HUMMING BIRD’S FLIGHT IMITATED IN NEW AIRPLANE

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6867, 23 March 1929, Page 8

HUMMING BIRD’S FLIGHT IMITATED IN NEW AIRPLANE

TUBULAR WING OF BARREL-LIKE TFE PROVIDES PROPULSIVE AND SUSTAINING POWER. SAN DIEGO, Feb. 7. A humming bird which paused outside his window one morning receives the credit of Paul Maiwurm, San Diego engineer and inventor, for providing tho idea developed in Maiwurm’s fly-ing-worm airplane, which is to have a secret trial in the near future. Instead of the conventional wing and propellor found on the airplanes of today, Mr Maiwurm’s craft is equipped with a tubular wing like a large barrel, which, according to the inventor, provides tho craft with propulsion as well as sustaining surface in one unit. The “barrel” rotates to provide the propulsive energy, and may be tilted up or down to take off or alight. Above the tubular wing is a stub wing which gives additional stabilising factors. The “barrel” which has helican fins, is rotated by cables operated from an 80-h.p. engine. Models of the craft have been flown successfully here and prominent aviation engineers have expresesd interest in the new features incorporated in the plane. The craft weighs approximately 1000 pounds and has a wide fuselage, into which the landing gear is incorporated. The gyroscopic construction of his craft gives it more stability than any other type, the inventor believes. It has, he says, lateral, longitudinal and vertical stability.