A NEW ÆROPLANE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 316, 16 February 1910, Page 5

A NEW ÆROPLANE.

A WELLINGTON INVENTION. COMPETES FOR £IO,OOO PRIZE. .By Telegraph.—Press' Association. Wellington Last Night. A number of public men, including several interested in engineering, assembled at the Masonic Hall this morning to witness an exhibition of a model of an aeroplane. It is the invention of Mr. W. Beach, a native of Queensland, and now of Wellington. It was explained by Mr. James' Dykes that it is proposed to form a syndicate to' construct the complete aeroplane for the purpose of competing for the £IO,OOO offered by Australia for the flying machine best adapted for war purposes. Mr. Beach's model differs from patterns already before the world, and is the outcome of three years' hard study of the subject. The problem he set himself to solve was to devise a ship which would descend safely when the engines broke down. This airship has two propellers, one in front and one behind, revolving in opposite directions. The air pressure is divided between two planes instead of being concentrated into one, as in other airships, and the inventor contends that this will greatly increase the speed of the ship. Thrown into the air by hand, the ship alighted gracefully and easily on the ground, and when thrown from | the altitude of a 10ft. ladder it alighted just as successfully, except that in this i case it was caught in a sheet. Then ' it was weighted with two weights', each I of about 21b, and again it stood the j test. It is estimated that the airship | will weigh Gcwt., and be 45ft. long, with ! a width of sft. 6in., and carry an aviI ator and three passengers. The technicalities of the invention were fully explained by Mr. Beach, and tlit? experiments were watched witli the keenest interest.