AERIAL NAVIGATION

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 26

AERIAL NAVIGATION

! LOXDON, January 10. Colonel S. T. Cody, aboard the Britis! : army aeroplane, flew for a hunched yaids : at a height of 10ft at Farnborough. i A recent number of Motor contains interviews with Wilbur Wright, Delagrange. Henry Farman, and others, who make some remarkable statements regarding achievements in aerial navigation which they expect in a few 3 ears AN ENGINE OF WAR. Mr Wilbur Wright said the aeroplane 1 would develop along military lines. It , I would otiiy become a snorting proposition to a certain extent. " A certain number of sportsmen will be drawn to it," he remarked, *' but I do noii think their numbei will be great. It may. of course, develop in directions that we do not think of now. Frequently a course is mapped out for a great invention, and it takes a quite different one. But the future of the flying machine is with armies. Every army will have not one, but hundreds, of these ' machines carrying three or four men and ammunition, and capable of keeping the enemy continually harassed. Naturally these machines will take the place of cavalry, and will be much more effective than that branch of military service. I " With regard to the aeroplane," said the I American, " people seem to imagine that its advent was denendable on the petrol engine. Well, the petrol engine, in my j opinion, was not necessary at all. Steam was always quite as efficient. Moreover, ' engineers are wrong in searching for specially iight engines. Certainly it would ■ be foll> to carry unnecessary dead weight, ! but reliability is much more important ' than lightness. There is really no need for a special type of engine. There are 1 plenty of automobile engines that I could I use on my flying machine, and use suceessj fully, without »ny change whatever. The j future aeroplane will be probably limited to six or eight passengers. With my machine I can fly just as well alone as with a very heavy weight giving a load equal to three or four ordinary people. There is J really no danger by reason of a passenger moving about during a flight." Asked as to what form the flying machine of the future would take, Mr Wright said : "It will probably maintain the same proportions as at present. It all depends on what will be required. Big planes will give a greater lifting capacity, but will ibe slower. The flying machine of the future will have a capacity of two or three passengers and a range of action o£ about j 200 miles. Whether fitted with one or 1 two propellers will not make any difference." FLYING MACHINE FOR £150. Leon Delagrange, one of France's premier aeronauts, who has been working hard on his models, and who has made some wonderful flights, was more hopeful of the future than Wilbur Wright. "In I five years," he said, " the flying machine ' will be used in such large numbers that ! ir, will have been brought within the reach 'of practically everybody. The initial cost J will be not more than £150, w-hich will , be one of the cheapest means of locomot ion known. The aeroplane will unj doubtedly be used very extensively in the I army. Every regiment will have a cerj tain number to be U3ed for scouting and j continually harassing the enemy. As a , sport flying will be unique, while for long I or short distance touring it will be without J a rival, for it .makes possible a journey say, from Paris to Marseilles, or London to Monte Carlo, in an hour or so's time. As the result of the development of the j aeroplane long-distance motor car touring ;on h'gh-speed machines, ruinous in upkeep, will fall off very considerably. Flying will be so much more economical, as well as more fascinating, that nobody will be found to travel long distances by road. In my opinion," he concluded, "a. single type of machine will not be developed, as has been done with the bicycle, for instance. There will doubtless be several different types, all of which will be placed in two main categorics — the inanoplanc and the multicellular. The difj ferent types — monoplanes and multiplane — j are so different and have such different 1 fields of action that it is impossible to prefer one to the other. The progress of the aeroplane, in fact, will be 10 times more rapid than that of the motor car. Its progress, however, is likely to be arrested by accidents, whichj, will inevitably happen to reckless sportsmen, to men who will take a pleasure in risking their lives by flying over towns — a thing that is absolutely useless in time of peace. In the very distant future it will be possible for an aeroplane to receive its motive power f>-om electric stations on the earth. Yes, in five years everyone will be flying." NEW FIELD FOR SPORT. Henry Farman, seen before the accomplishment of the first cross-country aeroplane flight, stated that in five years the building of fljing machines would have become an important industry. ''I believe that it will be used^ very generally as a sport, and that journeys from point to point will very generally be undertaken during the next few years. During the next five years there will not be any attempt to cross mountain ranges or to fly over towns, but journeys along the seashore from one watering-place to another, or from one holiday resort to another, will be very common. Trips of 100 miles out and home, always avoiding towns, and attempted pnder favourable conditions, will be exceedingly common in the near future." "By reason of its development as a sport the aeroplane is certain to have an adverse influence on the motor car. Though it will never drive out motoring, it will doubtless bring about a certain neglect of the high-powered car." A COMBINATION MACHINE. Hqw will the aeroplane develop in the immediate futui'e? was asked M. Charles Voisin, one of the partners in the firm of Voisin 1* reies, bmldsrs of the Farman, 1 Delagrange, and other successful machines. "Not at all on the lines that are being followed now. T"he flying machine of the future will not be more than 6ft from tip to tip; instead of merely two euperiO)- --' possd planes it will hay« 20 or 30} it will run on wheels like a motor car, but will fye driven by en aarial propeller. When Used in towns 6r any crowded diet riot it will keep to the road, and will be used in fcx&ctly the same way aa a motoi' car, with th» difference that its four wheels will be

