Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-09

and specialized upon the art Of flying, and
there is much literature to bear witness to the
profusion OF his thought, which, however,
achieved little scientific precision until Otto
Iilienthal, usually regarded as the father OF
modern flying, formulated his theories on bird
flight as the basis of aviation
otto Lilienthal and his brother Gustav
studied bird flight from boyhood and were pas
sively encouraged by an indulgent mother In
their early experiments. It Is to Otto, how
ever, that the chief credit goes for development
of the glider
LiIienthal's first glider was batlike machine
made Of willow wood and covered with wax
sheeting. It weighed 40 pounds and had .
wing area of 1OT square feet. Taking this in
his arms" says description Of this flight.
"he frst ran "a feet along q raised board and
jumped on, gliding through still air. Then,
elevating the board to q height Of six feet he
repeated the run, jump and glide, always land
ing very softly" Encouraged by this expert
ence he went to some mounds In an open field
beyond Werder, where he successfully extended
his nights to almost 80 feet. In 1893, two
years after he had begun his aerial sailing
tests, he began his famous experiments. He
had already discovered the value Of frontal
wind, which kept him in the air for longer
than when there was no wind blowing. He had
also evolved new machine which had para
bolically arched wings and q double tail. It
measured almost % feet across, had total
wing area of about 140 square feet and weighed,
with Lilienthal, 20H pounds.
He soon moved to the Rhinow HILLS, near
Rathenow, rising some zoo feet above level
ground. Many flights were made which grew
in length until q distance OF more than 300
yards had been covered. For the first time he
found It possible to turn in the air ct win and
to steer up and down, all the movements being
induced by awkward squirmings and hckings,
which had the effect of changing the center
OF gravity In the required direction. Some
times he seemed to hover almost stationary in
the air, and several times he managed to return
to the starting point Of his flight. Here was
real flight in heavier than-air craft. 1t was
the frst time man had scared like bird in q
sustained flight.
Two years after these tests having made more
than 1000 flights in perfect safety Lilienthal
constructed biplane glider, the first of its
kind and surely one Of the oddest-Iooking
machines that ever made q successful fight.
Sttll, it was q distinct advance over the previous
type and he found it much easier to control.
His next machine embodied the use of 9 vertical
and horizontal rudder, actually the rudder
proper, and an elevator. Lateral control was
still unknown and bank had to be achieved
BY the flyer inclining his body to one side Of
the other.
the problems Of night, Lilienthal was killed.
when he lost his balance while making q flight
and his machine crashed to the ground. His
loss was severe one to aviation, for his work
had greatly benefited experimenters and had
added much to mans knowledge Of the air and
flying craft
It remained for two Americans to gut the
finishing touches to the glider and, incidentally,
point out the way In which all bplane CON-
struction has followed These men were Octave
Chanute and A. M. Herring, the former the
father OF biplane design and the latter one Of
the most intrepid gliders. They started their
experiments on q Lilienthal glider, bat soon
discarded It in favor of . flve-decked affair
OF superposed wings. Chanute's own design.
This type was, in turn. soon abandoned for q
trtplane glider, which later gave way to q
btplane machine, design closely followed by
the Wright brothers. This last glider was q
model Of strength, simplicity and efficiency.
It was ct once apparent it needed only q ighs
engine to transform it into . powered airplane.
Little more was heard OF gliding, however.
until the peace treaty revived it in Germany.
Gliders themselves pro1ted by the remarkable
development In design OF powered craft, and
all now follow the conventional construction
OF airplanes, except for streamline noses, both
as n1onoplanes and biplaneS, the former appear
ing to be Che most popular. They are mostly
launched By the catapult system. although
some carvS very light engines TO enable tnem
70 Obtain a1t1f1lffAk ssftT3 aEit tEs - Just