The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JULY 28. CONQUERING THE AIR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 157, 28 July 1909, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JULY 28. CONQUERING THE AIR.

M. Bleriot's flight from Calais to Dover the other (lay marks, an important •period in tlic amazing development in Hying, machines. The Wrights ,and other aerial experimenters have made > greater journeys and their operations ■ have been attended with greater suecess, but they never crossed the Eng- I lish Channel Such a flight appeals to the imagination, and it is because oi this that so much interest and enthusiasm is being manifested i» M. Blenot ? successful trip. Will aeroplanes become as common as motor cars, if not as cheap as bicycles? According to an English journal, the builders of aeroplanes in Paris and its neighborhood could lie counted on the fingers of one hand six months ago. To-day there are fifteen "factories" in full, operation. Scores of inventors are crastructnv.. their own machines. There is an aerodrome, where pupils are taught to fly. Three new papers devoted to aviation have been founded within the past six months. There are three societies m France for the encouragement of aviation, and over £OO,OOO in prizes will be open for competition in the course oi the year. These few facts show very eleavlv the extraordinary rate at which tlve new industry is growing in France. There are two reasons for this rapid development. One is the novelty of aeroplaning, and the se».:'.id is the ease with which a flying machine can be built. Compared with the automobile, it requires very little in the way of capital pud plant! There is perhaps no industry in which the idea counts for so much and the execution for so little. With good plans and plenty of room, say g ool ' carpenter could turn out an aeroplane. Hiven a full supply of labor and materials and a motor in good working order, it ought to be quite possible Sot any well-equipped .establishment to turn out an aeroplane fa a week.

The great difficulties lie in the calculations as to .weight, supporting surface, and engine-power. Everyone_ knows that the ordinary type of flying machine consists of parallel horizontal surfaees or planes, which, by means of the pressure they exercise on the air immeditely below them, support the whole structure while the propulsive power is in operation and act as parachutes to check the fall when the propeller ceases to revolve. Much depends on tile size of these planes. According to Sir Hiram Maxim, their length should measure one foot for every four pounds of weight to be lifted, but, m our present state 'of knowledge, this can hardly, in the opinion of French makers, be considered as a final and definite formula, The power and weight of the engine, the position and dimensions of the propeller, and a dozen other factors, all have their influence on the problem. Tliim there are what may be called subsidiary contrivances, 6Uch as the vanes recently patented by the Wright brothers—small upright surfaces, moving on pivots, ,placed n'ear the extremities lof the planes, and brought into play when the machine is steered to the right or left, to prevent too rapid movement on the inside of the curve and consequent tendency to capsize. In reality, the aeroplane that Hies is the result of an even balance of varviilg forces. Theoretically, the machine having three planes, and, consequently, more supporting surface, ought, with a proportionate increase of engine-power, to -give better results; but lu-rc the elements of speed and stability counteract each other and provide a new problem; and the monoplane, though fast, has ISo much tendency to overturn. At present the majority of French experimenters prefer 'the biplane, but there is always the possibility of some discovery which will turn the balance in favor of another type, and the complexity of the problem with its infinite possibilities no doubt accounts for the charm it exercises over so many minds. • At present the price of a biplane delivered in Paris may lie taken as about £BOO. A triplane would cost. considerably more, on account of the increased power of the engine,, as well as the extra materials and labor for the aeroplane itself. Even allowing for the profit of the engineer who supplies the motor, there ought to be a considerable margin left for the builder of aeroplanes, so long as prices remain at their l-resent level. The tendency seems to J be towards large establishments, in I which not only are the wings and planes! put together, but the motors are also manufactured. In this respect, the way has been led by the Antoinette firm, which began by making specially light motors for aviation purposes, and has since added an aeroplane department. The industry has not yet reached the stage in which the finished article is exposed for sale, but this will not be long in coming. It will be possible for an intending purchaser to inspect a flying machine in all its bearings and givo his order, just as in the ease of a motor car.