| Show DEUTSCH PRIZE A K 1 a former inventors attests an Tests of dirigible 1 general plan Iare ned by the young who I 1 an en by de of tho that wn wrecked the dratsch prize which M santos dugout who has just narrowly escaped death in attempting to airdo the eircel tower in his balloga ballo oa has been trying for two to win was offered in march 1900 the kew york tribune the conditions ot the contest wars these the aeronaut should start from about three and one halt rom the elf fel tower make a voyage around that colossal structure and return to the point of departure inside of 80 minutes to do so it would be necessary to travel at the rate of 14 miles or more an hour for full seven miles and demonstrate the feasibility of propelling steering and otherwise successfully managing his craft abo sum to I 1 bo given Is M santos dumont got bis airship up several times in the spring and sum mer of 1900 and made the attempt informally that 1 without summoning tho judges to witness abo performance finally he made a trial under scrutiny this was in september but something went wrong with his apparatus pa ratus and he descended before completing the journey ills first notable ascent this year was not made over the sureaner elfter tower course and hence was not an attempt to secure the prize lie sailed from st cloud to the longchamps race course and simply maneuvered in the air the general plan which this daring young navigator pursues Is much like that of captain krebs and renard ot the trench army in 1883 they employed a gas bag to sustain their apparatus and shaped it like a cigar in order to reduce atmospheric resistance with a screw propeller driven by an electric motor and storage battery kreba and aenard developed a speed of 14 miles an hour but this was maintained tor only n few minutes among those who have followed this well known precedent was the german count von zeppelin who tried his airship over lake constance last year both in july and october the enormous size of the craft it was over ifft long and the mans own prominence as n military and friend 0 the king of Wurt attracted so much attention to the venture that scarcely anybody noticed santos du mont choso whoso work was really much more promising von zeppelin had a big ship with a feeble engine a small gasoline motor while the modest young brazilian in paris had a small ship with a motor which was relatively panch more powerful in certain de ams perhaps his craft was superior von zeppelin was doomed to failure from tho outset he made eight or ten miles an hour for a few minutes but could not beat the record he spent a good deal of money mostly his own and has now definitely retired from the field santos dumont Is an engineer by pro foss loti and about 20 years old 19 gasoline motor 1 a marvel of lightness it was designed especially by the daumler Dalm ler develops seven horsepower and weighs 70 pounds the gasoline tanks are cigar shaped but even with this beautiful equipment in some respects unequaled santos dumont has pot yet beaten the record of krebs and renard this accident which resulted so happily reminds one of the fate of who lost bis 1 1 august through the wrecking of his flying that dovico was practically a pair of large wings and meant to sustain him while he slid down an aerial slope from a bouse top or a cliff had aride 2000 such flights before his death A young englishman pilcher who lia to some extent but much originality met a simi tar fate in his plan was to start frob the surface and rise very gently while horses towed him evidently he meant to drive bis aeroplane with a gas motor tho construction of M santos du monts balloon la thus closely described in the current number of the scientific american the balloon proper Is cylindrical and la covered with silk its extremities being pointed it Is feet long and its cubical capacity Is feet suspended by piano wire 35 or 40 feet below the balloon la a light framework whose profile very much resembles that of the balloon proper abo framework Is triangular in section and Is formed cf three long pieces of wood secured at the end and strengthened by cross bracing and deteel wires this framework supports a four cylinder 16 horsepower motor of the dion bouton type the fuel reservoir the shaft and the propeller abo engine 1 placed well toward one end and the aeronaut rides in a light basket at the other end here he has under bla control all of tac machinery for maneuvering the balloon also abo ballast and the guide ropes the respective positions of the various weights acro determined after many experiments and its equilibrium Is perfect this assures ts horizon and nn equal tension on the BUS panders this explains why the aeronaut Is so far separated from hie motor the propeller 14 feet in diameter ie composed of two vanes of wood and deteel covered with ellk and highly varnished it attains a speed of apo turns a minute the steering dovico 1 0 silk and 1 placed between the balloon and tho framework above the propeller abo balloon Is inflated with hydrogen and in order to maintain at all times a tension on the envelope that 1 to say perfect Inflation a compensating balloon with air Is placed in tho interior this le inflated as required by a email compressor actuated by the motor tho air being conducted to it by tubing A guide rope 1 suspended under the frame corb worb aind alth its aid the necessary e inclination Is obtained to effect the movements of ascent and descent such in brief are the apparatus and method employed by M santos du montt |
