AIR-TRAVELLING.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue XXII, 28 November 1896, Page 123

AIR-TRAVELLING.

The foremoat minds in the realms of science have declared serial navigation to he feasible, practicable and probable. More than that, such men as Thomas A. Edison have said that the time is not far distant when some one will construct a successful Hying machine. There is now nearing completion a dying machine, the like of which was never seen before, and its inventor claims that it wiil be possible with it co fly through the air at an altitude of from one to three miles and cover the distance between New York and San Francisco in thirty hours. In appearance this new air ship looks like a rocket without the long stick. It has a conical point and a round body, while at the stern are to be seen a propeller and fanlike tail. Two large wings, like those of a beetle, rise and fall from the top of the cyclinder. As now being constructed, this air craft is composed of aluminum. The cylinder, or main part of the body, is sixty feet in length, and the cone, or pointed bow end, forty-five feet, thus making the whole machine 105 feet long when completed. In order that the ship may rise to the desired height hydrogen gas will be used, while for steering and a means of progress through the air the propeller, wings,' and fanlike tail are to be depended upon. The cylinder part of the body of the ship will be 39 feet in diameter, and there will be a capacity of 89.593 cubic feet of hydrogen. Inasmuch as hydrogen, at the earth’s surface, has a lifting capacity of 70 pounds to 1,000 cubic feet, the full amount of gas inclosed in this new air ship would have a lifting power of about 6,230 pounds. The inventor of this machine has for a long time studied the flights of sea gulls and the larger birds, and in many respects he has modelled his air crafts after them. About 16,846 square feet of sheet aluminum will be us d, and as aluminum weighs one pound to 16 equate feet the machine will weigh 1,053 pounds. The aluminum engine, braces and various other parts will bring the total weight of the machine up to slightly over 2,000 pounds. Just where the cylinder and cone are joined is located the pilot house, from which the three rudders at the rear are to be controlled. One of the rodders is a big plane, set horizontally, and is intended to control the elevation. The other two are vertical planes, which will guide the ship to right or left. The wings can be kept outspread or closed at the will of the helmsman. A peculiar feature of this air ship is a propeller at the rear, which, as it revolves, will drive the ship through the air much as a ship is now driven through the water.

A company known as the Atlantic and Pacific .Erial Navigation Company has already been incorporated, and the builders are confident that they have an airship which will be a success. It is claimed that the three great requisites to serial navigation are, first, sufficient buoyancy to overcome terrestrial gravitation ; second, the power to move at will in any and all desired directions, whether horizontal or vertical, and, third, the ability to land without injury to either ship or passengers. All of these requirements can, in the opinion of the inventor, be met with in the proposed new airship. In regard to the required buoyancy, that can be had by the use of hydrogen gas. As to the difficulty of steering that is overcome by the peculiarly constructed horizontal rudder and the two smaller rudders, while a proper landing can be made without danger with the aid of the big wings and propeller. In fact, its promoters expect to revolutionise the world’s traffic with this airship.