free, drive being through the propeller, j Wiien conditions are satisfactory for high speed the elevation plane will be raised, the i K.acituie will rise from the ground and skim ' along at a very much increased speed a few inches from, the surface of the road. In ! tn© tiartho and other districts there are liii el straigiitfn'. a>b and switchback roads stretching tor miles which are so safe that j every_ motorist has wished he could travel jat 2ui) miles an hour. With this type, of • aeroplane it would be possible to leave the road, attain a speed of 200 miles and hour, \ then come back again to run a-s an ordinary • vehicle when passing through villages or • over unsuitable country "It is true that Farman has just made a magnificent cross-country flight, but such trips will not becooie general. It is mad- ! ness to attempt to fly over trees, houses, ' railroads, and other obstacles, for the whole [ , time you are at the mercy of jour engine. i Wherever there is movement there is wear, \ ' and where there is wear fhero will be ! breakage rooner or later. It is understood ' , that if your motor fails you will not come 1 down like a stone ; but you must come down nevertheless, and the place you have to come down on may be a roof. It is need- ' jess to point out that a roof is not an ideal landing- place. 1 } "The Channel will undoubtedly be crossed during the next six months. But. 1 with the aeroplane, as I see it, for pract ical purposes in the future there will be a, ' hull, somewhat similar to that of a boat, - j with sustaining eurfaces. The machine ; could either fly above tlie water or be sus- ] tamed on its surface. Boats like the Cobra, j a well-known Continent speed launch, have : already sufficient power to enable ihem to fly if their hulls were lightened and they I wre fitted with sustaining surfaces. Since ' all vessels of this class are bad sea. boa-te, it i would bo an advantage to replace them iby flying I:oat s navigating on the water j or above it." j Will your type of flying machine be r within the reach of the general public, and what passenger capacity will they have? . was asked. j " Doubtless aeroplanes of this type not | more than 6ft in width, and havim? a I maximum capacity of four people, will be , sold for £600 each. Their maximum speed J will be 200 miles an hour, but of course I their average speed will be -much lower, for frequently they will operate under the 'same conditions as a motor car. TJndoubtedlv such, machines will be a direct rivnl to the pres2nt type of motor car, for i their upkr^u will bo very much lees, and! ; their srecvl much higher " They will be in- ; valuable for military purposes, for even on the rond they will ha exceedingly fast, while darinar pilots will always be found willinc to take them aloft for special journeys." NEED FOR PUPILS. M. Levavasseur, one of France's leading aeronauts, said : — "In five years' time the aeroplane will have reached its maximum development. " The future is with big machines. It is a mistake to suppose that the aeroplane must 'be small 'and light. Most of our present machines are far too small for really practical work; the butterfly and other insects can only remain on the wing in calm weather, whereas large birds of orey can | come out in , practically all weathers. The j big machine, too, is not a thing of the distant future. Already we have under construction an eight-passenger aeroplane, driven by a 200 h.p. engine. The itiodoplane is the only type of flying machine that will persist. It has been neglected at first because it is more difficult to construct than the biplane, but it is the only one with high speed, and therefore the only one that will inevitably be adopted. "The greatest need of the moment is the training of pupils. There is an immense future for the aeroplane as a sport, but pupils must be trained to it." To meet this deficiency a thoroughly practical training school should be opened. " To encourage the sport there should be a valuable prize to every newcomer covering a kilometre under official control. Further, an aeroplane is needed which will be under municipal or Government control, open at all times to aeronautical experiments and various flying machine races and tastes. A private ground is not sufficient, for it would soon get into the hands of speculators, who would ruin the sport. " The aeroplane will have a very serious effect on the motor car industry, for it will be the fastest and most reliable means of rapid transport. In a few years it will be possible to fly 325 out of the 565 days of the year, for rain wilL have no influence on the aeroplane, and the or»y thing it will fear will be very heavy storms."