THE FLYING MACHINE.

Otago Daily Times, Volume 13793, Issue 13793, 5 January 1907, Page 15

THE FLYING MACHINE.

ANOTHER ADVANCE. The evolution of the flying machino has boon carricd an important step forward by M. Santos Duinont's making the first frco flight of his now machine 011 23rd October last. It is necessary to distignuish carcfully ; between tho flying machino and the airship', Tho machino is a contrivance which supports itself jn tho air by tho 'application of power, justas a. bird or & butterfly docs. But tho airship is chiefly- a balloon, which ri-'-ca by flotation. Tho modem dirigible balloons are all provided with'power for driving,_ hut this power is not used for supporting them. The difficulty- of- making tho airship perform successful flights in any desired direction arises from tho great bulk of tho hull; which gives the necessary flotation. The buoyancy which lifts tho airship plocca it very touch at llic mercy o[ tho winds. But with tho genuine flying niachino the motion which giveg' tho soaring power can bo directed 'towards the desired •terminus. Tho driver of the flying machino 15 master of tho air instead of being at. its meroy, as the captain of iho airship' -is... Jinl tho airship, in epit© of its drawbacks', has dono good work in helping on tho development of tho genuine flying'machine. M. Santos Dumont, who has just distinguished hiinsojf with his. flying machine, has been tho loading navigator and designer of airships. Ho is certainly a moat, vigorous .personality. Though the .ron of I lie largest eoiree-plantei' in the world/and having wealth at Jiis command, lie has snh'cndered'himself to no life of luxurious'case, but has toiled liko a practical, engineer at tho building of his nltmerofis air craft, in which ho has inado eo many dangerous voyages. Eight years ago, ivheu lie was 25 years of age, ho tried his first ascent in tho aln;f balloon that had 'ever carricd a mil 11 U|>. Tlieli 110 advanced a step further by adapting to a balloon a petroleum molor taken, from a motor tricycle. This initialed him into airship work. Then he built four airships, each marking an advance on its predecessor. Tho special point about the Diuiioht design is the light hut tightly, braced skeleton frame for carrying car, motor shaft, ami propeller. In" his later machines every trip cost him £100 for tho hydrogen alone, which is required for infltifing ihtj balloon. It needed the rare combinolion of pluck, inventive skill, and money to produce an air navigator like. M. Santos Dunioiit. In, 1901 he won the Deulsoh prize by circling round tho Eiffel Tower in a given time. But with the airship this is possible only in fho-calmest weather. Having in bis littlo ships acquired familiarity Willi (lie ways of tho air, ho proceeded to tho next and still more difficult;' stago of working out ft true flying machine. Hero ho had the advantage of the diverse pioneering work done by Jiis predecessors. 00 Hiram Maxim's mammotb machine, weighing three tons,'had shown that with #. lingo spread of soaring aeroplane and gigantic screw propellers, 18ft in diameter, worked by a 360 horse-power engine, this largo weight could be lifted by power alone, without tho slightest aid of buov'i'on nnn But i spending some i>fio,ooo. got no father than barely risin"" from earth. He saw that, tho great difficulties ahead were those of getting 11110 flio air sa.fcly a t iho hiah speeds required in his machino, and the stil ipore formidable ones of alighting without eatiislropho. In Americii, Professor Langlby carried out. somo eminently soiciitijio experiments as (0 the best way 111 which (0 imitate the soaring of birds by ineans of aeroplanes, and he made mode s which Hew successfully, but his models were not manned. .Some years ago two brave experimenters', Lilicntlial, a Cjerniaii, who was 01100 in Australia, and 1 dehor, an Englishman, carried out some very practical trials towards evolving a manned Hying machine. Thov simply provided themselves with a, great spread of aeroplane, and ruhniilg down hill to get up momentum, leaped into the air and ®.