The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-07-10
BERMUDA TO HAVE
AIRSHIP FLIGHTS
New Type of Plane Flies
Without Engine.
FRENCHMAN TO RIVAL OTHERS
LafstOIe Claims Flight from New
York 10 Frisco Easy-WilI Make
Ascent from steamer DecI-Amer-
lean Capital Backs French In
venfor-AyiatOrs Interested.

The feats Of Paulhan, Curuss, HamiI-
ton, the WrIghts. and other avsators Of
more or less renown, will pale into insig-
uihcance If the claims Of Henri Laftole.
a French inventor. are realized. He
claims TO have invented a radically new
power plant for aeroplanes that viii
make the feat of flying from New York
to San Francisco without stop consider
ably easier than Bleriot's channel flight.
PauIhan's London TO Manchester trip,
Curtiss' feat In flying from Albany 70
New York. or Hamilton's latest stunt in
flying from New York TO Philadelphia
and back
greatest difficulty TO overcome thus far
in the conquest of the cir has been to
find a motor that is dependable under AL
! conditions and vagaries OF weather. The
fouling of spark plug, a short circuit.
or similar defect means the stoppage OF
| the motor and possibly death, as in the
| cases Of Delegrange and lie Blon Lafi-
tole's aim has been to discover a more
reliable developer of power than gas
oline or electric motor and he states
that nc has been successful
Motor on Watch Spring Idea.
The principle sinyolved in the Laftols
seromotor is one OF the oldest known in
mechanical movability It Is the watch
spring idea magnined and adapted 10
propelllng purposes. Laftoles motor is
simply a combination Of springs which.
when wound. VIII turn propeller at suf-
ficient revolutions to create a lifting
power exactly equal to a 40-horsepower
gasoline engine There are five OF these
springs and they can be operated sep
arately OF together. as the operator wills.
With the propeller driven by a single
spring speed Of thirty miles an hour
can be maintained for one hour. claims
this Frenchman, or the operation Of all
. FIVE springs at once will generate sufi-
Client power 10 drive the aircraft, which
Is Of the biplane pattern with selerons
OF new design for better stability. at a
speed OF 100 miles an hour for that
length of time. These springs are made
OF a new metal invented by a German
professor at Heidelberg. and it Is claim
ed that this metal has the tensile
strength Of steel. yet is only slightly
heavier than aluminium.
Secures American Backing.
I.afitole. who invented many improve
ments In the present day stop watch.
was one OF Farmans first pupils. and
. came to America three years ago to
. investigate some New Mexican silver
mines in which he had invested consid-
cradle money AS usually is the case.
the mines proved a bad investment He
3 returned 10 New York and here met
Fred E. Mommer. national secretary OF
! the Century Road Club Of America. To
I make a long story short Laftoie inter
. ested Mommer in his invention and the
] latter furnished considerable capital to
S enable the Frenehman TO continue his
4 experimentation For the last six
months he has been working in a little
barn near New Dorp. Staten Island. and
e the model having come up to expecta-
4 lions. Laftole has begun the construction
4 OF a fun sized engine and blplane, which
s will be completed early in July.
First Flight In Bermuda.
$ The Century Road Club of America, OF
r which Mr.. Mommer is secretary, is con
Quoting a national tour for cyclists and
e athletes generally 10 Bermuda from july
r % TO August I, and Lafitole has promised
] to make his first public fights in Ber-
= muda. incidentally he viii have the
r honor Of being the first aviator 10 ny
: there.
5 AS there IS abundance Of room upoT
the roof of the promenade deck Of th'
t steamship Trent. Lafitole has arranged
d with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Com
r pany 20 house hts aeroplane there. WheT
/. the steamship IS within sight Of Der
s muda, this daring Frenchman plans L
: start his propellers whirring and fly from
e the deck of the Trent to Hamilton anC
= alight at the cricket grounds Exhioi
h ton flights sre planned while the tourists
are in Bermuda. and a hangar will b'
II erected at the south end Of the Bermuea
Il .-s,f.ax rx~ot,r,dS