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Show IsJiMSMpfABjmr I iZRON'd AIR SH1P s&tP This question has been asked, tlmo and again In tho past but It must bo nsked again with Increased emphasis .In vlow of tho rccont romarkablo feat of M. Henry Fnrman, tho French nuronaut, who mado a porfect circle In his ncorplano at Paris, thereby winning tho Doutsch-Archdcacon prizo of $10,000. Tho clrclo which Farman described had a radius of ono kllomoter, almost flvoolghtlis of a mile, and during tho en-tiro en-tiro flight tho noroplano appeared to bo undor porfect control, displaying raro equilibrium and making tho continuous con-tinuous turn on an oven keel. Tho Doutsch-Arclidcncon prize had boon offered of-fered to tho aviator, or uoronaut, who first succeeded In completing a circular circu-lar kilometer In tho nlr. Ab u second accomplishment M. Farman demonstrated boyond doubt that his aoroplano has solved for nil time tho problom of aoronnutlcs, that the hcavlor-than-nlr powor klto, nnd not tho gns-bag flying machtno, Is tho airship of tho future. Tho flight of tho Farman aoroplano marks a record in norlal navigation. Tho third thing M. Farman did was to predict tho speedy Inauguration of an aoroplano omnibus sorvlco between Paris and London, n dlstanco ot 287 miles, with tho possibility ot tho sorvlco sor-vlco being extended to nil parts ot Europo and ovon to Now York. It Is simply a question now of determining how largo tho acroplano must bo to ily thousands Instead ot merely hundreds hun-dreds of miles. Wildly Imaginative as It may scorn at tho present tlmo, tho Idea of constructing con-structing aoroplanos capablo of flying from Now York to London or Paris Is receiving encourngemont from deep thinking scientists and Inventors Interested In-terested In noronautlcs whoso opinions opin-ions havo weight and who aro generally gener-ally credited with knowing what thoy aro talking about. Tho Farman aoroplano, which has oponod n now flold for speculation as to tho future of aoronnutlcs, resembles resem-bles a hugo dragon fly with uppor nnd lower sets of wings. On tho undor side aro four blcyclo whcols upon which tho machine glldos along tho ground until It haB gathered sufficient Impetus to rlso from tho ground and commonco Us flight, Tho motor and oporatur aro situated botweon tho two front lateral wings, and tho courso of tho machlno Is governed by a small aoroplano placed In front Tho machlno Is propolled by two revolving blades In tho rear. Theso act on the samo principle an tho screws of a steamship. It Is Interesting to noto that tho Into Prof. Langloy is in reality respon-. slblo for tho success of tho Farman aoroplano. M. Fnrman went ahead Just where Prof. Lnngloy left off and has embodied In his flying machlno nil tho correct principles and theories govornlng tho Lnngloy noroplano. Vory llttlo can bo told at presont aB to tho slzo or capacity of tho aeroplanes aero-planes for tho projected London to Paris sorvlco. Each aoroplano will necessarily hn- i to bo many times larger than tho machlno with which M. Farman won tho Doutsch-Archdoa-con prlzo. As stated abovo, tho presont typo of noroplano starts by gliding along tho ground until sufficient Impetus has boon gnthorod to glvo It a lifting power. Thon It gradually rises to bo guided along in any direction doslrcd by tho oporator and propolled by tho motor-driven propollor blades behind. This method of gottlng n start, It has boon suggested, may bo Improved upon up-on by following out tho Idea of Prof. Langloy. Ills plan was to provide a launching platform soveral feet abovo ground to be reached by an Incllnod piano. Tho Langloy Idoa was to haul or propel tho aeroplane up tho Incllnod In-cllnod plane at a good speed and then to project It from tho platform out Ini to opon space, whoro tho aoroplano vks to toko care ot Itself by