The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-13

kuppe. a hill 5000 feet hTvL l--sss'-
landed near the town Of Gsr.s--
six miles away, which is ~
high. The duration OF the -
was more than Is minutes
beginning of the flight mas -
into the wind. which was f-o-- !.
west-northwest. The hills 49, s
nearly due north and Santh -
perer turned south. follogir,, -
or the hills. If he had trjed
cross he would have been esr.s
in the downward air current WI
naturally follows the dowry-. ..
slope of the ground. He did ~
INTO such situation near 80.
/ called PferdskOpf, where o os-l
ran through facing the wind /.
order to get back to the n-er;,l
/ up-current he retraced his tra.t
soaring upward until he was M
enough to cross the gorge ssfsI-
After this he continued I'm tho ~
ley stream through which he for-s
favorably rising current. until a.
er he had been in the air for q,
minutes he had attained a haist.
OF 400 feet above his starting plaes
This was the highest sltitrs.
/ attained. for soon after he can.
out of the valley into fat. low ror-
try, the slope of the wind decree
ing with that of the ground. Lsls.
on he came to other hills and fo,rr5
rising air currents following tbs.,
slopes, and he quickly took advsr
tage of these currents to gain bsr.
some of the altitude he had lost in
the level country. To the wer
were still higher hills, but KlenB.
erer refused to take ADVANTAGE n
the rising air currents becau,s
they would have brought him owe.
high country and so reduced his
gliding angle. Instead. he kent IA
the valley. some thousand feaf
lower, where he could glide f7r
some distance farther than he
could if he were forced to land Mn
on the high country. Several times
he would strike regions of descend.
ing air currents, and instead Of
merely passing through these. he
would make a series of S turns. cir.
cling about, losing a little altitude
as he sailed away from the ridge
but gaining more as he turned
again toward the ridge.
Land Contours and Wind.
THE route of KIemperer demon.
strates that his flight was inaa.
enced by two things-by the direc.
ton of the wind and by the phys-
cal characteristics of the country.
The normally horizontal wind be-.
ing influenced by the underlying
country, created upward and dow
ward currents of air-and it is Of
these that Klemperer took advaa-
tage, just as the buzzards would
do"
With the exception that it was
motorless. nothing is said concern
ing the shape or character Of the
German aviator's plane. but it was
doubtless of a type specially adapt
ed for soaring flight. That the
shape of the plane is an impOrtaH.
consideration in soaring flight is
pean inventors who are working
on new models of wings. Among
the few to develop what is believed
to be an efficient mOtOrless machine
is Gustav LilienthaI, who declares
that the mystery Of a birds soar
;-- asrA4 lioc MT DrI-~ II, tho rha1n
thickness and curve of its wing, bu.
also in the peculiar arched man
ner, with the wing tip depressed, IN
which it holds its wing. This re-
suits" according to Lilienthal, III
a strong reverse eddy being formed
underneath the wing-an eddy
which, sweeping from front 70
back, is DETECTED by the cunning
curve and made to sweep up again
under the thick center Of the wing
from back to front. Thus it acts IS
a natural propeller and drives the
bird forward through the air
The few experiments that have
been made in soaring flights have
evoked tremendous applause ana
interest. In aviation circles all
over the world, it is the one thrill
ing subject of conversation. AL
authorities seem TO agree that ID
this latest development the climax
has been reached in aviation. Even
the Wright brothers predicted ma.
men would never stop with 5F
horsepower motors. but WolA
keep on studying and experiment
ing until they could fly with ll5
same economy OF power used o
turkey buZzards.