TRIUMPH OF NAVIGATING THE AIR

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 3 August 1907, Page 3

TRIUMPH OF NAVIGATING THE AIR

Tin- (;r<at .iir-liip "I-a Putrie," which hu liei'ii built by the brothers Lebauily |to tiu> plain of M. Julliott, for the Fit"nli War ORiie, made its first appearance on November Hi (says the AutoMotor), when it went nut with a crew of six people, including Lieutenant ltois. of the Aeronautical Department of Chalais Meudon, who was in charge of the airship. After several trials close to the ground, to see that the propellers worked properly, the engine of La I'atrie was started at !).20 a.m., and at O.SD she was let go, and rose gracefully from the ground to a height of l - 20 metres. She ira> started off ill the direction of l!oniik-re-. and turned successfully, in ~l>it« of a (..n-iderahle wind. She circled roini'i ;li> i village of Livacourt at a >ihhml •! fifteen miles an hour, and then moved along the hills 1 .ordering 1 lie Sii-ne. and returned towards Moisson, stO[i|wil deail some 2<X>ft aliove the slied. and settled down (jiiietly and without hitch to the ground, where she was received l>v a detachment of soldiers, waiting for her. who took her back to the shed at 11.4<l a.m., t he airship having been two hours and twenty minutes in the air. The airship is of the same general type as the previous Leliaudy airships, having the guiding aeroplanes in similar positions, the relatively small car. which forms the apex of the whole construction, lieing hung beneath them. It is driven by two lateral propellers in the same way as the former airships, actuated in the present instance by a 75 h.p. Panhard motor. The contruetion of the car lias been altered to a certain extent, the tension members being replaced by wire roping, which facilitates packing up and transport by train. The tail of the gas-vessel has been provided with four fins, two vertical and two horizontal (of stout canvas), like the stern of certain types of submarine boats, and the balanced rudder now forms the extreme end of the vertical aeroplane, by which its effectiveness is said to 1» considerably increased. The new motor is very flexible, and fan lie ran satisfactorily at any speed from 20(1 to flflO revolutions per minute. The capacity of the gas-ves-*el. which is fifl metres in length, has been increased from 3000 to 3200 cubic metres.

Mr .luchmes. the Lebnudy pilot, has been enrolled as an officer of the regular army, with the rank of adjutant, and he is now engaged in instructing Lieutenant Boi* in all the mysteries of managing the great airship. There have lieen so many attempts to *olve the difficulty of aerial navigation that were it not for the success which attended the "La Patrie" trials, one i might well bo pardoned for doubting if ever it would lie overcome. In November ot last year M. Santos Dumont conducted a series of experiments, which threw into the shade his prior achievements for he actually maintained an equal and uniform flight for a distance of 240 yards without touching the ground.' nearly 20ft above it, and travelling at the comparatively low speed of 25 miles an hour. 31. Dumont appeared to have the aeroplane fully under control, and had not the presence of a batch of interested spectators straight in the path he was pursuing considerably shaken his nerve for a moment. [lu-re is every reason to believe that he would have remained consider* ably longer in the air. and perhaps even have succeeded in turning round and recovering his starting point. Another aeroplane, of which great I things were expected, was the German | machine, the Kapferer, this being probably one of those with which the tierman authorities are now experimenting. Behind the main structure, which measures 35ft in length by Oft in width, while in front is the rudder *\vhhh works vertically. The two-bladed propeller is aljout .ift in diameter, and is placed at tl*e back of the principal bi-piane, the motive power being supplied by a Buchet motor of 24 h.p., which however, is to be replaced by another of 50 h.p. The apparatus is mounted on two bicycle wheels, and weighs altogether nearly sewt. This was the model, and it appeared to have worked so satisfactorily , that on the same principle the larger concern may have been made.

