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AEROPLANES FOR ALL.

M. SANTOS DUMONT AND HIS FAMOUS " DEMOISELLE." (By H^' Hamiltox Ftfe, in the Daily Mail.) It was rather a dejected Santos Dumon.t that I met at Rheims, looking round the "hangars'^ one hot morning during the flying week.* "But where is the 'Demoiselle'?" I cried. - "We have all been looking forward to seeing it hei'e." '"C'est un question de moteur," the famous little Brazilian said sadly. "Up to now . .- ." he shrugged his shoulders eloquently. It was a painful disappointment to him not to be able to fly his tiny monoplane against Curtiss and Bleriot and Latham on his "Antoinette." If he had been, able, the results of the Kheims Week would have baenvery different. For one thing, the Gordon-Bennett Cup would not have gone to the United States. Now that he has got his motor into good working order, Santos Dumon.t has proved that his little machine, which we knew to be the smallest, is also the fastest in existence. He is the only man who has yet flown a,t 60 miles an hour. Curtifis'fi best speed is not over 45 ; Bleriot's only a shade more. ♦ But this is not by any means the sum total of the "Demoiselle's" achievement. It has brought much hearer the age of "aeroplanes for all." To begin with, it is cheap. It could be manufactured to sell, as a business proposition, for £250. If large numbers were turned out, £200 would still yield a gocd profit. Hitherto the cheapest heaver-than-air machine has been the Bleriot, of which the price is £400. I have heard no other quoted below £1000. Next, it is simple in construction and ea*y (so the inventor says) to drive. Up to now no one else has tried to drive it. But it certainly looks practical and straightforward enough. Other points in ; ts favour are that it can be well looked after by one mechanic, md that it >s so easily moved about. Santos Dumon' ~>traps it on to hit moto 1 * car. The tail coires off. The, wings remain outstretched. Half an hour is enough to put it together and tune it up for flight. Fifteen minutes suffice for dismounting and packing it up. It needs no special shed to live in. Any ordinary garage serves to house it. From tip to tip the wings neasure only 16ft. Compare this with the 26ft width of the Bler.iot and the 36ft of the "Antoinette." The difference is even more striking than it sounds. And the length from front to tail is under 20ft. ''Baby" is its very appropriate alternative name. "Demoiselle," by the way, means "dragonfly" in this case, not "young lady." —A Trial. — Come with m« and see it fly Imagine a grassy plain edged with clumps of trees. Along one side ie a crowd of several thousands. Not far off a small group of more fortunate spectators is gathered around the machine itself. It looks absurdly small, almost like a toy. Surely this must be a model? How could a man go up in it? HowT Santos Dumont will soon show us He is skipping about now making his

last preparations. You know him well by sight. .He has been long in the public gaze. Hf made the first, eteerable balloon fly. ; He • was also tfoe • SxsK to. make-, a -flight-'-in an aeroplane— r^ queer, ramsh&elde-'' looking contrivance.. \$ was ! Born-ftp £ large fortune, ~ 'heT'nife devoted' .Ms' .wealth ~eoi c his energy to the .advancement, of knowledge. .' He has a genuine enthusiasm ,-DotJi'iar science and' for sport. iHie^Ja^th© only="anator I have yet come across, jwho, • is notV©u+ to make money. He "'-^w.jiitffr protected in any ' way -the plans ' of this monoplane of his. "Anyone can. navQ ~themV-'- he says. -'ITh^' more people who; make the machine/ the better I 'stall b$ pleased: 1 ' ~^ ' . •-.-.*'

