The Washington herald., 1921-07-11
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MONDAY, yuLr n. 1sz1.
MAKE POSSIBLE

TNvENTroNs MAKE POSSIBLE
HoToRLEss FEIsHT.
News from Paris tells that Ca
brisl Peuiain. french champion "a
ciist. has won q io.ooo-frsnc prise
for q motoriess fight with a Light
weight "aviette" or bicycle plane
that he peddisd at top speed and
caused to polse higher than a yard
on the ground and travel u yards
In Night.
This event calls attention 70 the
progress that Ia being maA along
the lines Of hight without engine /,
propulsion A year ago the sttua-
ton held nttIe promise Of anything
but defeat. unless there should sp-
pear q man Of ordinary weight who
would. however. be capable Of ex-
erting or . Horsepower. or unless
the science OF aerodynamics sho1l6
offer q solution Of another kind. &C
cording 20 the United States Air
Service At that time the latter
seemed TO the conservative aeronan-
hCaA ebuocnt QuiIr A. ltnpfoOaple -
the former. But the invention,
within the past few months Of wing
forms giving q very much greater
lift, size for sine. than ever before
attained. reviews the long-existent
Interest In mAn-power flight and
with greatly Improved prospects OF
success. For one Of the new high
lift sirplsne wings q more than 100
best lift coeficients" is claimed.
Efforts 70 attain flight by man
power have been attempted herr
tofore upon a basis OF propeliing an
airplane OF about zoo square feet
OF wing area at a speed Of not less
than 20 miles an hour. This is far
beyond the strength Of the strong
est man. and those who have at
tempted it. making use Of apparatus
running on light bicycle wheels.
failed to get on the ground A com
bination CT man-power fight with I
gliding, as practiced by the Wright
brothers, Lilienthal. Pitcher, and
many other experimerfers is. how
ever. a different matter. and with
the improved apparatus now made
possible by the new high-lift wing
Is worth trying.
MAJ. c. C Turner IN the London
observer. recently pointed out that
al the present time with an aviette
OF nice design, the problem OF man
power flight did not seem insoluble.
The total weight being small and
the required speed being low,
very light structure can be de-
signed. II is not unreasonable 20
. hA
that would be able to maintain
flight at en- air speed OF 1s or II
miles per hour whose total weight.
including the pilot. would be about
ESQ or 800 pounds and whose wing
area would be about 140 or $50
square feet Such a machine would
probaly be of the biplane type. ac-
cording to Maj. Turner.
II is not suggested that such a
craft would take OF from the
ground without gaining momentum :
from a glide or without the aid OF
a head wind. What is needed in
the way OF conditions is a down
slope facing the wind: a rounded
hill with slopes in all directions
such as the Lilenthsls constructed
for their eNperiments-would be
ideal. and a breeze Of 10 to 20 miles
an hour.
II will be recalled that OrviIle
Wright on one occasion maintained
glide for over Is minutes. with
the improved wing forms now
available, IL is predicted that =
smaller apparatus would lift
greater total load. II is. therefore
admissible to consider the addition
of a propeller and also light trans
mission gear from the pilots legs.
Following the example of the bird.
the pilot should be able to rest at
times, ceasing all operation while
his machine would simply act as an
ordinary glider. Experience would
develop the art of taking advantage
of winds, especially ascending cur
rents: and although low attitudes
would be the rule, some very in
teresting sport. IL nothing else,
might be obtained.
Gliding has already taken it's toll
I Of victims through the collapse OF
the apparatus. Such mishSps could
now be provided against with the
greater knowledge OF aircraft man
ufacture. but with the greater scope
now suggested. the possibility OF
other kinds of accidents VIII IN
crease. The iier will get on the
ground gradually ascending from
| a down-slope and may soon hnd
himself so or 100 feet above the
sround