Evening star., 1936-05-23

Pioneers in heavier-than-air night
turned to the birds for models. They
tried to duplicate the mechanism by
which the creatures of the air were able
to overcome gravity.
Earlier efforts at flight consisted mere
ly in attaching large wings to man who
would jump with them from some hlgh
place, waving the appendages vigorously.
Such attempts. Of course, always ended
with broken bones. Even when the en-
gine driven plane entered the picture 1t
was still to the bird that the inventors
turned for instruction.
Because of this. says Prof. Carl L.
Hubbs of the University Of Michigan IN
paper just issued by the Smithsonian In
stitution. aviation got started in the
wrong direction. Man never has, and
never could, fly like the birds He could
and does fly like the fishes. They were
his true precursors in the conquest OF the
air.
The essential difference, says DR..
Hubbs, who is one of the foremost Amer
lean experts on fishes, is that birds. ex-
cept in glides, flap their wings. while the
flying fishes do not unless they want TO
make a turn in the air.
Pioneers in aeronauticS and designers
Of early aircraft" DR.. HubbS says, made
the mistake of neglecting to study the
most airplanelike of all animals-the n.y.
ing fishes. The firmly intrenohed idea
that bird flight is typical of all animal
flight has since the time of early records
prevented q large proportion Of observers
from appreciating the true method OF
fish flight. This erroneous precOnception,
like thousands of other fixed ideas, has
blinded the eyes of man. 1t has put into
his mental vision movements of the fly
ing hsh's wings which his eyes did not
see and could not see because they did
not exist"
Once the fish is in the air. he continues
In describing his own observations. there
is absolutely no vibration of the out
stretched pectorsl fms. Whenever q fish
happens to hy directly away from the
observer. q condition which would make
easily evident any up-and-down move-
ment, the edges of the planes always
stand out clear like knife edges without
trace Of doubling or Of blur. even
when the fish flies into high wind the
pelvic fins, the lower or poSterior planes,
likewise never are seen to vibrate."
1t Is certain, however, that the fish
does use its fins in the air to control the
direction Of its flight, DR.. Hubbs OBJ
served. This control Is seen most often
when q Ash avoids the obstruction OF q
ships bow by flying around it in dis
tinct curve. and even more spectacularly
when one. headed directly for the ships
side. turns of at right angles in q curve
Of short radius.
"The control Is so nearly perfect" he
says. that I have never seen one strike
vessel by day, although they do 30
when blinded by light at night. Occa-
sionally ] have seen them collide not with
ship but with one another. as though
to heighten the analogy Of their flight
to that Of airplanes. They seem to be
lacking either In perfect fight control
or in perfect air vision"
The flying fishes gain the momentum
to get into the air with their rigid
wings" DIR. Hubbs points out. by . SUR
face taxi" Of from s to Is yards
at speed Of about 10 yards . second.
comparable to the speed Of the best
sprinters. This speed Is attained by q
sculling action Of the tail I'M. At the end
Of the taxi" it Is likely, there is brief
increase - speed to about 10 paeters . ;