He has t*be figure of a boy sfi-8."- Hm' weight is - scarcely over lOet. But" tot him ', eyes— *»rk; brilliant, piercing, with a: true Sooth. American flash <n theiit— you would! hardly, } remask" him. Out oi .his- sallow, small-featured "face they glow with "thei firsvof genius. Often, when be is -silent,, • thinking,^ they are melancholy eyes-^eyea .-whic&seJant-.to «&e. somethj^; j a^.|ojig>)way 1 '. •6ff. cjßut jg<& him to, ta^k-^aad f#;,thrillfl you with the "intensify of his gTancfc 'Just now lie is naturally disinclined to -.talk. He is/jexcitedj. ■ even a little- anxious. . He m-eans to make a Ipngish flight. T . - -Notf.Jie gets into nis eeat, leather stray '"beneath the wings arid just below the '25^h.p. motor. "-He is quit* «lose to earth.. His heets almost touch/the soil. It -till seems impossible to "believe he pan get up into the air. He tries tKe levers. ' With one hand he works- the elevating plane, which gives him ftie upward or downward lilt. With the other hand he steers. Both ruddsr. and elevating plane are in the tail; • With his left foot h« regulat-se thelsupply ot petrol and the creation o£ the gas which is his motive force. .To his back are attached the wires which warp "the wings f-or turning and. for keeping tjbe -machine steady. This is admirably simple*. He merely moves his body in the direction he wishes to go. AH is ready. He gives the signal. The motor is started, and the explosions begin, banging with perlect regularity Then the machine moves along upon : ts wheels. In seven seconds it is off the earth. It has ran only • for 70 yards (beating Curtiss'fe Brescia record for handihess in starting by 10). Up it goes, flying at tremendous speed. -Ir a quarter of* a minute it is 100 ft high; -It (k( k growing, smaller* al- ' ready.' The beat of the^engine become* fainter. Now ' from behind it Vjqke "like a Bailof ,#ool with a darning needle vua ' through -it. "NW i' has disappeared'"orer the trees. We gasp and u>ok at one an- ' other. It all happened' so quickly. We car hardly realise ,yet that he,ie off. We gaze after him blankly witl astonished eyes. • — An Interview. — Next morning, in his handsome groundfloor flat, close to the Arc de Triomphe, Santos Dumont talks. We are in his. workroom. The table is covered -with plans and models and books. On a shelf along the side are .batteries and scientificinstruments. Everything severely busi- ' n-esslike and orderly here. In the salon there are Helleu draw'ngs of lelightful , dieaway' ladies, and lots of daricatures, and a table heaped untidily v high with photographs, invitations, newspaper cuttings, U fascinating accumulation of odds* and-ends. But here in the workroom work is the order -if tbe .day.* • And thatlarge framed photograph of the first .^'Demoiselle," dated "November, 1907," shows how 'ong and steadily Santos Dumont haa worked to bring his monoplane to its present eatasfactory staje. -.^ "Of course, I" hope still to improve upon it," he says;, "but even n<rs it is really very practical." (He adds this with -.9. charmingly modest and apologetic air.) "I an? sure it is better to sit low, as I do, than, perched up in a. boat-shaped body ; above the wings and behind the motbr.My plan gives a natural equilibrium lik« that of a bird. " As for coming down :t: t is easy. I^y along quite close to tbe. ground, only' a few feet high, and I chooao a smooth landing-place. Then! f. shut off the motor, and the wheels run along -the earth and I stop. Supposing the motor stopped^when lam high-up? Then: -I could glide down gradually. Flying high is really safer than flying low for mos* machines. But in the 'Dtemokelle' I can do either without danger or difficulty. "Could anyone manage my mahcine? I don't see why not, after, plenty of practice. In aeroplanin-g, as in bicycling, one must acquire the 'habit' — of balancing automatically; and so on. This needs much practice, of course. But the machine is quite easy to control. -VFo. eight days I v have been out day after day, and I have not -had the slightest mishap. The motoi, too, has worked admirably. lam .very "Mg-ht, you know Tbat is in. my. favour. But lam going to try to prove that my machine, is a weight-carrier by -taking up a. passenger. * If" I cai do that I shall show that it wil' suit even very heavy people. "I am "sure that within r little time a. «rreat many, people will own aeroplanes, and 1 want to hasten that day. I believe this machine of mine is a decided step forward towards making aviation pooular, and that is my reward. - I don't intend to manufacture it. I don't want to make anything out of it. I give the world the design free, gratis, and for jo-

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19091117.2.247.3

Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 77

Word Count
1,444

AEROPLANES FOR ALL. Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 77

AEROPLANES FOR ALL. Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 77

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