AERIAL NAVIGATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2367, 7 August 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

AERIAL NAVIGATION.

Tbe dilinnJiy of so constructing balloons a* in render'them-mp-tble nf being suwd Htiil directed it the will of the aeroimii"■•» liki'ly. (tIJH Daily News consider) to be wmii mastered. Kecentiy published Hciwuitß '■■- of the aerial voyages of M. Uenanl (remarks that journal) show clearly enough that the question of accurate navigation in tho atmosphere is merely «i of time. Thus we'find it stated tinoneexperimental trip, lasfcingfifty rated, M. Renard, despite contrary wind-currents, navigated the' balloon gafely.to.th(s exact point at which he had aimed, In another voyage the balloon was set in motion from llendon in the direction of Paris, .whence a strong wind was blowing. si':- The baioou. entered the enceinte of Parisata;bastion after a tour lasting ■forty.Beyen minutes. There the seronaiits determined to put about ship, and the manoeuvre wag executed with the greatest ease. On the return journey it fell in with a favoring wind and made the point of departuie in ~-,.' .eleven minutes, as compared with the ■fovty.seven minutes occupied on the tjut-journey. On the succeeding day the French Minister of War and the President of the Committee of Fortifications eovsred the same ground in the balloon. The wind was blowing towards Paris, which was reached in ... seventeen, minutes, and the return Motiirney "occupying twenty minutes The ship again returned to the exact wot of its departure, and the landing was easy—tins last being a material point in the experiments. The report ' of the experiments show that out, of seven voyages made between August 9th, 1884, and September 23rd, 1885, ..-; .the baloon returned in five .cases to the Id exact point of departure. Trials such as these' described would, therefore, i ! '.' appear to indicate that systematic navigation in the air is a project which in a few years may appeal to the public as a soheme deserving tangible support. Doubtless we may be inclined at first to regard ah aerial voyage with feelings of miitrtut; but persons still living can remember the day when the idea of fWouriDg the country in an express train at tbe rate of sixty miles an hour was regarded with feelings of incredulity.