeller"
Has your plan ever been tried?"
ooh, yes. l read in the neWspapers
only the other day that somebody had
succeeded in flying eight miles with
such a machine. / don't know who
the mar was"
Then he went back to his prophecy
that within ten years the United States
Government would be using flying
machines to carry mails. He was asked
how big he thought such machines
would Se.
They'll be small" he replied; '.just
as small as they can be and do the
business. The smaller they are the
less resistance they will offer to the
air. But they will have powerful en-
gines and will go at great speed"
One Hundred Miles an Hour.
How great?'
ooh. 100 miles an hour at any rate
Eventually they will 60 a great deal
faster. Travelling In the air is not like
travelling OF the earth. The air offers
comparatively little resistance. Put the
power into a MACHINE and you can get
almost any speed you want. But
while the flying machine will be very
fast. it will never be a great weight
carrier. 1t Will be used for mails, but
not for freight"
Hartman Ices not weigh more than
two large mail Sacks. SO Edison was
asked what Hartman would be like
ly to do ten years hence if, while in
New York in the shortest possible
time, as he did in May. 1906 when
he came through or a special train
in II hours and 27 minutes.
tie pTOOdDIy would take a lying
machine" he added, and come home
in 80 hours. He could do it. The
flying machine is going to be used for
passenger business. Trains will con-
tinue to carry the bulk of the traf-
fic, but ten years from now, if a man
wants to go in a hurry and can pay
the price, he will go through the air.
Nor will he be in any more danger
than if he were travelling on a train.
He may be killed, just as one may
be killed on a railroad, but he will be
in no great danger We now put fen
ders on street cars to prevent them
from killing pedestrians, and in the
same manner we shall equip flying ma
chimes with q safety device by means
of which they will slowly descend to
the ground in the event Of any acct
dent to the machinery. The flying
machine need not be especially dam
gerous to human life, and will not be-"
ALI the while Edison was speaking
he was talking about power, power,
power. If an engine could be invented
that would give vastly more power to
each pound great things could be lone
The question of power seemed to take
precedence in his mind over the ques-
ton of type, strongly as he holds the
belief that the aeroplane is the wrong
type. So ne was asked how power
could best be put behind the planes.
The first question was this:
Isn't it thinkable hat a method
will vet be discovered of wire1essly
transmitting electrical energy from
the earth to the motor of a machine
in midair?"
yes; it is" he replied. "I don't
know how to do it, but there is no
reason to believe it cannO be done
and will not some time be done. OF
course, if such a method should be
discovered tomorrow, the power ques-
ton of aerial flight would be settled
at once. There would be practically
no limit to the amount of energy that
might be put behind a machine, and,
therefore,, no limit, within reason, to
the speed hat might be attained. But
until this discovery is made the avia-
tors will have to get along with some
kind Of explosive engine. Yet there
is great room for Improvement in ex-
plosive engines. Now they are ex-