Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1910-07-12
A|RSH|P IS UNIQUE
Planes or Wings Are Mounted on
Ba|I-Bearing Collars.
engine Can Be Coupled With Ma
chimes Road Wheels to Run Like
Acknowledgment Faults
Overcome.

London.-An English inventor. L. B.
Goldman, has made an attempt to es-
cape from the conventional design of
aeroplanes. Mr.. Goldman has looked
to the time when the speed attained
will be so high that 1t will be advisable
to reduce the head resistance of the
machine as much as possible and at
the same time afford some shelter to
the aviator and passenger.
He thus evolves a covered central
body of conical form, and in the front
portion of this vessel the pilot. pas
tanned. Transparent panels in front
permit of lookout being observed.
This central body is mounted on a
chassis fitted with wheels and skids,
but so skifully are the parts grouped
together that resistance due to the
various units now presented to the
wind Is reduced almost to minimum.
Mr. Goldman's main claim, however.
for his aeroplane is founded on the at
tempt to preserve automatically the
lateral stability of the whole appara-
tus. In his machine the planes or
wings are mounted on ball-bearing col
lars fitted to the neck of the central
body, and these planes are free to
oscilate about the body to a certain
degree. When side gust of wind
strikes underneath one plane of the
ordinary flying machine it lifts that
plane, tits the central body, and de-
presses the other plane. The aviator.
by warping the planes, or by some
other balancing device, has to correct
this fitting; and the problem of how
best to do this is one of the most diff
ficult in aviation. If the gust is sud-
den and powerful enough it may throw
the whole machine completely out of
balance.
In the Goldman machine, when one
wing is struck from beneath by gust
1t oscillates about the central
body without imparting motion to
this. since the plane is mounted on a
sliding collar. An upper vertical
plane and stop springs check the
oscillations, and tend quickly to re-
store the main planes to the horizon
tai, whilst all the time the central
body has been unaffected by these
movements.
Another feature of the machine Is
that the central body is mounted on
trunnions formed on the chassis. Thus
by operating a hand-wheel the pilot
can tilt or depress the nose of the
central body, an ingenious system of
sliding weights giving the necessary
leverage. The body is locked then in
any required position. Whether on
the ground or in the air the central
body can be tilted instantly to any re-
quired angle, and Mr.. Goldman pro-
poses to employ this device to govern
the upward or downward course of the
vessel instead of employing the usual
elevator planes.
The engine is mounted within the
central body, and drives, by means of
chain or other gear, two propellers
mounted at the rear of the planes, and
outside the main body. This body
may be covered with any waterproof
material and be given rigid form.
Thus conceivably vessel of this type
could be employed to alight on or
start from the surface of water, al.
though this point has not yet been
fully gone into by the inventor.
Mr.. Goldman has further carried his
design to a point whereby the main
planes can be folded back over the
central body somewhat in the man.
ner of the wings of bird. This
would enable the machine to be very
easily transported by road. He has
also devised means of coupling the
engine by suitable gearing with the
road wheels. and thus the aeroplane.
with its wings folded. could be driven
along a roadway almost in the manner
Of motor car.
The inventor, it may be mentioned
Is complete invalid, precluded from
making any practical experiments.