The San Francisco call., 1909-12-21
PROMISES TO FLY
ACROSS THE BAY
Local Inventor Displays Mono
plane Complete and Ready
for Trial Flight

That a san Franciscan in a San Fran
cisco built flying machine will be the
first aviator to hover over this city
or make the transbay flight to Oak
land by an air route was the promise
made last night by J. W. Hudson, one
of the two inventors and builders of a
completed machine that viii be ready
for its first tryout next week. More
over. Hudson declared that unless un-
foreseen obstacles should arise he would
be ready to pilot the air craft over the
bay within the next fortnight.
The aeroplane, which lacks only a
few minor adjustments to put it in
condition for actual fight. is the in
vention and product of two local ma
chinists, J. W. Hudson and Clifton
O'Brien. The machine itself is a mono
plane of the Bleriot channel type, SINH
lar to that in which the noted French
aviator made the first air passage of
the English channel, but slightly
larger and of greater horsepower.
USED OTHERS PATTERNS
For the machine itself the builders
make no claims of new invention, hav-
ing patterned it on the principles in
volved in. the most successful flying
machines now in use. but it is in the
engine that they claim to have devel-
oped an entirely new idea. The mono
plane itself is of their own build, but
the engine is of their own design as
we'll as construction and differs mater
tally from any now in use.
After year of consistent labor and
at a cost of approximately $4,000, the
machine now stands practically COM
plete and the inventors expect to
make their first trial flights either this
week or next. It is their intention, IL
the engine proves the perfect success
that they believe it will, to establish
in San Francisco factory for the
building of engines for aeroplanes. In
the meantime, their promised flights
over San Francisco and vicinity will
not be so much for the purpose of show
as for the purpose Of testing their en-
CINE under actual flying conditions.
Hudson displayed the machine last
night in the workshop at 125 Beale
street in which he and OBrien have
constructed it. He demonstrated the
great pulling power of the engine by
an actual test and explained the work
ing principle of the machine. The
monoplane itself. completely rugged,
occupies most of the floor space in the
shop. It is 36 feet in length, has a
% feet spread of planes and with the
engine mounted weighs 600 pounds.
The chassis of the machine is con-
structed of white spruce, braced with
ribbon steel and mounted on bicycle
wheels. while the planes are of white
spruce frame covered with vanished
muslin.
ENGINE LARGELY NEW
The new ideas involved are chiefly
in the construction of the engine .
said Hudson last night although we
were working on some of the princi-
! pies connected with the machine itself
before they were adopted by the sue
cessfui aviators We do not intend.
however. to continue building ma
chimes but hope to turn all our ener-
gies to building engines. This engine
weighs but I24 pounds and develops
/ SO horsepower while the average "a
horsepower engine now in use on fly
ing machines weighs about ESQ pounds.
! 1t is the reduction of weight that
counts in flying machine construction,
and what we claim is to have gained
an added IL horsepower and to have
reduced the weight OF the engine by
half
The engine in question consists of
/ five cylinders, which revolve on hor-
/ izontal plane, instead of having re-
volving crank shaft. This eliminates
! the fiywheel entirely. Hudson stated
| that an engine of French design known
as the Gnome embodies somewhat the
same principle, but that there were
several essential differences
OTHER INNOVATIONS
other innovations include the opera
tion of the inlet and exhaust valves by
centrifugal force. instead of with
springs. and an advantage in lubrica-
ton gained from having roller driv-
ing gear to operate the propeller.
The pistons, connecting rods and
crank shaft of the engine are built OF
nickel steel, while the crank case
frame and gears are of a composition
! of nickel and aluminium.
we will be ready for our first trial
| flights in a few days" said Hudson
I'VE haven't the slightest doubt of our
success. and hope to make a fight
across the bay within a couple OF
weeks. We are not particularly after
aviation records, but would like to
make the first fight over the city and
across the bay before some of the
French aviators who will be at the
Los Angeles aviation meeting come ur
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