A SILVER BUTTERFLY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1421, 23 April 1912, Page 5

A SILVER BUTTERFLY.

iTHBjBEAMTY OF A ."BLERIOjyi

MOttOPLANR !TO "FliTi

oi, wWat a beauty I" That ts what a wnll-knoitfn citizen exclaimed when shown Messrs. Walsh and Veshuron's Bleriot monoplroje, which is now almost ready for exhibition mid flight, Tho exclamation was a :nloS t natural otto to nialce, for this thing which is "to spurn tho earth and woo <J.io sky" has all tho ethereal daintiJiess .ami beauty of a delicate white buti™ 3 "' ■•* f !' aßilt '' w«l exquisitely l'loiJorlioiied (loos tho frail bit of median•sitt appear Hut underlying it, f rn jl f>l "iiiiotrical form is a hidden strength on ,\ i i l • , "i'" 111 " must depend for life au.d limb. Tho planes (151t. x 7ft. Cin. '-'.ell) a.ro not merely material stretched f>ver ft trame-it is stretched over ami under tho three-ply ash franio and bo- / Ween tho upper and tho lower sheets is, f a hollow space, which lends a buoyancy tt , & n \ n ßte Btrelch would not have. Tho null with which they nro covered is a fciro-ag calico or twill of dense texture, "jiwli has been stiffened amTlwightoned «>.tu a coat of aluminium paint, Projoct•Bl IT 'J 1 fro,lt iiko nntennno is tho big wglit-foot propeller, mado of live pieces ii 1, , , ' , ," 1 "' 5t straight ash clamped toiho outer three feet of tho propeller is directly in tho line of vision ot .ho acroplanist, but .when doing 1100 rovoJnlioiis a mmutc it is not visible. This beautiful brown polished air propeller is driven at that speed by a four-cylinder DO-horse-power, water-cooled Roberts onBine, mado of a metal called aerolite, which combines lightness with strength. J.ho whole engine only weighs 1751b., and can ho lilted by ono man. liehind tho motor sits the ncroplanist, in a firm seat between tho frail framework of the long, slight body of the plane. His stceriii"wheel is not a steering wheel at all. 11 is on a loose all-round swivel,, and though thrro is the form of a wheel to clutch °jt lias not tho action of one, and for die purpose it serves might just as well be <i vertical bar. It is a "wing-warper." l'rom it extends wires to both planes, and to the shaft on which the 'tail-piano work* Push tho wheel forward or. backwards ami the tail-piano works cither up or down, whilst the side action works the planes proper. The rudder is worked with the loot. Attached to either end of the wooden cross-piece against which the driver's feet rest are wires leading to the rudder, and a touch on one side or the other is sufficient to alter tho course ol tho monoplane. Tho hardest part of aeroplaning is not i -u ?o ' at is comparatively easy to a skilled aviator handling a Bleriot. It is far moro difficult to land, owing to the oxtremo fragility of the machines. llthere be a fair extent of fiat land without obstacles, it is all plain sailing, but if the ground is uneven, or there are bush, scrub, rocks, or hollows, the risk of damaging tho machine in taking tho earth ,s , v S r >'. S rci i, t '- unt ;t i s hoped to give an exhibition, flight in Wellington before long.