NAVIGATION OF THE AIR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 2998, 22 September 1908, Page 5

NAVIGATION OF THE AIR.

THE MISHAP TO WRIGHTS' , AEROPLANE. WHAT CAUSED THE ACCIDENT. Received September 21, 8.30 a.m. NEW YORK,- Sept. 20. In a statement as to the cause of the accident to his aeroplane, which resulte 1 in the death of Lieutenant Salfridge, of the United States Army Balloon Corps, and injury to himself, Mr Orville Wright states that the propeller of the airship struck a wire belonging to the rudder. Both broke, leaving the aeroplane unmanageable.

The real goal in aeronautics—flight withdut the motor—is the subject of a new prize. The Paris correspondent of the London "limes" says:—"M. Rene, Quinton, the distinguished biologist, has offered a prize of 10,000f (£400) to the aeronaut who will fly for five ininutea without using his motor. That is to say, M. Quinton- asks merely that men should do for a few,moments what birds have been doing for hours at a time daily for ages. M. Quir.ton's proposal has made a sensation in sportinjg circles, and it is recog 7 nised that the question of the con quest of the air by 'the heavier than air' is not likely to be solved until it becomes possible literally to sail in <-he air as do eagles, vultures, condors, and other birds;, It should be said that tho Wrights affirm that they have remained 72 seconds with their motor stopped in the teeth of the wind, at the same time flying against it. M. Quinton, interviewed by the "Eclair," points out that the public makes a serious mistake in thinking that aerial navigation will never be practical owing to the immense force required and the obstacle caused by the wind. The truth, he says, is just the reverse. The carrier pigeon covers more than 1,000 kilometres without eating or drinking—that is to say, without replenishing its motor—'a clear proof of the small amount of coal or petroleum employed.* The wind, therefore, instead of being an obstacle, is a source of strength, which will render I aerial locomotion one uf the most rapid and economic in the world. M. Quinton is convinced that within a I brief period we shall witness a I spectacle similar to that of ten years I ago. in the case of the motorcar industry."