The Future of the Flying Machine

New Zealand Tablet, Volume 11, Issue 10, 11 March 1909, Page 369

The Future of the Flying Machine

Our cables during the week announced that 'in the House of Commons Mr. J. T. Macpherson asked Mr. Haldane to stop the waste., of money on aeroplanes.' In replying, Mr. Haldane said that £19,000 had already been expended, adding "that the future policy was under consideration. And the^cable adds: " 'The Times correspondent at Pan (France) states that the representatives of foreign Governments are watching the aeroplane experiments in Britain with surprise and amusement.'

If the latter statement is correct, the ' surprise and amusement ' displayed by the representatives of the foreign Governments arise from a sense of the clumsy, halfhearted, ridiculously inadequate way in which the British Government is dealing with the- question, and certainly not from any want of confidence in the possibilities and future of the aeroplane itself. In this matter England has followed her old and general policy of bringing up an I inglorious rear in~ the procession of the nations adopting new and improved mechanical methods of convincing her enemies by turning them — on_ the Chicago principle — into

- dead meat with the greatest possible neatness and despatch. Inus, she was behind the other Great Powers in the adoption of gun-sights, rifled cannon, armored ships, bfeechloadmg rifles, and magazine rifles. And~~to-day she is lum.bermg.along in the rear of France, Germany, and the , united btates_ m the matter -of the air-ship and "the aeroplane, -which promise to play an important part in the • warfare of the future. At the first dinner of tlie Aeroplane Club hold in London a few "weeks ago, and attended by many. -foreign representatives, Colonel H. S. Massy, i i-"'j ' remarked that 'as usual England was behind with aeronautics,' but he hoped that, in spite of iier many formidable competitors; she would eventually muddle through.' Following on this speech, Mr. Stephen A. Marples read a paper, the keynote of which was, ' Wake .up England!' Mr. Marples recalled -the fact that the .tortoise m the fable won the race, but then -fche hare took a nap, and it was hardly to be supposed that the toreign aoroplanists would sleep and allow tlie English tortoise to gain an easy "victory. As a matter of- fact so tar from ridiculing the aeroplane, -the leading Governments of the world, outside of England, are vicing with one another in their eagerness to get possession of a safe satisfactory, completely successful flying machine. Many months ago the American Government entered into a contract with those big. human birds, the Wright Brothers, and if these famous aeronauts are able to meet the Government's requirements, the United States Army will at once take up the Wright aeroplane for war purposes. The time allowed for completing the contract and carrying out the difficult programme of tests stipulated for by the American Government expires at the end of June. In France, the Government has already a military airship of its own, the Republique, which carries a crew "of four and is stationed at Belfort. Three others have been ordered. One is to be used as a < training ship,' and the others aro to be stationed on the Franco-German frontier. In Germany, as is well known, Count Zeppelin, with the help of a Government grant and a national subscription, has built his most powerful &irshi^, Zeppelin No. '5,- which/ in November last, was purchased by the German army, after it had carried the Crown. Prince from Friedrichshafen to Donaueschingen to meet the Emperor. The latter takes a "keen interest in aeronautics from a military point of view, and has appointed a commission to go into the whole question. In Spain, King Alfonso has given a great impetus to aerial navigation; and in Belgium, where a special type of airship has been invented, there are military aerostatic stations at Antwerp, Namur, and Liege. *" But v the most striking and practical proof that the potentialities of the aeroplane for Avar purposes are fully recognised and taken very seriously by the most advanced nations is to be found in the fact that the German War Office have just turned out two types of armored motor cars, made and designedfor the express purpose of fighting airships. One of these vehicles is completely armored, the other semi-armored. ' According to The Motor, each has a petrol engine of 60 horse-power, which can, at a pinch, send those land ironclads snorting along at over 40 miles an v hour, and thus keep it in touch with a fast airship. Nickel steel an eighth of an inch' tiick has furnished the material for the plating. In front are two seats, for driver and commanding officer respectively; at .. the back, the gunners' seats, underneath which is provided ■ locker space for 100 balloon-shrapnel shells, each with a bursting charge of 40 grammes (about 1.50z), 128 hardlead bullets, and 27 other chunks of argument in tlie shape of hard lead. We are informed further that f the aluminium double-fuse possesses three brass vanes, toothed' and pivotally attached to its bottom surface, which, in flight, swing outwards in consequence of the rotatory mbtion, and are intended to -favor the ripping up of the balloon fabric hit.' The gun, which is a five T centimetre (nearly 2in) quick-firing Ehrhardt, • can be elevated almost vertically. Car, gun, ammunition, and men in charge weigh over -three tons. Truly, where questions of war, are concerned, they take time by the forelock in the German Fatherland. / • While on the subject of flying " machines, it is worth noting, in passing, that the distinction •of being the author of this wonderful invention belongs to a Catholic priest. . Father Bartholomew Gusmao is the true founder of aerial ■ navigation. He occupied for fifteen years the chair of philosophy at Rio Janeiro, and was recognised as a high authority on the physical sciences. He constructed a machine, in the form of a bird, with tubes and b«llows to supply the wings with air. After one or two unsuccessful attempts the gigantic bird rose majestically in the air. ' For several minutes, 5 says a recent issue of the New YorJc Tribune, referring to Father Gusmao's invention, ' the machine moved about on the same level, under perfect control, and then for several minutes was held almost motion-

less, a feat that none of the modern machines has attempted. 5 This was in 1709. The Journdl des -Savants, No. 17, 1874, recognises that Father Gusmao is ''truly the inventor of aerial navigation, the balloon discovery of the Montgolfier Brothers (also Catholics) being more than half a century later than Father Gusmao's demonstration. According to the New York ' Tribune; both at Lisbon and in the National Library at Paris are to be found descriptions and drawings of the machine invented by FatTier Gusmao.