The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1911-12-21
Brookins Sees Big Advance
In the Science For Next
Season,

EROPLANES for next season
IA according to Walter Brookins,
@A will be able to make from
ninety to hundred miles an
hour, where they now make from fifty
20 sixty miles He predicts that they
Will be able to make long voyages over
seas, to alight in the ocean, start again
from the water and trim sail' afloat
in the air.
Mr.. Brookins is the first of the nro-
fesslonal fiers in this country and hold
er OF the worlds record for slow fying
under control and steep banking at the
turns. Except for the men known as
aeroplane inventors, he has been a
practlcal airman for a longer period
tnan any American now flying.
VI those who came out of the Wright
school in his class-the first to be grad
uated-he is the only survivor, John
stone and Hoxsey having both met
ueath IN the air. Mr.. Brookins has
mad three serious falls. He is now
building an aeroplane for work over
SEAS Which is to consist Of combina-
ZION between a high power racing mo-
torboat and a Wright biplane. In this
new craft Brookins believes he will
nave an aeroplane on which ayiators
may cross the ocean.
LIE machine will be so constructed
as to be nonsinkable, and at the same
time it will have carrying capacity for
an abundant SUI pply of fuel and food.
Question Of Landing.
To-day we Of the air game have got
to get speed CONTROL" said Brookins in
telling of the outlook for aeroplanes as
he sees it. 1--WE can fly fast enough to
Keep up. but not slow enough to make
safe landings. If we should fly slow
enough to land safely we would SIM
ply drop, and that we must overcome.
"A bad smashup which I had last
summer at Belmont park was due to
the fact that l had very little wing
space on my Baby Wright racer and
big engine. Flying was fine, but light
1ng-well, I had to hit the earth at a
higher speed than it could be done.
Now, this is the way out, and exper-
1ments are going to demonstrate it.
An aeroplane to get off the ground
needs lots of wing space. It also needs
wing space to light on. After it gets
up and gets to going it can move along
on materially smaller wings.
I'VE are coming to adjustable wing
areas and adjustable angles of incl
dence for our planes. The sharper the
angle the more the upward thrust as
the plane leaves the ground. After
it is up and strikes a cruising level
the angle ought to be lessened, and
the sail area ought to be reefed in.
IF we could get that matter solved
we'd have aeroplanes whose speed we
could control. We need aeroplanes
that can stay aloft at twenty miles an
hour and under, and if we get them
IN condition to do that and then can
reef in the sail spread after we get
up we can send them to 100 miles an
hour on the present engine develop
ment. A single aeroplane capable of
running at 20 and then at 100 miles
an hour-how would that be for a de-
tomobile look sick?''
The question of the biplane and the
monoplane came up. Brookins has
raced in a biplane against monoplanes
and has lost to them. He has seen
much of both types in action.
and that's exactly the point" he
said. ''The biplane gets away and
lands we'll and has too much head re-
sistance when it is at full speed. What
we must have is convertible machines,
not exactly of either type, but type
that will have the advantages now
exclusively the property of each.
81 think biplanes and monoplanes
will soon be doing about equally up to
seventy-fiv miles an hour, but for the
next twenty-five miles of gain the
monoplanes will excel, and the first
100 mile an hour machines will be
monoplanes,
Line Of Development.
1T took development in tires, roads,
engines and in other directions to
make the automobile, and in the air