Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1923-10-13

all over the aerOdrOme on the first at
tempt to run the machine. don't be-
1ieve any one else had much confidence
in the gears. 1t is particularly inter-
esting to note this when, after 20 or 80
flights and very severe usage, the gears
have given no trouble of any sort! In
many ways the successful design of
the gears is the most remarkable thing
about the helicopter."
One Hundred Successful Flights.
But the he1icopter Is more than an
admirable piece Of mechanism. It has
flown 100 times, lifting its weight of
3,4OO pounds off the earth and, on &C.
casion, carrying the extra weight of
four men. It's greatest height reached
in any fight was between 80 and 40
feet and there it lowered, maintaining
itself in position, for five minutes. In
It's hundred hops and descents 1t has
not been scratched According to its
designer it Is the first machine in his
tory that has ever lowered; and 1t has
travelled across it's flying field faster
than a man could run.
"Too much has been claimed for the
helicopter by some WRITER'S" said the
Inventor. 1--WE do not pretend to have
accomplished a great deal yet. We
have simply made start in a line en-
tirely new in aeronautics. We do not
ask that the helicopter be compared
with the present-day airplane. It is
fairer to compare it with the first air
plane in which the Wright brothers be-
gan their flying. We have succeeded
in going up and coming down again
!! without disaster. We have shown
that it can be done, which is all that
the Wrights did when they were at
our stage in their experiment. Further
more, we do not claim that the hell
copter will displaoe the airplane. 1t
only completes the process Of flying. 1t
does what the swift airplane cannot
dot hovers motionless in air, and 1t
needs no great amount Of ground for
taking off and landing.
"Many questions are asked by the
skeptical public and by the critical
ample, what prevents the helicopter
from side-slipping? would explain
that our four lifting screws are set at
an inward inclination Of five degrees,
their axes oonverging toward the top.
This gives the flying surface saucer
shape and lends stability to the ma
chine. If side-slip starts. the ma
chine tends to right itself instantly.
It has inherent stability.
For Safety's Sake.
"The enormous size and apparent
frailness of the propeller blades are
laughed at The blades are larger, in
deed, than they need to be. We made
them so for safety's sake. just as the
Wrights made their first airplane
wings. But they are not so frail and
clumsy as they look. Each blade is
| tested to bear strain of 400 pounds.
They are so strong that each screw Of
six blades has lift Of 1900 pounds
when turning at 80 revolutions a min
ute. They look more unwieldy than
they are. In the helicopters Of the fu-
ture, that will solve your city freight
traffic problem for you, the screws will
be smaller and less suggestive of
| Dutch windmill sails. At first we
have to allow large factor Of safety,
just, as the first airplane flyers did.
ut Is said that the helicopter is not
so economical of power as the air.
plane; that the airplane can cover a
far greater distance for the same ex-
penditure of fuel. But the airplane
cannot hover, nor rise and descend
vertically. The airplane must expect
to pay in power to do those things,
just as the automobile would have to
pay in power in order to fly. You will
see the time when men will be willing
to pay any amount of power to be able
to do what the helicopter alone. Of all
the machines ever invented, can do.
II am asked what keeps the whole
machine from spinning from the whirl
of the engine after it has been in the
air a while. We overcome this ten
dency in two ways: First. by the use
of fin that extends along one of the
arms; and. second. by the turning of
two small propellers with horizontal
axes at the ends of opposite arms.
These propellers also enable us to