OCR Text |
Show BALANCING AEROPLANES. Ever since air tiight by aeroplane became practical, there ba bceu felt a waut of something to make those ma chines steadv aud dependable. The uu-certainty uu-certainty of their balancing, the ease w,tb which they can be put out Of plumb, the uudo.nc of them by cross current., ol! ait. have all contributed very largelv to tbe accidents that have been so pitiful in tbe course ol an ship progress Accordingly, efforts have been directed constantly to find some mean- Whereby the ?tabilitv of the aeroplane could be a.-su:e'i, without ad-ling too much to its weight. The W right brothers, last vpar, were reputed to have found an equilibrator tbat would assure a stability of the airship; air-ship; but there has beeu very little evi deuce that their discovery waj a prac-ticul prac-ticul success And so tbe search for a practical balancer lor aeroplanes hm continued with various claims Of div COVery from many quarters. A recent claim was, thai a British officer in iudia bad discovered a perfect appliance appli-ance for keeping tbe aeroplane steady; but bere again there wa B lack oi" practical demonstration Perhaps there bus not yet beeu time for that demon-st demon-st ration. And now the latest contribution to tui- highh desirable stead. er ol the aeroplane is bv a Salt Laker. Mr. A W . Orlob. who is attending the avia tion meet at Los Angeles, lie is reported re-ported to have invented and patented a means of procuring an automatic sta bilitv which will minimise to the low-est low-est degree tbe danger of practical avu-tion. avu-tion. inasmuch as Mr Urlob is right in the thick of Ihc aiation contests, there is cood reason to believe that his invention is a practical success; otherwise other-wise wc should probably hear notbmg about it. The difficulty ot jettin'; a gatisfac tory automatic- device that, would render ren-der the aeroplane steady is cv ideut from the fact that U bas eluded B0 main who bavc strenuously endeavored to discover something that would wurk. The V.'right brothers are about as ingenious in-genious as anv one in aeroplane worh, and it is possible that tbey have found a successful means of balancing the aeroplane in steadv flight. There is this to say about them; tbey never indulge in-dulge m anv "fancy skating;" they never imperil their lives by any- maneuvers man-euvers merely to attract the applause Of the crowd; thev do not risk their lives for mere .-how. They have from the first, endeavored to make air flighl a scientific, practical fact, and they have left the giddv di-play features of the business to those who wish to in cur tbe risks and who have to pay t hi penalty". But, one tiling is evident iu all this aeroplane business, this strenuous effort to find a balancer that would act automatically auto-matically and would preserve the steadiness stead-iness of the airhip. and that is the absolute nseesslty of such a lev ice it ia I" be Imped most fervently that, the discovery has been made; and, if made, it i certain to be mo-t important tep in the practical progress of tbe nav igal Ion of t be air. |