Pueblo chieftain., 1922-01-15
FLYING LIKE A BUzzARD

Klemperer turned south. following
the ridge OF the hills. II he had tried
to cross he would have been caught in
the downward air current which ma
turally follows tho downward slope of
the ground He did run into such
situation near n spur called Pferds-
kopf. where a gorge ran thru facing
tho wind. In order to get back to tho
previous up-current he retraced his
tracks, soaring upward until he wa,
high enough to cross tho gorge safe
~. After this he continued UP tho
valley stream thru which he found
n favorably rising current. until after
he had been I'm tho air for six minu-
tcs he had attained height OF 400
feet above his starting place.
This was tho highest altitude at
tained, for soop after he came out Of
the valley into flat. low country, the
slope OF the wind decreaftng with that
OF the ground. Later on he came to
other hills and found rising air cur
rents following their slopes. and he
quickly took advantage OF these cur
rents to gain back some OF the altl-
tude he had lost in tho level country.
10 tho west wcrc still higher hills but
klemperer refused to take advantage
or tho rising air currents because they
would have brought him over high
country and so reduce his gliding
angle. Instead. he kept to the valley
some thousand feet lower, wnere he
could glide for son- distance farther
than ha could ~ he were forced TO
land up on tho high country. Several
times no would strike regions OF de-
scending air currents, and instead o'
merely passing thru these, he would
make series OF turns. circlins about
losing a little altitude a. he sailed
away from the ridge but gaining more
as he turned again toward tho ridge.
LAND CONTOURS AND WIND
The route of Kiemperer demon
strates that his flight was influenced
by two things-by tho direction OF the
wind and by the physical character
iistics of tho country. Tn. normally
horizontal wind being Influenced by
~ underlying country, ..reated up-
ward and downward currents OF air
and II IL of these that Klernperer took
advantage, just as tho buzzard would
do"
With the exception .ha. II was
motorlcss, nothing Is said concerning
the shape or character of the German
aviators plane. but It was doubtless
of type specially adapted for soaring
flight. That the shape Of tho plane Il
an important consideration in airing
flight Is indicated by the number OF
European inventors who are working
on now models of wings Among tho
iew To develop what is believed to be
an efficient motorlcss machine Is Gus
tav Liliemthal. who declares that tn.
mystery OF birds soaring flight lie.
not only in the shape. thickness and
curve OF its wing but also in the p~-
culiar arched manner. with tho wing
tip depressing, in which It holds ~.
wing. This results" according 10
Li1enthal. In strong reverse eddy
being formed underneath the wing
an eddy which. sweeping from front TO
back. Is deflected by the cunning curve
made TO sweep up again under the
thick center part OF tho wing from
pack TO front. Thus It acts ~ a nat
lral propeller and drives tho bird for
ward through tho air.
Tho few experiments that have been
made in soaring flight have evoked
tremendous applause and interest In
aviation circles all over the world. IL
Is the ose thrilling subject OF conver-
sutton. All authorities seem to agree
that in this latest development tho
climax has been reached in aviation,
Even the Wright Brothers predicted
that mon would never stop with 900
horsepower motors. but would keep ON
studying and experimenting until thov
could fly with the same economy OF
power used by turkey uuzzards.