Evening star., 1928-06-03
TOWN ASTOUNDED
AT FLYING BICYCLE
Successful Flight CT BirdIike
Contraption Followed Sc
Cret Work at Home.
By LEMUEL r. PARTON.

Special Dispatch TO The Star.
NEW YORK. June 2.-Folks in Stony
brook, Long Island. know now what
young George White was up to during
those six months when he was working
on some secret contraption in his
fathers cellar In the bcst Dick Mer-
riwell tradition the young man kept
the cellar padlocked and the basement
window boarded up. so nobody coulo
find out what he was doing.
Now the town learns. from ST Au-
rustine, Fla that the busy and Secre-
tive Mr.. White was making himself a
fsyjng bicycle. and furthermore that II
has flown 80 miles an hour for eight
tenths Of mile.
With Tapping "feathered" wings OF
transparent celluloid, this rie approaches
nearer the original Icarian mocei--
which has stirred the Imagination OF
man for thousands of years than the
more busineSelike and less poetic out
fits which finally got man into the air.
1t is contoureo like a bird and the m
ventor seeks a perfect slmuialon OF
bird fight in ascent. descent and gulo-
ance Foot treads. tapping the wings.
supply the power.
attracted little public interest II has
since been learned that Mr.. White Is
a graduate Of the Massachusetts In
situte Of Technology. a former Army
aviator and instructor in flying and an
fn6efatiruable student of airplane de-
sign. Hence. news Of his continued
experiments at St. Augustine have
caught the attention Of technicians and
designers here and his operations are
being closely watched.
Predicts Ultimate Success.
Prof. Alexander Klemin of the Gug-
renheirn School of AeTonautics of New
York University, saio he was 'astound-
&C" with Whites achievements and saw
no reason why the inventor would not
eventually develop a f0ot-propelled fly
ing machine. modelled on bird flight.
II was said by friends of White here
that the experiments now being made
in Florida are preliminary studies and
no ambitious attempts at fight will b.
made until a schedule of fundamental
experiments has been carried through.
While Mr.. White Is equipped with the
knowledge of aerodynamics which the
last 20 years have made available. his
creation is entirely novel having Moth
ing in common. IN propulsion. guidance
or control. with airplanes now in use.
Mr. White sees no possibility of get
ting into the air zitl foot-Dower only.
With further mastery Of his machine
he plans 70 glide from heignts but at
present is towed bY an automobile at
the start. This problem Of ascent he
proposes 70 solve by installing a 2i2
Horsepower compressed air motor. which
ne believes viii supply the 100 wing
flaps per minute necessary 10 rise from
the ground. In theory. foot-power will
be sufactent for speed Of from 30 TO
40 miles an hour. augmented by COM
pressed air power II necessary. The
machine weighs III pounds and its in
ventor says II could be built for $3.50
Has Artificial ~Featherx"
The l4-foot wings are built with a
ekeietora Of strong. light chrome nolyb-
6ennm. covered with non-infiammable
cellulold. The skeleton. showing through
the transparency. gives 1t the appear
snce Of a prehistoric fy5ns monster
Artificial feathers On the upper sur
face. made Of strips Of rssolybdenum.
further the bsrd-llke appearance Mr.
White confrived ~ increase the forward
momentum gained as in bird fight. b.
the upwsrd strokes of the wings. conc
parable to TIE action Of an oar in
sclilling 2 boat forward THE theory
IL regarded as an entirely new idea by
technicisns here. and il is agreed that
IL Mr.. White proves its soundness he
VIII have made valuable contribution
70 seYofvn2mlcE.
Mfr Write aE financing himself In his
experiments. lie sen6e word to hts
friends here fSa2t he does not claim "a
have made possible fight without en-
gsnes but that bis experiments 50 far.
have given him every reason 10 hope
that his invention foreghadows man &
first real imitation of bsrc fight He
v1S5es y clearly understood that his
nr5ertsktng is primarily q venture sn
Se1ent1fe research. ard he depioyes
fantastic claims which already have
beer made fer the orrstnoufer,
GF~9fwF8ghs sgaa