Marvels of Modern Science

light-The Dirigible

t Brothers-Count Zep

co

to aerial flight and from the very dawn of authentic history, philosophers, poets, and writers have made allusion

I sit, su

uds the freezing

he names Astolpho, fly to the banks of the Nile; nowadays the

claimed that steam engines and electricity were common in Egypt thousands of years ago and that literature, science, art, and arch

nciples, of history, or rather tradition repeating itself. The flying machine may

be filled with "ethereal air or liquid fire," but he never tried to put his suggestion into practice. Father Vasson, a missionary at Canton, in a letter dated Sept

1767 a Dr. Black of Edinburgh suggested that a thin bladder could be made to

in sending up a soap bub

e, conceived the idea of using hot air for lifting things into the air. They got this

, 110 feet in circumference and, with the frame weighed 300 pounds. It was filled with 22,000 cubic feet of vapor. It rose

de Arlandes, who ascended over Paris in a hot-air balloon in November, 1783. They r

obert, also Frenchmen, ascended ten thousand fe

s made by an experimenter named Tytler in 1784.

n, Green, Mason and Hol

undred miles, i

g valve with his teeth, they would have ascended higher and probably lost their lives in the rarefied atmosphere, for there was no compressed oxygen then as now to inhale into their lungs. The last reckoning of which they were capable before Glaisher lost consciousness showed an elevation of twenty-nine thousa

er sent aloft was the

capacity of 215,000 cub

s of silk. It ascended

fteen passengers, all o

balloon was that by Count de

now storm at Mateki Derevni in Russia, having traveled 1,117 miles in 31-1/2 hours. The first attempt at constructing a dirigible balloon or airship was made by M. Giffard, a Frenchman, in 1852. The bag was spindle-shaped and 144 feet

r driven by a bichromate of soda battery. The motor weighed 121 lbs. The cells held liquid enough to work for 2-1/2 hours, gener

same service. The length of the envelope was 179 feet, its diameter 27-1/2 feet. The screw was in front instead of behind as in all others previously constructed. The motor which weighed 220-1/2 lbs. was driven by electric

Tower and return to the starting point within thirty minutes, the distance of such flight being about nine miles. Dumont won the prize though he was some forty seconds over time. The length of his dirigible on this o

ries were put in operation in several countries of Europe and by the year 1905 the dirigible had been fairly well established. Zeppelin, Parseval, Lebaudy, B

t so that the weight will be equally distributed, and above all, so to contrive the gas contained that under no circumstances can it become tilte

rface which presents the least possible resistance to the air and also to secure stability and e

e calculated that a man weighing 200 lbs. would require 128 square feet. In 1781 he made a spindle-shaped apparatus presenting such a surface to the resistance of the air. It was collapsi

ifting power of a plane of great superficial area could be obtained by dividing the large plane into several parts arranged on tiers. This may be regarded as the germ of the modern aeroplane, the first glimmer of hop

f balancing in the air must be learned by practical experiments. He made several flights of the kind now known as gliding. From a height of 100 feet he glided a distance of 700 feet and found he could deflect his flight fr

as the first actual flyer which demonstrated the elementary laws governing real flight and blazed the way for the successful experimen

t a giant aeroplane but it was

ted worldwide attention. Langley was the great originator of the science of aerodynamics on this side of the

e as great a lifting surface as that hitherto employed. The flights of their first motor machine was made December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C. In 1904 with a new machine they resumed experiments at their home near Dayton, O. In September of that year they succeeded in changing the course from one dead against the wind to a curved path where cross currents must be encountered, and made many circular flights. During 1906 they r

ht, leaving the ground for a distance of 12 yards. On November 12, of same year, he remained in the air

he flew 820 yards in 52-1/2 seconds. On July 6, 1908, he remained in the air for 20-1/2 minutes. On Octobe

first flight across the British Channel, 32 miles, in 37 minutes. Orville Wright made several sensational flights in his biplane around Berlin, while his brother Wilbur delighted New Yorkers by circling the Statue of Liberty and flying up the Hudson from Governor's Islan

a 35 mile gale it was carried beyond Munich, but Zeppelin succeeded in coming to anchor. Other Zeppelin balloons made remarkable voyages during the year. But the latest achievements (1910) of the old German aeronaut have put all previous records into the shade and electrified the whole world. His new passenger airship, the Deutschland, on June 22, made a 300 mile trip from Freder

speed of 56-1/2 miles. It passed through a heavy shower and forced its way against a strong headwind without difficulty. The passengers were all delighted with the new mode of travel, which was very comfortable. This last dirigible masterpiece of Zeppelin may be styled the

w from Albany to New York, a distance of 137 miles, at an average speed of 55 miles an hour and Hamilton flew from New York to Philadelphia and return

s of locomotion. It bids fair at no distant date to revolutionize the transit of the world. No

air resistance are the first principles to be taken into consideration in the construction of an aeroplane. It must be built

fish, the natural denizen of that element. It is different with the aeroplane. In the intangible domain it essays to

speed, yet one may have a much greater lifting power than the other, provided it has a more efficient curve to its surface. Many people have a fallacious idea that the surfaces of an aeroplane are planes and this doubt l

ting surface of the aeroplane in passing forward with its backward side set at an angle to the dir

the lower side of the machine and make the higher side lower in order that it can be quickly righted when it tips to one side from a gust of wind, or when making angle at a sudden turn. To accomplish t

the horizontal balancing rudders are so connected that they will work in an opposite direction-while one

y large measure to the introduction of the petrol motor that progress became rapid. Hitherto many had laid the blam

urfaces like the wings of a bird, the biplane has two large surfaces braced together one over the other. At the present writing a triplane has been introduced into the domain of American aviation by an English aeronaut. Doubtless as the science progresses many other variations will appear in the field. Most machines, though fashioned on similar lines, possess universal features. For instance, the Wright biplane is characterized by warping wing tips and seams of heavy constructi

e, others underneath. In the Antoinette, Latham sits up in a sort of cockpit on the top. Bleriot sits far b

s very small and only turns out motors and experimenting machines, and cannot be called a regular factory. The Wright machines are now manufactured by a French syndicate. It is said that the Wrights will have an Amer

e world's duration record in his three hour and sixteen minutes flight at Rheims, is one of the best as well as the cheapest of the French makes. Without the motor it cost but $1,

12-1/2 meters long, 9 meters wide and have a surface of 30 square meters. They weigh 40

present time by the prizes offered is spu

127 miles an hour. That was accomplished by Marriott in a racing automobile at Ormond Beach in 1906, when he went one mile in 28 1-5 seconds. It i

a scientific toy in the hands of amateurs, but a practical machine which is bound to contribute much to the progress of the world. Of course, as a mode of transportation i

t any practice at all hit a mimic battle ship fifteen times out of twenty-two shots. His experiment has convinced the military and naval authorities of this country that the aeroplane and