Evening star., 1937-02-28
Auto .Cyro Safer, but Lacks
Speed of Other Type Airplones
What Kind of Performance a lotion
Gyroplane Would Turn in Has Not
Yet Been PrOuen, HOWeUer.

plane" Is derived-first received ser
ious consideration. In 1912 String
fellow invented heavier-than-air
machine with wings and motor
actuating propeller.
Henson, fellow inventor, brought
out design for what he called a
steam carriage Of the air. and six
years later actually flew small model
airplane propelled by a crude an
cestor of today's controllable pitch
propeller BY this the secret of the
curved wing with convex upper side
and a ccncave lower side, had been
discovered 1t is on this curvature
that a fixed-wing machines lifting
power depends
The stage was set for Langley's
1896 model, which did fly, for his
full-size machine of 1908 which broke
his heart when it was twice wrecked,
for the glider experiments of Lilenthal
in Germany and of Chanute in the
United States; and, FINELY, for the
epoch-making work of the Wrights
which eliminated in carrying
flights at Kitty Hawk.
Radical Notifications.
The 10 and IL ton transport of to-
day is only a refined Wright airplane,
utilizing the principle of flight estab-
lished almost 100 years ago. The So
called "foolproof" airplanes developed
in recent years for the private flyer
are only radical notifications of con-
ventional designs.
The ''foolproof" plane. using the
f1xed-wind principle, is contrived to
be more stable and slower than its
brothers. 1t is automatic among
transport airplane builders that a ship
stable at low speeds lacks the high
cruising speed necessary to profitable
operation.
Up to now only the gyroplane, in
the heavier -than-air field, has shown
promise of developing into something
safer than, and yet almost as ma
neuverable as, the f1xed-wing air
plane. As practical novelty. an auto
gyroplane. with folding wings and
powered for the highways. recently
made its appearance.
The gyroplane's wing-it really is
in from two to four segments, or
blades-rotates about a vertical axis
and. unlike the helicopter, Is inde-
pendent of any power plant. Each
of the wing segment has its own air
foil and is actuated either by forward
motion Of the enti-e flying machine
o. by the dropping motion induced by
gravity. In the mile-high atmosphere
of Denver, Col, Amelia Earhart ex-
perimentally stalled" a Cierva auto
giro 5000 feet above the airport. shut
off her motor, and landed vertically
with little more than shaking up.
"Sat Down Like Tired Hen"
When Cierva's machine first was
exhibited in the United States, cne
of the reporters assigned to examine
1t said it sat down like tired hen"
The wings have a Tapping motion
of a frequency twice that of their
rotation around their axis, that is,
about 200 to $50 times a minute.
Universal joints at the axis permit
this Tapping motion to equalize the
lift of the advancing and retreating
wings while the machine is In forward
flight. The speed of the wing tips
is twice that of the forward speed
Of the entire machine.
The gyroplane can maintain flying
speed-that is, horizontal flight-at
25 miles per hour at sea level, and if
necessary can land on dime. It can
take off at % miles per hour on a
runway less than 200 feet long. Some
small. fixed-wing airplanes can fly
at approximately the same speed, but
they cannot achieve vertical descent.
Present-day transports, even with
such appurtenances as "slots" or
flaps" serving the function of air
brakes, can land no slower than go
miles per hour, their take-off speeds
are higher than that, and they re-
quire mile runways for safety. What
kind of a performance q lotion gyro-
plane would turn in has not yet been
proved.
Improved autogiros carrying three
or more passengers have achieved
maximum speeds of 140 miles an hour,
but this is still 80 to 100 miles an
hour less than the top speed Of a
conventional. fixed-wing airplane well
streamlined and fitted with a motor Of
the same horsepower.
Balloons Are Veterans.
BY way of contrast, the cruising
speed of the new airship Hindenburg
Is 78 miles per hour and the top speed
"a. In addition to the high initial
cost, the elaborate terminal facilities
required and relatively low maneuver-
ability of the dirigible initiate against
its use except on exceptionally long
flights with heavy pay loads.
Balloons, however, are veterans in
the transport field. They were used
for message conveyance during the
siege Of Paris In 1870, and a early
as 1919 zeppeltns we're employed m