Show sf EOW MAN NOT BY FLAPPING artificial WINGS BUT BY SOARING he will succeed yet say an bator and his will be on the aeroplane principle australia has come near to the problem man will yet learn how to fly pro fessor langley secretary of the smithsonian institution BO declared in an address delivered before the national academy of sciences this ought to give much encouragement to thinkers who hope that mankind will some day secure domain in the element of birds just as it has already done thanks to the evolution of submarine boats and diving gear in that of fishes the distinguished scientist referred to expressed confidence that the contrivance of the future for aerial navigation would be on the kite principle the air possesses elements of buoyancy which have not been recognized hitherto there is no truth in the popular conception that a body heavier than the atmosphere cannot be suspended in that medium without motion A kite of sticks and paper is much heavier than the fluid which it displaces but it is sustained aloft you can find an example much more striking however in the eagle or the frigate bird which though an animal of considerable weight remains poised in the sky upon extended pinions motionless for hours together so that a telescope may be trained on it thousands of feet above the earth it is sustained without movement of a feather though in a rarefied atmosphere this is possible because the suspended fowl has an instinctive knowledge of the way in which to utilize the air currents for its support when man has learned how this can be done he will be able to fly the most advanced investigators in this subject reject the balloon and all other such lifting devices as impracticable a gas lighter than air can never be safely confined within a receptacle that is not weighty and the same objection applies to a vacuum ballooning today is a bout where it was when it was first invented and in the nature of things it never get much further aluminum is light for a metal but it is several times too heavy to be successfully utilized for such purposes pray what has become of those aluminum trains of cars that were to be run through the air from chicago to new york at sixty minutes the trip LESSONS FROM BIRDS there is a school of flying machine inventors who may be designated as the flappers inasmuch as their idea is to sustain their contrivances by the flapping of birdlike gingg but they doubtless forget that the best flyers among birds do not support themselves by flapping on the contrary they only resort to that performance when it is necessary for a start i tie eagle if launching himself from level ground is obliged to take quite a run first then flapping his wings with a violent muscular effort which he coul not keep up for long he gains a buiji chent altitude to render it possible for him to strike along the plane of an air current which holds him up floating with li brating pinions from one air current to another he is lifted with an occasional broad sweep of his powerful wings to the upper aanal regions where he simply floats opposing to each movement of the suspended ether the gentle force necessary to maintain him in his stationary position these principles which the eagle applies for purposes of flight are perfectly understood in the theory of mechanics it is only necessary to adapt them with suitable apparatus in order to give to human beings like powers true the bird is lighter in proportion ito its size than is man its bones are hollow and filled with warm air from the lungs but the difference in this respect is not very material and it may easily be compensated for by bigger wings power to flap them is not what is required inasmuch as the start can be made from a height what is wanted is the edge which inherited experience instinct has given the fowl as to how to adapt the angles of the wings to the air currents A practicable MACHINE this is precisely what professor langley has been experimenting with what he is attempting is to produce a machine adapted to flotation upon the air currents like a kite yon can find a very simple illustration of the principle he is working on in the trick done with playing cards by the prestidigitator herrmann who throws them from the stage into the highest gallery of the biggest theater in the united states distributing them one after another among the gods of that select circle how does he do it simply by skillfully utilizing the air currents tho scrap of pasteboard past board is heavier than the atmosphere but judiciously projected it mounts to a great height and distance with very little force it would stay up too even if thrown outdoors supposing that it possessed the intelligence necessary to ac commodaro comm its surface to the winds what can be done in this way may be accomplished on a larger scale lest this proposition be disputed it will be sufficient to refer to a flying machine patented in australia it weighs altogether nineteen pounds and its back bone is a long copper cylinder two inches in diameter filled with compressed air the compressed air supplies power for a small engine weighing ten pounds at the rear end of the cylinder which works a fan propeller to the backbone on either side is ati at i wing of light material so that apparatus resembles a big butterfly with two fans for a tail this has been made to fly i horizontally feet of course it is only a beginning but all the same here is the nearest approach to the practicable flying machine of thus far attained star when mosea day walked moses day of boston began life as a poorboy chena he walked from boston to baltimore in search of work none he walked back again obtained employment ina ropewalk which by diligence and inventive ability he transformed into one of the largest cordage factories in the country new york world an american theory 1 I hate to tell smothers a joke he always wants it explained is it because hes scotch no its because you are english jafe very likely father A list of your debts would make reading son possibly but a little heavy fancy Mun weekly |