Evening star., 1909-09-05
PROGRESS OF AERONAUTICS
Disputed Points Regarding Machine
Types Among the Aviators.
DEFENSE AGAINST THE FLYERS
War Office Seeks Protection Through
Medium of Big Guns-Gossip OF
the Metropolis.
Correspondencc Of The Star.

seen an epoch-making event with the Varl-
Gus monoplanes and biplanes at work. III
is in a sense. q vision of the future that
so many thousands of spectators are De-
holding-a spectacle no one has ever he
fore seen since the world existed. Races
on land and water are current events but
races in the air only few years ago
would have appeared an impossiblity and
an absurdity far outside the domain OF the
practical.
Only three short years ago SantoS-Du-
mont in lifting his Butterfly from the
ground at Bagatelle, near Paris, was held
TO have achieved n marvellous exploit, and
now we have a regularly organized airshlp
competition with prizes, code of the air
and the rest. Thousands OF visitors nave
flocked to the ancient city of Rheims, ana
on Betheny plain has sprung up second
city of sheds and tarpaulins, which as
suredly offers a picture unique in the his
tory of the world
Excites Wonderment.
People residing in the locality who have
never had an opportunity to see an aero
plane look in silent wonderment on the
aerial craft soaring over the vast plain
with their white wings outstretched like
those of some strange, uncanny monster
of the feathered tribe. Special trains have
brought people from far and near to the
spot. and despite the pitilessly hostile
weather that marked the opening days OF
the enterprise, such crowds assembled
round Betheny plain that ii required all
the efforts of police ana troops TO protect
the evolutions of aviators.
One of the most disputed and most i'm
portant points for aviators has been for
months past. and is still the respective
merits of biplanes and monoplanes. In
deed, IL may be said that it will be mainly
between these two types of machines that
the real duel will be fought. Many and
various are the advantages ascribed to
the biplane. 1t has greater lifting SUR
face, il is claimed. than the monoplane,
which permits II to carry a motor of SUI
perior power. provided with larger sup
ply of petrol. To the uninitiated, in fact,
which term. so far aerial fight goes.
embraces the general public. the larger
the aeroplane the more it appeals to the
imagination and the more impressive it Is.
This is why the triplane, with its triple
supporting surface and its 1JO-horsepower
motor. was greeted with popular enthusi-
asm in the earlier days of aviation.
Exploits of Bleriot.
At the present time. however. seeing
the remarkable feats accomplished by
Bleriot. with his light monopane, the
triplane has lost its hold on public favor.
while even the biplane is less esteemed
than formerly. The monoplane is thought
by the really competent in such matters
to be the more practical type of flyer.
because it can lay claim to two quail
ties which are quite indispensable in an
aeroplane destined to be of practical
utility-that is. ability to face certain
amount of wind and facility of transport
lin the event of accident.
The Bleriot flyer. with its fourteen
square meters of lifting surface and its
total weight with its pilot aboard of $50
LII ic hxy RI
be the me plus ultra in aerial flight. 1t
can. if needed, be placed on a motor car
and conveyed from one locality to an
other. There is. however, a drawback
to this type of machine, according to
many The motor is necessarily light
and somewhat fragile And it is here
that the more solid and heavier biplane
scores a distinct advantage. With its
downs are lesSened, while being more
solid in construction ii can better stand
little rough treatment.
Discussion of Points
Concerning the respective merits Of
biplane and monoplane. as well as on a
variety of other technical and untechni-
cal points, there can be little doubt the
Rheims aviation meeting, will throw
light. In this respect it will unques-
iionably serve the purpose of aerial
science by helping to develop the prog
ress already achieved, while indicating
also where constructors are at fault and
the defects that require to be remedied
before it be possible to place the aero
plane on the list of practical means of
locomotion-
When the motor car industry was in
its infancy ii was. it may be recalled.
the annual automobile races that led n
progress on the road toward perfection.
Aviation is a newly born science. not
yet. so to speak. out of it's swaddling
clothes E.yprvthiOU 6enpnd the
weather. above all on the wind. Bril-
liant sunshine alone will not signify that
machines can be brought out of their
sheds and sent aloft. The modern avia-
tor is intrepid and daring. but at the
same time he is mathematical calcula-
tor. He is perfectly willing to face seri-
Gus risk during an aerial voyage. but
only after he has reckoned. TO couple
of points of decimals. the chances for ol
against him. Questions of gravity, "cen
ters Of sustentation" and the like. which
are Greek to the spectator on terrs
iirma." mean much to the man aloft
speeding through space on heavier
than-air machine. which may BEHAVE
well but in handling which the pilot i:
still more or less an apprentice.
Defense Against War Airships.
The British war office is considering
new means of defense against attacktn,
airships and aeroplanes. The special ide'
has been obtained from some recent ex
periments which the Germans have beel
making with so much success that the flu
ture fate of the airship or aeroplane as a.
attacking force will be very greatly cur
tailed. A new high-angle gun has beel
invented. both sufficiently light to b
mounted on rapid automobile able Z
chase an aerial foe from one point o
the threatened area TO another. and a
the same time Of sufficient power to b
capable of throwing shell to YER
;yreay height. In fact, a balloon has bee
hit at an elevation of 10000 feet.
This means that as an airship canno
possfbly drop bombs with any degree o
accuracy from a greater height than 800
feet the effectiveness OF the airship as a
engine of war will be very greatly mini
mized.
Another remarkable feature of the ne,
gun is It's shell. This is sef-lumnou:
which will permit firing by night to b
properly negotiated, as previously II wa
quite. impossible 10 observe the flight Q
a projectile discharged into the air. tn
same difficulty was experienced durin
dav firing, and this has now been RENE
dic1 nv causing the luminous constituer
81 the shell TO give forth dense smoke
which will enable the line of firing to
followed by the eye without any difficulty
Find Fault With the Clocks.
Visitors to London at this time of yea
rarely fail TO make uncomplimentary re
marks concerning the untrustworthines
of the public clocks. "London's lyin
clocks has passed into a commonplace
OF daily talk. / do not know that tn
London clocks any worse in this re