Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1910-02-03
A|RSK|P FLIGHT
WITHOUT MOTOR
Claim Of A.v Wilson,, Who Has
Invented a MonopIaRe.
RESEMBLES BLER|OT MACHINE

GO i'tSH DO S0V0u GU
Feet and Stayed Aioft Eighty Min
uteo-Will Try to Soar From Charles
River Ice at Cambridge, Mass.
From the ice surface of Charles
river basin at Cambridge, Mass, at
some favorable time soon a monoplane
with u man in it will rise from the
ice, glide owe Harvard bridge and set
tie to the ice again without the use
OF a motor or artificial power Of any
kind, according to A. V. Wilson of Bar
Harbor, Me-, aviator and veteran bal
loonlst, who passed through Boston
the other day on his way to New York.
MI. Wilson after thirty years spent
In the handling Of balloons says that
during the past twenty years he has
realized that the conquest Of the air
could come only from the use of heav-
Ter than air machines. He has accord
1ngly spent much of his time in study
and experimentation Of the various
suggested types of kites, monoplanes
and biplanes and has perfected and
patented what he believes to be a
more scientific combination Of the rec
ogn1zed principles of aeronautics than
any in existence.
Because of lack of funds Mr.. Wilson
was compelled to confine his early ex-
perlments to a motorless apparatus,
and he has become so skilled in the
art of gliding with this machine along
the wind currents that he desires only
a strong wind and a frozen river sur
face to demonstrate the wonderful DOS
sibilities of his invention.
Looks Like BIeriot's Machine.
In appearance the monoplane of Mr..
Wilson is similar to the machines
made famous by the flights of Bleriot
and others in recent contests. Two
great planes or wings stretch twenty
six feet from tip to tip. Their eleva-
ton and depression are controlled by
lever in the hands of the operator,
who sits on the framework between
their inner ends.
Running backward from the oper-
ator's position is a tailpiece thirteen
and one-half feet long, on the end of
which is the lateral and horizontal
q This tailpiece is strength
ened with wire guys running to the
uttermost ends of the framework sup
porting the wings. Stout skids are
placed under the ends Of the plane
supporting framework and tend to
keep the wings above the ground
when starting and landing.
In making flights without artificial
power a wind of from twenty to forty
miles an hour is required. The oper-
ator takes his seat with the apparatus
facing into the wind, adjusts the
planes into the lifting position and
with a pushing start given to the ma
chine by assistants rises by the force
OF the wind against the slightly up
turned planes.
Flew 700 Feet High.
A sliding weight is manipulated
along a forward extension of the
framework and can be run far out in
front of the operator or drawn back
to his position, thus acting in much
the same way as the downward and
forward pull Of a kite string. BY
sliding the weight forward a tendency
is created toward a forward and
downward glide. The downward tend
ency is offset by the elevation Of the
planes, and the resulting progress is
Forward at a plane regulated by the
angle Of the wings. To descend it is
simply necessary to depress the planes
so that the wind strikes against their
upper surfaces.
Mr.. Wilson states that during his
experiments at Eagle lake, Bar Har-
Dor, Me-, this winter he has made
flights ranging as high as TOO feet
and has remained in the air as long
as an hour and twenty minutes, using
the frozen surface Of the lake as a
starting and landing place and circling
the lake in his flights. His machine
is constructed of spruce frames, piano
wire and balloon CLOTH" a rubber OF
OIL treated fiber.
His career has been a thrilling one.
Wilson's first balloon trip was in 1869,
when he was a boy about fourteen
years Of age and entered a captive
balloon in Boston. The nan in charge
Of the rope lost control Of it, and the
balloon landed in Walpole, Mass.
after a fight Of about thirteen hours.
Since that time Wilson has con-
stantly followed balloonang and has
made between 1000 and LOO para
chute drops. About 1885 he COM
menced with heavier than air ma.
chimes.
A Princess an Jnxan&o,