Vet another German airship, of which much was expected, was the dirigible airship constructed by Count von Zeppelin, who curried out his experiments over J.ake Constance. His dirigible airship is 410 ft long, and is credited with being able to lift three tons in addition tn its own weight. It is said to have held itself stationary against a 33 1-3 mile-an-hnur wind. The motive power eon.sists of two So h.p. motors driving four propellers, two on each side of the ship. During the trials which were held in the latter part of 1000 the airship at one time was aloft for a period Of over two hours and reached a height of Hloi> ft alnive the tike, it was under perfect control during the entire period, being steered readily in various directions, describing circle* and performing Other manoeuvres. These demonstrations were witnessed by a number of expert* 111 aerial navigation. The immense proportions of the Zeppelin design form its most notable feature. The craft utilised in I'JUU was about 420 ft in length. The one which made the last ascent is lOlt shorter, while its diameter lias been somewhat increased giving it a capacity of about 370.lXHJft cubic feet of gas. This is 32,1100 more than the former type. The total weight of the present airship, however. is 22iHb less tlian the original design, being 10,8001b with ballast and equipment. The theory of the designer in favor of liquid balla»t is still adhered to, the water being held in bags which can be opened by means of valves operated by wires leading from the controlling stations. The gas. bag is divided into six compartments, supplied with suitably valves, under the control of the engineer. The engines form an excellent illustration of the wonderful progress which lias been made in motor invention. The experiments in I!) 00 were made with an engine of but 30 h.p. At the present time the two motors employed represent a maximum horse-power of 170 —more than live times the capacity of the original mofor —yet their total weight of 8801b is but 111b more than the ISHJU type. One engine is placed forward and the other aft beneath l lie bag in order to distribute the weight as equally as possible. The steering apparatus is also in duplicate, but no illranged that one man can control both the forward and rear rudders. A high grade of gasoline is used as fuel, and the reservoirs attached to the airship contain a sufficient supply to permit it to remain aloft a period of several hours.

| Wright Bros., the experts of the UnitI ed States, who were on several occasions j credited with having overcome most of the difficulties associated with aerial flight, during lOOfi devoted the whole of their energies to developing a lighter 'and more suitable motur for use with I the aeroplane, and now claim that they have provided a 28 h.p. motor weighing i considerably le*s than auvthing yet used |in this connection. They already have ibeen credited with numerous successful ! flights. ! I*e Matin, a French newspajjer, i? pr»{K>siug to organise for l!K)8 an open event for airships y f the navigable balloon type, to be held from Paris to for prize*. Of tliis amount, £IOOO i-, Iteing offered by the Matin and X2OOO each by the Martpiis IK- Dion. M. Charley and M. ('lenient.

I "Pos-ibly in September. IMS." su\tie* Auto-Motor Journal, "the aeroplane may be capable of giving as good an account «»f i(-<-ff rh<» wmgahle balloon; but ill any ca*e it does not «er>m that a run from Pari* to London (in the join* direction only) will teach much. If it In* carried out successfully in the t»*eth of an adverse wind, it would of cour.-e. prove that in lUOB the steerable balloon has Weome mtieli more successful thau anylnhly anticipate* it will be; while, if the wind Imj favorable, the event will simply >how nothing at all.''

NEW FLYING MACHINE. , TKI.KfIIO.VE I.VVKNTfdt BRJIXS MS TESTS. Halifax June 3. Dr ''i.iiiam IMI. who is liere, savs he MwntiiJrnt will ileiuoiHtiate of oil

under any atmospherical conditions. iTwo other "heavier than air 0 Hying machines which have been tested are, says Dr Uraham Bell, on the aeroplane principle. These will require a speed of about thirty miles an hour to keep tlicm jnlloat, while his will be navigable when 'moving ten miles an hour, the danger thus boiug lessened. Dr Hell is going to ('ape Breton to-morrow to begin his j installation and tests. Dr Bell is the inventor of the telephone, and has in recent years devoted 'much time to the problem of aerial navigation. t j AEROPLANE SECRET. IKKI'OIiTKD WALK uK THE WiUtUIT IXYKNTIoX FOli .140,000. Paris, July 11. The Echo de Paris announces, under reserve, that a French company ha* purchased for UO.OW) the secret of the aeroplane invented )>y the Wright Brothers, of America. This aeroplane is said to have Hown successfully for more thau twenty miles, and the purchase is conditional on the inventors being able to manoeuvre it over a space of several miles at a height of 300 yards. The negotiations are said to have taken place when Mr W'ilburn Wright parsed through Paris on hi* way to (!«»r many. It U stated that the Ministers of War and of Marine, have promised to buy a dozen of the machines if they prove successful.