Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-01-23
New ENGLAND Building.
TIE AEP0 PLANE.
Sdiscns tSaes - tGe Problem of
Aeronautics.

%. i."t.o M u nt,.fr cay a trcach-
erous air current had upset his frail
sky craft. there would have been hardly
the Sll2htrSt hope Of cSeaue for hin, from
sudden death. Every bird-man When h
boards lis strange craft for 4 little Spu
through IN" air lanes is under a tension
Of fear That something unexpected may
happen-'hat the eneiht may fail. that Il
stay m'N hfsak. that a controlling wire
may snap. In tn hrane# Of scientific in
vesiisatIuu tds man been morn ruthu-
STA tie, more daring ard nlorc willing f.
risk his life 10 demonstrate tbs VALIDITY
/ OF his theories than i'll aviation, hut their
, unsoundness has been proven. in many
cases, by the injury or death of the al
venturous theorist.
and otherwis" ia aYiators here and
abroad. a Tribune reporter called the
other day Oh Thomas a. Edison to get
his opinion on the possibility of making
/ the sport less dangerous The writer
found the Wizard of Llewellyn Park
busy al his desk III his laboratory studio.
and said to him: W hat is your opinion
of the progress made h. the bird -Ihan"'
Mr. Edison. smiling shook his head
and said Man has not yet solved the
This answer was little unexpected.
| The writer had seen and marveled at the
| feats of the crack flyers of the world,
| and to be told by Edison that mans so
! luton Of flight had not Yet been accarn-
plished seemed contrary to the fact
However the inventor SCION explained
what lie meant BY tlying. but he wants to
100
not to be quoted IS an authority ON aNia-
ton. He says that his work has not
been in the ii Id of flying. nor has he
made any experiments with aerial craft
by which he would be able to judge
wisely on the WAY To navigate the air
Nevertheless, he has certain ideas of
how an airship might be hdilt in order to
overcome the present obstacles and dan
gers that confront the hcaYiel-than-air
, machines of today.
The inventor continued. "Of course.
some rapid strides have been made in
the field Of aeronautics. aud credit is due
the men who have made possible those
record flights in aeroplanes. But so far
the sky craft has =rvea one purpose on
/ ~. and tfat is sport. Flying under pres
ent conditions has certain fascination.
and as an implement OF sport the aero
plane is certainly the thing.
But there are many things yet to be-
! done before man can say that he has
( ing | mean that person shall be able to
rise. with a machine. not by means Of
gliding start. as IS the case with the bi-
planes and n.onoplanes now in use, but
, perpendicularly Not only that, but the
aviator should be able To carry a load Of
freight along, and be able to sail in amy
direction, regardless of weather condl-
tions and without ar Of making sud
/ den drop to the earth. When he can do
all these things then man is master Of
the air lanes. but not before.
do you know of any safety device
that could he applied 10 an aeroplane So
that in case something should 90 WRONG
while the aviator was several thousand
feet in the air he would not he dashed
to death" broke in the interviewer.
We'll. l hardy know, began the man
who has fevolationtzed many things witt
his electrical inventions, but / have
often wondered why it would not be pos
s.ble for the bird-ran TO carry along in
conv n!ent way a parachute. which in
case Of accident should be made to
spread out by some kind of explosive.
Ny idea is to have a wire connecting
button near to tie aviator's seat and the
when the unexpected happened, and the
flyer felt that his machine was about to
drop. all that he would have to do would
be to push the button, an electric spark
would set off the explosive and its force
would spread the parachute to which he
could cling while his machine went sail
Ing earthward. There IS a probability
that an arrangement of this kind could
J" made practicable. and according TO
the present construction of aeroplanes ii
would he the only means of escape to
safety where fall is inevitable and no
opportunity for Nolplaning Is presented.'
Mr., Edison may tell you that he does
not know much about the science of
derostatics. but il is safe to say that he
has given more thought to flying than
MANY suppose, He believes that there is
a secret in a birds flight which is diff
We're once thoroughly understood great
progress might follow.
At one tme when I was down in
Florida he said, II saw something that
gave me food Tor q good deal Of thought
1t was calm aud MINDLESS day when 7
stood beside laboratory building, and ]
saw 4 Nultule soaring iii the sky. at Il
height OF about thousand feet or SO.
The bird did not flap its wings, but held
them outstretched and was swinging in
great circles steadily upward That the
air was stil | deduced from thes Hokc
that was issuing from the tall smoke stack
OF the building The smoke issued up
ward in a perpendicular column as fan. as
| could See and IT was not blown a par
ticle to one side q" the other. This sure
~ indicated 4 perfect calm. and IN this
calm the Vulture was steadily rising"
Looking the reporter Squarey in the
eyes, Mr. Edison queried Now, how
was it possible for that bird with steady
wings To gain higher attitudes in the still
Well neither do l." said Edison.
50 there Nou are. There is u secret for
somebody to solve and the solution may
work wonders. But the 'ster genius
at lleweilyn Park had another somewhat
similar ilus5rati@n to speak about.
re continued There WIS another time.
Wh"n stood on pier and observed Il
large pelican skimming over BODY of
water. The bird held its wings steadily
as far as ! could see, and it moved along
at a height of about one foot above the
water It few for long distance at this
same height deViatine not an inch either
upward or downward. Now again Tho
question arises. What kept the heavy
pelican in the air 50 close to the waters
surface without any apparent effort on
It's part to move the wlngSY However.
there * a possibility that the wings kept
up a series of rapid vibrations Of short
amplitude. If that was tho case with tie
N'''t''~o aNi i've pelican and other birds
, of similar flight. then the vibrations were
! 50 ga iu am the amplitudes SO short
| mar mo movements were not dScCrnibe
| 10 human eyes. When we have solved
| tnls Phase OF "a birds flight, we may
n''e "a'n"d Some additional knowledge
| that may be of value to mans control of
Deslrlng to have Edisou's idea of how
! a IL aN4ti-lhah-all machine should be
I CONSTRUCTED III order to be afp aud prac-
tlcdi for sky travel, the reporter asked
him to express his views on that n0iiit
! also. 1t was with little reluctance that
| The inventor started to tackle this sub
Ject If 1T were moving picture films
monographs or things electrical Edison
would feel right at home and there
would he no end to the information 10 be
had from him.
However. this is what he said TT is
| nay belief that Sky craft built on the
helicopter type would he most practical
\ flying machine should have direct
lift, and that could be accomplished with
a type of this kind. And the machine
should be lifted and kept afioat not by
one rotating wheel, but say with about
dozen such like so many merry-go-
rounds. The arrangement Of the wheels
or rotating planes should be such that
they would form large circle of say $50
A % oil