°. a " 11 !' lu ', as possiblo on a gliding fllgJlK LihonUi(il travelled as far as 250 metres at a single flight. It, ,wiis a splendid application of athletic.?, but very dangerous, costing both pioneers their lives before long. The aim of At. Santos Dmhoilt, was to hit a practical''mean between (lie exlreiiin of Maxim's ponderous machino oil the one hand and the too simplified but. unsafe athletic appliances of Lilicntlial. His machine is mounted on two wheels to enable sutlicient momentum to be worked up before embarking into the air. The practice of many birds is to italic' a short run before Irying to- rise. froiti (lie ground on their wings. By ■ means' of .' ihe two wheels .Santos Dumont is able lo make this preliminary run. In place of the bird's wing Happing for forward motion'lie uses an aluminium fan driven at 1500 revolutions, a minute by. it 60 :liorse-p'owSr motor. Then, for the soaring effect' of the bird's outslrelchcd wings lie'uses aeroplanes, in the" form of ljox kites built lij) oil a large 1' as groiind plan. The driver stands on a platform placed : where the arms of tlw 1 meet, and the fan works immediately behind him. The machine "and driver weigh lo'goihor 7501b. In'his first. flight with this machine Santos Dumont travelled 80 yards at a. height of several feet from the ground. This is not as long a distance as some of Lilicnthal's aerial glides, but then. the large weight of 7501b was successfully lifted inlo tho air l;v mechanical power suitably directed. 'This then marks an epoch in human mastery of (he air. A manned machine lias niado the first free Iliglit by mechanical power'alone. .Nov,* thai the feat, has been-performed tho development of human.flight must proceed apace. The dangers are still very great indeed. hen faced by people of less experience and resource ilian Santos Dumont. they will produce many disasters similar to thoso that murk the hietorv of ballooning with- the sudden deaths of tio many brave men. Probably the hrmv and naval authorities of the leading countries will soon add flying schools to their balloon departments. fu artificially supported machines will bo used for practising bog.'n.'iers in the art of launching inlo the air and alighting without, damage to the machine. It is only now a mallef of enp'lal engineering to reduce tho dangers 10-Jife and limb within- reasonable bounds. The living machine will enjoy t.u immediate advantage over the' air chip by avoiding Ihe very heavy expenses of inflating (l|c .balloons of the latter. There is no serious financial barrier in the uft ,- of training .) number of engineers for the mantling of flying machines for military purposes. Once the element of danger is coi>ed.wif!i. flight with the'machine wi'l become fairly common, since the cost will be nothing liko that of. ballooning, which is. almost prohitiiti\c. Nevertheless, flying will bo a cosMv method of travelling for a good while yd. The .great, difficulty in regard to long flights is that of the transport of power. It 'Juki's dream tif the choflp transmission of electric power without wires were ever realised it would make all the difference. A flying machine that, could pick uji wiro. less power ai it flew would indeed revolutionise locomotion.- But the immediate, future of the flying machine will have nothing of the rosy prettifies*- of the dfotim about it. - II involves a struggle with Nature, iu which treasures both of human daring and money will have to be Speiii, freely with littlo material return to show for theiiK .No doubt the first aim of inventors will be tb make the tivin ; : machine a snwssful; engine of destruction in war-' fare. But the 'improvements' finis devised will nhifnafoly have important peaceful applications. • Tl(c 'atmosphere will be Studied in a fftr more practical manner than' nf present. To acfial navigators -i knowledge of slorins will ho more important than to marine, so that'a. great extension of Ihe metorologieal study of the air may be looked for as foou as aerial 'voyages lie Come an established thing. Tho balloon has opened up' new departments of the science of weather already, biit. with' the advent of. ihe flying machine we may exiiect. meteorological advances that 'were hardly dreamed of 10 years ago. Remark,'ible .details arc to hand of the voyage *jf two Italian aeronauts. Signor Vsuelli and Signer Orespi, from .Milan over tlie Alps lo Aix-les-Baius. The extraordinary height of 9530 yards, or over five ■ miles, was. reached, and fhe aeronauts underwent a temperature of ftldeg Fahrenheit below freezing point. They carried tubes of oxygen to ensure able :<S breathe, but at that great height their pukes 122 to tho minute. 'Iliey parsed over the eui'iliriits of llont Uwa anil Mont Blanc.