skimming Ji-1 1 nlong through tho nlr. Instead of fall- Ing. And whllo Fnrmnn and Dumont and other ncronnuts of Europo aro busy working on tho problom ot air navigation, Amorlcnn Inventors aro not ldlo. Mr. Arthur Foron, a Now York architect, is tho latest export- mentor In aeronautics to command at- tontlon. Ho claims to havo solved tho fl problem of aerial flight by means of a mnchlno that Is heavier than air, yet not a dead wolght In tho atmos- fl phore. Ho has invented an airship, circular In tho main points ot Us structure, which, lllto a hugo ptnwheel. spins Its way from earth to the high or Foron is tho first man to glvo prac-tlcnl prac-tlcnl expression to nn Idea which has -"' long possessed students of tho aerial' navigation problom tho idea that alu-mlnum alu-mlnum might bo substituted for llk or other toxtllo as a strong tank for tho Although oxygon gas Is used by Mr. Foron as an agent of buoyancy, his dovico Is not n dlrlgiblo balloon. Jt Is n flying machlno In as full n sonso of tho word as tho aeroplanes of tho Wright brothers or ot Farman, but It Is inado ot finest aluminum. Tho significance of this doparturo, 'H attended ns It has becm by succoss, Is -moro apparent to exports In aero-nautlcs aero-nautlcs than to tho lay mind. But tho Foron flltor has ono quality which all can npprcctato It fllos. This has beon provon by experiments mado with models constructed on varying scalos. Mr. Foron doos not dopend ontlroly upon tho gas to keep his machlno In tho air. It Is lntondod only to lighten tho task of tho rising scrow, which la tho soul of this flyer. Tho airship Is composed of two distinct parts, which may bo described as tho uppor and tho lowor works. In tho uppor works Is tho cylindrical aluminum bag, re-sombllng re-sombllng a hugo crown. It has a dl-amotor dl-amotor of 9C feot. It has 32 air tight compartments. From tho. cylinder hang tho cords that hold a car which will accommodate threo persons bo-sldos bo-sldos tho operator. Tho lowor works consist ot the has-kot has-kot or car, ton feot Bquaro and five foot deep; tho rising screw, tho pro-pollers pro-pollers and steering gear nnd motor, Thoro aro two "decks" to tho car. On! tho lowor ono, or tho bottom, rests tho motor and all machinery for work ing tho rising and propelling scrowB. Tho uppor deck, for tho uso of tho pnssongors, Is fitted on a small scalo with facilities for comfort. Tho oper-ator's oper-ator's placo also Is here, with tho tolcscopes, compass, barometer and othor Instruments needed by norlal navigators closo at hand. Tho rising screw Is set upon tho ond of an upright shaft which passos from tho mnchlno compartment through tho main deck to a point IB jJHj feet abovo tho rim of tho cnr. Tho wm rising screw lias two blades shaped Ikmk llko tho blades of a steamship pro- pfaf poller. Its motion, howovor, Is hort zontnl. It pushes tho air bonoath It yi and makes tho airship mount, whoro M tho wntershlp's propollor pushes tho WjMj wntor behind It and makes tho vessel 1$!' go forward. yzi'l Tho rising screw blades aro oach ,SR?Ai 20 (cot long nnd whon revolving span a dlamotor of 40 feot. mPo- Powerful as tho rising screw Is. It would not bo equal to lifting tho ship IX from earth nnd keeping It in the air i- 'a hut for tho help it receives from tho ' gas-fllled cylinder, It will bo soon mfi"' that tho boating ot theso huso wings, fr1 always driving tho nlr downward, fu&i must send a gale agalnBt tho car and JnCy tho heads of Its occupants. To protoot afLl both, thoro Is a screw haying tho form of a parachuto. iteail Tho rim ot this extends over tho Mfl sides ot tho car, so that tbo gala from J abovo slldos off on all sldos without .M being felt by the passengers. This parachute Is rolled upon also In Uroo - s ot accident to make tho ship sink , J slowly to earth instead ot taking a disastrous drop. ' ' ajH ' |