AERIAL NAVIGATION.

Waipukurau Press, Issue 289, 30 July 1908, Page 2

AERIAL NAVIGATION.

M. Rene Quinton, the distinguished biologist, has offered a prize of £4OO to the aeronaut who will fly five minutes without using his motor, says the Paris correspondent of the London Times. 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. Quinton’s proposal has made a sensation in sporting circles, and it is recognised that the question of the conquest of ,the air by “ the heavier than air ’ is not likely to be solved until it becomes possible literally to sail in the. air as do the eagles, vultures, condors and other birds. It should be said that the Wrights affirm that they have remained 72 seconds with their motor stopped in the teeth of the wind, at the sama 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 SRys, is just the reverse. J?he carrier pigeon covers more than 600 miles without eating or diink-ing—-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 aerial locomotion one of the most rapid and economic in the world. . M. Quinton is convinced that within a brief period we shall witness a spectacle similar to that of ten years ago in the case of the motor car industry.