BATTLES IN THE AIR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11123, 24 July 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

BATTLES IN THE AIR.

FRENCH WAR BALLOON.

TRIUMPH OF "LA PATRIE."

The great airship "La Patrie," which; has been built by the brothers Lebaudy to the plans of M. Julliot, for the French War Office, made its first trip on November. 16 (says the Automotor) when it went out with a crew oi six people, including Lieutenant Bois, of the Aeronautical Department of Chalaia Meudon, who' was in charge of the airship. After several trials close to the ground, to see that the propellers worked properly, the engine of La Patrie was started at 9.20 a.m., and at 9.50 she was let go, and rose gracefully from the ground to "a height of 120 metres. She was started off I in the direction of Bonnieres, and turned successfully, in spite of a considerable [wind. She circled round the village of ! Lavacourt at a speed"of 15 miles an hour, then moved towards the. hills bordering" the Seine, and returned towards Mpis- \ son, stopped dead some 200ft above the • shed, and settled down quietly and with- \ out hitch to the ground, where she was / received by a detachment of soldiers, | waiting for her, Who took her back into ' the shed at 11.40. a.m., the airship hav-j ing been. 2 hours and 20 minutes in thej. air. V : The airship is of the same general type! as the previous Lebaudy airships, having the guiding aeroplanes in similar tions, the relatively small car, which , forms the apex of the whole construction, I being hung beneath them. It is driven \. by two; lateral propellers in. the same 1 way; as the former airships,- actuated in the present instance by a 75 h.p. Panhard motor. The construction of the car i has been altered to a certain extent, the . tension-members being replaced by wire j roping, which facilitates packing up and transport by train. The tail of the gasVessel has been provided with four fins —two vertical and two horizontal— (of stout canvas), like the stern of certain, types of submarine boats, and the balanced rudder, now forms the extreme end of the vertical aeroplane, by which ..its effectiveness is said to be considerably increased. The new motor is very flexible, and can be run satisfactorily at any speed from 200 to 900 revolutions per minute. The capacity of the gas vessel —which is 60 metres in length, has been increased from 3000 to 3200 cubic metres. ■ ' .'" > M. Juchmes, the Lebaudy pilot, has been enrolled as an officer of the regular army, with the rank of adjutant, and he is now instructing Lieutenant" Bois in all the mysteries of managing the great airship. It is intended that further trials are to be made with the Patrie,, and at some near date she is to receive a sur- !; prise telegram from General, Piquart, ' ordering her to proceed to some point near the frontier, and then proceed >'to Moisson. Then, not till then, will she be officially taken over by 'the WarOffice: OTHER INTERESTING TYPES. There have been so many attempts to solve the difficulty of aerial navigation, that were it not for the success which attended "La Patrie" trials, one might well be pardoned for doubting if ever it would be overcome. In November of last year, M. Santos Dumont conducted a series of experiments, which threw into the shade his prior achievements, for he actually maintained an equal and umforrti flight for a distance of 240 yards without touching 'the ground, nearly 20ft above it, and travelling at the comparatively low speed of 25 miles an hour. M. Dumont appeared to have v the aeroplane fully under control, and .had not the presence of a batch of interested; spectators straight in the path he was pursuing! considerably, shaken his nerve for a moment, there is every reason to believe that ha would have remained considerably longer in the air. and perhaps even have succeeded in turning round and recovering his starting point. Another aeroplane, of which great things, was expected, was the German machine, the Kapferer, this being probably one of those with which the German authorities are now experimenting. Behind the main structure, which measures 35ft in length by 6ft in width, are two smaller planes 12ft by 6ft, while in front is the rudder, which works vertically. The two-bladed propeller is about sft in diameter, ahd is placed at the back of the principal bi-plane, the motive power being supplied by a Buchet motor of 24ft h.p., which, however, is to be replaced by another of 50 h.p. The apparatus is mounted on two bicycle wheels, and weighs altogether nearly 5 cwt. This was the model, and it appeared to have worked so satisfactorily that on the same principle' the larger concern may have been made. Yet another German airship, of which much was expected, was the dirigible airship constructed by Count yon Zeppelin,, who carried out his experiments over Lake Constance. His dirigible airship, is 410ft in length, and is credited with being able to lift three tons additional to its own weight. It is said to have held itself stationary against a 33 1-3 mile-an-hour wind. The motive power consists of two 85 h.p. motors driving four propellers, two on each side of the ship. During the trials which were held in the latter part of 1906, the airship at one time was aloft for a period of over 2 hours and reached a height of 1000ft above the lake. It was under perfect control during the entire period, being steered readily in various directions, describing circles, and performing other manoeuvres. These demonstrations were witnessed by a number of -experts in aerial navigation. The immense proportions of the Zeppelin design form its most notable feature. The craft utilised in 1900 was about 420ft in length. . The one which made the last ascent is but 10ft shorter, while its diameter has been somewhat increased, giving it a capacity of about 370,000 cubic feet of gas. . This is 32,000. feet more than the former type. The total weight of the present airship, however, is 22001b less than the original design, being 19,8001b with ballast- and equipment. The theory of the designer, in favor of liquid ballast is still adhered to, the water being held in bags which can be opened by means of valves operated by wires leading from the controlling station. The gass bag is divided into six compartments supplied with suitable valves under the control of the engineer. The engines form an excellent ulustratration of the wonderful progress which has been made in motor invention*. The experiments in 1900 were made with an engine of but 30 h.p. At the present time the two motors employed represent a maximum horse power of 170— more than five times the capacity of the original motor— yet their total weight of 8801b is but 111b more than the 1900 type. One engine is placed forward and the other aft beneath the bag in order to distribute the weight as equally as possible. The steering apparatus is also in duplicate, but so arranged that one man can control both the forward and rear rudders. A high-grade of gasoline is used as fuel, and the reservoirs attached to the airship contain a sufficient supply to permit to remain aloft a period of several hours. Wright Bros., the experts of the United States, who were on several* occasions credited with having overcome most oi the difficulties associated with aerial flight, during 1906 devoted the whole of their energies to developing a lighter and more suitable motor for use with the aeroplane, and now claim that they have provided a 28 h.p. motor weighing considerably less than anything yet used in this connection. They already have been credited with numerous successful flights. Le Matin, a French newspaper, is proposing to organise for --*_■_* an open event for airships of the navigable balloon type, to be held from Paris to London, £10,000 being already offered for prizes. Of this amount £4000 is being offered by the Matin, and £2000 each by the Mar. quis De Dion, M. Charley, and M." Clement. "Possibly in September, 1908" (says the Auto Motor Journal) the aeroplane may be capable of giving as good an account of itself as the navigable galloon ; but in any case it does not seem that a run from Paris to London (in the one direction only) will teach them. If it be carried out successfully in the teeth of an adverse wind, it would, of course, prove that in 1908 the navigable balloon has become much more successful than anybody now anticipates it will be, while if the wind is favorable, the event will simply show nothing at all." The cable indicates that the trial flights have been against the wind.