Views of Mr. Wilbur Wright.

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 1, 2 November 1908, Page 13

Views of Mr. Wilbur Wright.

At this point it becomes of paramount interest to see what the views of the successful aeronaut himself are on the merits and prospects of the machine with ■nhich he has placed all rivals in the shade, and of which fifty examples are to be shortly on the market, Avith probability of completion long before the triplanes of the announced intention of the rival firm of Voisni Brothers. This is what Mr. Wilbur Wright said to a representative of th( "New York Herald" :— "My impression of flight, in its most perfect form,'' said Mr. Wilbur Wrigttt, "is flight without the use of a motor. At the present time it is essential to employ

some method of propulsion through the air, because we do not know enough about the science of flying to do otherwise. Some day we shall learn more about the subject, and then will come the great buzzard flying, the g-ieat revolution I refer to. If you watch the buzzard flying, and there are many of them in our district in America, you will see that under most conditions he expends exceedingly little energy. He does what Me would like to do. He takes advantage of the rising currents of air in order to mount aloft, and then, when he has attained a considerable height, he planes forward with outstretched wings, covering many miles sometimes before he is near the ground. Then, if he wishes to go still further, he again profits by a rising eddy of wiud, and again lets himself glide downwards, wh^n the moment has come His output of force is practically nil; he merely balances himself. We already know that the wind travels in eddies, or spirals, which are conelike in form, and on which all manner of objects are carried upwards. These cunents of air arc just the things which disturb us when we

fly under present conditions, because we have to pass through, them and counteract their influence by mechanical, means. When the art is developed they will aid us rather than annoy us. It is when there is almost an absence of wind that these spirals become more pronounced. When the wind is very strong they do not take the same form, and consequently are nut of the same value for lifting purposes. The buzzard does not go out in high winds. When Aye study the question we find that most birds remain under shelter when the Avind attains anything like a considerable force, and that is why we claim that, Avith one of our present machines and with reasonable practice, we can remain out flying as long as the birds." > This is a frank, modest admission that the mode of flight discovered is as yet far from perfect. As we haA^e often pointed out in these columns, the ideal flight is the flight without expenditure of motive power from within, the flight which makes the wind do all that is necessary, just as the pigeon does and the albatross.

This ideal flight Mr. Wright admits that he and his brother have alike failed to attain. They must at present rely on a motor partly for their stability and chiefly for their progress. The utmost that the brother who has spoken on the subject will say is that they have good hopes of winning through to ideal perfection some day. It will be noted that they speak of thf flight of the buzzard, which is a soaring flight, as well as a sailing flight, the bird taking advantage of an upward whirling current to rise to a lateral current ou which he sails in the direction he wants. Now the albatross flight appears to be entirely free from the need for help from ths soaring variety. This bird never seems to rise to the vast heights attained by the buzzard, the eagle, the condor, the vulture, and otner soaring birds. He simply rises up and makes the wind which is blowing, whatever its direction and whatever its force, take him in the direction he wants to go. He seems to make the wind carry him upwards against itself, and he appears to travel down against it whenever he wants to ; and so he can outsail any steamer right in the wind's eye, and he can keep ahead of anything that runs before the wind, whether sailing or steaming. In the respect of steady capacity for travel in any direction with the help of the wind, irrespective of the wind's direction, this bird appears to be unique. It is a bird probably not seen by the Wrights, as it is only found in southern latitudes, and their voyages bv sea have only been crossings of the North Atlantic in the manner usual with the liners. Were they to study the flight of this bird with the same closeness of attention and the same power of general isa tion that they have given to the study of other types, in all probability they would discover the grand secret sooner than they anticipate. At all events, they have now reached so far that they are the masters of the spirals of the air which, however, are still a nuisance to them, as Mr. Wright says very plainly. When the art reaches perfection these spirals will be useful supremely, for they will in calm WGatker enable airships to lise to the heights of the upper lateral wind currents, enable them, in fact, to get from where there is no wind to where there is plenty. With such a result before them, the future work of these clever brothers will be very interesting to the world. It is important to note in this connection that Mr. Wright has expressly said that the buzzard, the bird of his special study, does not go out in high winds whereas the albatross is very much at home in the heavy, incessant gales of tLe "westerlies," as everyone knows who has made the "easting" imder the modern system of "circular" sailing. It is clear that the albatross is the more useful bird to study. He is the bird made by Nature for gales and hurricanes, the bird who always "goes out in high Avinds," the bird of the stormblast, par excellence. His element is the hurricane that sweeps tli3 surface of the ocean, just as the water beneath is the element of the fish he seeks for his prey. Thus (he albatross stands out from all the flights and discussions of the time, preeminent as the type of the aviation to be aimed at bv man. The Wrights have by the superior methods, which began with "gliding," found out the secrets of the air. The Greatest fruit of their dis coveries is the albatross in the character and the sign-post of future progress towards the complete mastery of the air

The success of Santos Dumont some two years ago attracted considerable attention to the subject, bringing it to the fiont rank of interest. Progress thereupon went into the whole question of mechanical flight, with the result that it placed before its readers a summary of all existing information on the subject together with a series ot references to every fcim of flight hitherto attempted by man fioni Montgolfier to ALdree, from Renaud to Wellman, from Hargreaves and Langley to the Wrights, together with their pi ccursors LiJieuthal and Pilcher both ki]]ed, and their Mentors and supporters io science, Professor Chanute and Dr. Giaham-Bell. It adds to the satisfaction of duty done that ihe decision of Progless in favour of the Wrights as the coming aviators, a decision made in the very earliest days of aviation, has proved correct.