The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-29
Frederick Haskin's Letter
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AIRCRAFT THAT HOVERS

7 which is geared to the motor. b.
lifting the tail slightly this Tits the
/ whole machine, which results IN a
| forward motion at the expense OF
the lifting power.
Mr.. BerIiner claims that with a
| load of 1000 pounds only ) per
cent of the lift is lost in g tilt OF
Is degrees, and that this loss is
transferred into a horizontal pull
of about 25 per cent of the lifting
power. The inventor believes that
| Is degree tilt may possibly be at
| tanned with safety. but he has never
gone that far in any of his expert
ments, in the course of which he
has made short flights over rough
ground.
Such success as he has met with
has encouraged him greatly. but he
is by no means ready to go after
the British prize money. Barely a
beginning has as yet been made in
this department of aviation, he
says.
War Stopped Experiments.
From the day of the first heavier
than-air machine the helicopter has
been one of the visions of both the
men who fly and those who design
and build the ships" They have
wanted a kind Of aircraft that
would not require an immense field
to take off or for a landing -One
that could be used from a battle
ship or passenger vessel, or from
the roof of an office building. Ac-
cordingly a deal of experimenting
in this direction was going on al
most from the beginning of avia-
ton.
However, when the European war
opened and the value of the air
plane as a weapon of offense and
defense was apparent, all expert
ments were abandoned save those
that had to do with planes. Inven-
tive genius and energy were con-
centrated ON perfecting that type
of aircraft, with the result that
more progress was made in few
months than ordinarily would have
been noted in many years. The war
necessity did wonders for the air
plane, but it set the helicOpter
back CORRESPONDENCE. 1t was re-
garded as highly desirable, espect-
ally for bombing operations and for
observation purposes, as a machine
that could remain stationary in the
air for an indefinite period has OBJ
vious advantages for such work. Il
would combine the immobility Of
an observation balloon with the
mobility of a plane, and at the same
time it would not present such an
easy mark for anti-aircraft guns.
But it was recognized that the
difficulties in the way of develop
ing such a machine were immeas,
urably greater than those enCoun-
tered in the perfecting of the air
plane, and the war emergency was
so great that the helicopter idea
was laid aside. It was found, also.
that bombs could be dropped from
a plane flying at a speed of 100
miles an hour almost as accurate
ly as from a stationary or hover
the need of the new type of air
craft.
Some scientists are extremely
doubtful that the helicopter can
ever be made practicable. without
wings it has nothing to support it
save the propellers and the power
of its motor, and it is claimed that
it will always be erratic and tend
to turn turtle in the most surpris-
ing and dangerous fashion. The
Austrian inventor who succeeded in
getting his helicopter 10 feet in
the air later crashed with it. and
Brennan, in England, is reported to
have met with frequent accidents.
There was a rumor that the latter
had succeeded in meeting fae re
quirements that would win the COW
eted prize, but this has been denied.
and Mr.. Berliner, the Washington
experimental, has assurances that
the field is still an open one.
The idea that the helicopter will
be the popular means of transpOr-
tation between home and office, OF
that it may be used as a taxi for
shopping expeditions, is fascina-
ting, but it is not likely of realiza-
ton for some time yet