The San Francisco call., 1910-01-25
CALMLY VIEWS
FULF|L[MENT OF
OF LIFE WORK
Prof. j. j. Montgomery AdmireS
Courage of Aviator, but
Expresses No Surprise
Santa Clara Savant Tells Paul
han He Has Also Discovered
Soaring Principle

Cara college. whose invention of ths
aeroplane in 1884 made aerial naviga
tion possible, saw the fulhnment of his
life work when Louis Paulhan few
from the Tanforan racetraek yesterday
evening He was not astonished as the
birdlike object arose gracefully from
the ground and sailed over the hills to-
ward the Pacific. as were the thousands
of spectators that surrounded him. To
Professor Montgomery it meant merely
= successful demonstration of what he
had contended for 30 years could be
done
II was the first time Professor Mont
gomery had seen an airship propelled
by its own power. That it was possible
10 maintain an equal balance in the air
hy the use OF planes he had proven
when Young man by jumping from a
mountainside in san Diego county. That
was so years ago, and it was not until
the gasoline motor was perfected in re-
cent years that the two were combined
for men to fly.
SEEMS FAMILIAR SIGHT
IT experienced no sensation" Pro
Paulhans flight II was a wonderful
sight, and ] admired the courage Of the
aviator in breasting the elements on
day like this. but the idea Of his flying
had been q part Of my life so long that
il seemed as II it had always been so
and that 7 was witnessing something 1
lad seen many times before.
of course. I have seen many flights
DO aeroplanes Of my own invention, but
these flights were either made from
elevated ground OF the planes taken up
bt gas balloons and cut loose. This is
The first aeroplane to rise from the
ground and soar away by its own power
that ] have seen. and TO know that
eoutributed TO this wonderful feat is d
Satisfaction."
Professor Montgomery was one of the
FIRST men Ia congratulate Paulhan on
bis di2ht. They had met earlier in the
day and Paulhan had expressed himself
as delighted with meeting the original
inventor Of the aeroplane. As the men
shook hands Professor Montgomery
showed his emotion and was not able
10 speak
I'm discussing the problem of flying
Professor Montgomery told Paulhan
that he had recently discovered the
secret Of soaring like a bird Paulhan
was interested in this announcement Of
the scientist and especially in the fact
ciple the necessity of constant propel-
ling TO remain in the air will be les
-ened. Professor Montgomery consid-
rs this discovery of as great import
e1ee as his invention OF the aeroplane.
The principle of soaring he worked out
of his eight laws of aviation which
were made public in Vehicles of the
Air volume recently published by.
Victor Lougheed. YESTERDAY Y was the
Er~E
gomery Of his most recent discovery.
THE idea presented itself to him many
years ago. but il was not until recently
that he was able to perfect it.
LEGAL FIGHT PENDING
Professor Montgomery viii devote his
energies TO the commercial side of avia-
tion from now on. For years he was
satisfied with the scientific features Of
The problem Of flying, but the alleged
fnfriuegements Of his patents by the
Wright brothers has caused him to
enter the commercial field. He is to
Doe backed financially by Chicago men
and has sent to Chicago for A model OF
the aeroplane in which David Wilkie
in Oakland made sensational descent.
1t viii be remembered that when
NNflkie descended he lost control of the
planes and fell several hundred feet,
the machine repea tedly turning over.
Wflkie pulled the string governing the
tail, righted the planes and landed un-
injured. Wilkie was with Professor
Montgomery yesterday and was intro
duced TO Paulhan by the savant. Paul
han listened with interest TO the expe-
rience Wilkie had in falling.
Paulhan and Professor Montgomery
are TO meet at the Palace hotel this
morning At 10 o'clock, as the aviator is
anxious to learn more of the principle
Of soaring and other scientific princi-
pies discovered by Professor Montgom-
cry. The meeting was arranged after
Paulhan returned from his fight of
Il ght miles.
CONSTRUCTED GLIDER
Professor Montgomery designed and
constructed an seroplane glider the sue
cessful operation Of which in 1905 at
fracted the attention Of scientists the
world over From a height Of 1000
s-et the glider descended under perfect
-ontroI the aviator being able 10 d.
rect IL through figure curves and cir
cles He was able TO make abrupt dives
or long glides and also 10 stop the ma
chine in midair At the end of the de-
scent, during which the machine at
times reached a speed Of approximately
So miles an hour, the operator landed in
p spot previously selected without jar
10 the aviator or damage to the ma
chine.
The flight and description of the
glider published shortly afterward pre-
coded the rapid advance in aviation
which has taken place during the last
three wears Because of the death Of
A eronaut Maloney in = descension and
fhe san Francisco fire Professor Mont
gomerv abandoned his experiments for
3 while. devoting his energies 10 the
soaring problem.
The aeroplane Of Professor Montgom-
cry ha so perfect an equilibrium that
81 would right itself IN the air from
anV conceiva bic position. on three dif-
ferent occasions side somersaults We're
turned with a Montgomery glider in
midair. the first one accidental, result
ing from 2 mistake Of the aviator, and
tile last tWo Intentionally. without dam
a ge- being done. In each instance the
aeroplsne Immediately righted itself
and continued its descent under perfect
control
HAMILTON'S AEROPLANE