Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-17
A|RSH|P ON NEW LINES
Speedy and Will Light on and
Rise From Water.
c. B. NICHOLS DESIGNER
Model of the Machine Has Been Sue
cessfully Flown.
CONSTRUCTED IN FORM OF BOAT
New Aeroplane Capable of Making
Seventy-Five Miles an Hour
Under Construction.

Before the Potomac freezes for the win
| ter it is hoped that Washington VIII see
the trial OF a new heaver-than-air ma
chine that will light on and rise from the
water and that will make seventy five
| miles an hour. the machine is not Yet
! built but il may be ready as early as the
| middle of October. It is an interesting
| development of the art of aviation IN
! America as it is not the work of novice.
! but of a man who closely associated
| with the late Prof. Langley in his earlier
work and who has made study of avla-
| ton for the past twenty years.
| That man is Charles B. Nichols OF
Washington, who was Prof. Langley
| first model maker and Il man on whose
skill and judgment Prof. Langley relied
at all times till an accident AT the Smith
sonian injured his eyesight and ended his
connection with the service.
Mr.. Nichols suggested and built the first
| of the bplane models that Prof. Langley
ever used i'm his experiments. Prof. Lang
ley said himself that it was the hrst IN
the world that had ever flown. 1t was
Just a little model, driven by ruopeI
bands, but it was flying machine ana
the first biplane on record that ever took
a flight driven by its own power. 1t is
true that it smashed few glass cases
in the big Smithsonian hall before they
learned to balance it. but 1t was one or
the first practical steps on the road or
aerodynamics that was blazed by Prof.
Langley.
Experiments Made in 1890.
This was back in 1890, and Mr.. Nichols
has kept in close touch with the develop
ments of aerodynamics ever since. He
was practically interested in the matter
when the contracts were let for the
Wright flying machine at Mort My3r
but he felt that he knew all he needed
to know about flying, balancing and slld-
ing and he was anxious only about the
source of power. He kept his hand in
by making small models and flying them,
but his work with poWer-driVen machines
at the Smithsonian Institution had been
in the days of the steam engine and be
fore the ga solne motor had come to Its
present state of efficiency. He afterWard
made a study Of gasoline engines and de-
veloped one that he felt would be salts
factory. 1t was not essentially different
from modern automobile engine, but
by a special arrangement of the ports 1t
does away with a good deal of the back
pressure and makes more powerful en-
CINE for the same weight than has yel
been produced. The engine Is air cooled
ing water and radiators. and promises to
develop between fifty and sixty horse
power for 300 pounds of weight.
When Mr.. Nichols had arranged his
source Of power to his satisfaction he as
ISOLATED himself with some business men
here IN Washington and set about hav-
inK the engine built. It Is being con-
structed at factory in Connecticut and
will be ready about the last of this
month The company guarantees the en-
Mr.. Nichols says the only way TO esti-
mate horsepower is to test the motor on
the brake, and largely for this reason
the aeroplane has not been built. The
construction will await the completion of
the engine.
Wings Thirty by Seven Feet.
The main wings of the machine are
Professionally 80 feet by feet, and this.
1t is believed, will give enough power,
for 1t was abundantly proved by the
Langley experiments that an aeroplane
travelling at forty miles an hour would
support four pounds to the square foot.
1t Is believed that the new machine will
travel sevepty.five miles an hour, for this
is the speed that has been calculated from
the size and pitch of the screws. Mr..
Nichols says ne thinks he has a better
and more effective propeller than any
thing that has yet been designed. He has
kept close to the Langley practice and be-
lieves he has propeller that will stand
up to the work and be more effective than
that in use on any of the machines that
were raced at Rheims
The propellers of the new machine are
eight feet long and the pitch is such that
allowing for the slip they will drive tile
machine at seventy-five miles an hour.
One feature of the construction is that
the prOpellers are in front of the aero
plane. This is contrary to American prac-
Two
Maxim. who is himself something of
propeller expert, but Mr.. Nichols says
that he has been all through the subject
in a practical way and he knows where
he will get the greatest efficiency and sta
bility.
The machine will have wings more or
less the shape of birds wings, and they
will have flexible edges, which is about
the nearest approach to automatic bal
ance that man can achieve. Inc main
wings will be controlled by single lever
and the front and rear rudders by an
other one. There will be third lever to
control the engine, and this is all of the
machinery that the plane will carry.
In Form of Boat.
One of the most interesting features of
the aeroplane is the fact that the body is
in the form of a boat. This. it is con-
tended, will allow the machine to light on
and rise from the water. Negotiations
have already been opened with the Navy
Department.. which will have officers pres
ent TO witness the initial trials. The
boat Is built of cork boards put together
with marine glue and covered outside with
silk. 1t is very light and will not only
act as pontoon for the machine, but will
shelter the operator during flight.
MIR. Nichols has made any number of
ya IF
driven by springs and rubber. They have
all flown, that 1t is only the question
of getting a light enough motor to insure
flight for the big machine. But. in fact.
the designer is not calculating on whether
or not the machine will fly. but on what
speed it will make.
The assembling of the machine may be
done here in Washington or the material
may be taken to Connecticut, where the
engine is being built, and the work of as
semhlinc done there. The first trials,
however, will be held on the Potomac.