The Sunday Oregonian., August 30, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 2, Image 48

iiy & in fe CEAM f Sis SI0E1 .H
fcffl (7)S FORESEEN BY EMINENT AERONAUTICAL 'WF 0J'-'f ' v
pifi AUsTtOmTIES, SCIENTISTS AND INVENTORS." P"'- 'ff-'h - !
yPj- yHAT WILL BE TEE ULTIMATE TYPE OF AIRSHIP ? . , H: . V.
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THE air flights of Henry Firmin in
New York, the trials with dirigible
and aeroplane at Fort Myer, the
remarkable performance and tha wreck
ing of Count Zeppelin's airship In Ger
many, the surprising demonstrations of
the Wright brothers' aeroplane In France
and the Increased activity of aerial exper
iments have caused a tremendous gen
eral Interest In sky flight. Aerial navi
gation has ceased to be a subject to em
ploy the Interest of purely scientific ex
perimenters. It is now a subject of deep
National Import, and In the remarkable
symposium which is here presented will
be found much to Interest technician and
layman alike.
They are expressions of opinion and
forecasts from the most eminent aero
nautical experts and scientists In the
country; here and there, flashing amid
matter of fact details of mechanical con
struction, are previsions of the future
which read like the conceptions of Jules
Verne or H. G. Wells. They make a
dazzling page In the Arabian Nights of
Science. Altogether it Is a most notable
grouping of opinion on a most fascinating
subject.
By Henry Farman
The flying machine within ten
years will replace the automobile.
I AM sure that within the next 10 years
the flying machine will have taken the
I place of the automobile. It will first
coma into popular use .as a high-speed
sport vehicle. Then it will become a
dangerous weapon of offensive warfare,
compelling universal peace. Only a little
later It will be found carrying; special de
livery and registry mails, thus establish
ing its commercial value.
Not the scientist, but the daredevil de
votees of speed will force upon the pub
lic the acceptance of wing flight. Men
who. names are now bywords In the
world's desire for rapidity of action will
be found driving planes through the Air at
an energy yet undreamed of In the motors
of today. The spirit of rivalry aroused
by furious locomotion will attract to the
aeroplane the very men who lifted the
automobile out of a mere pleasure vehicle
by making it a racing machine. As the
automobile quickly developed Into the
foremost type of a distance-killing and
time-conquering engine, so the flying ma
chine will fill the popular mind as a
vehicle possessing elements of commercial
utility. With this irresistible stimulus
there will grow the desire to make use of
Its dominant speed and freedom of track
age as the method of communication so
long the dream of the thinker.
The lightning warfare of today and of
the near future cannot reach Its ultimate
'purpose of universal peace unless it em
ploys the swallowlike swiftness and the
hawklike stroke of the aeroplane. As the
torpedo-boat and the submarine of mili
tary Invention are making less and less
the effectiveness of the battleship, with
Its terrific armament, so the flying ma
chine will spy out the enemy, put out
of commission the greatest fortifications
and with marvelous celerity attack and
hurl the bolt that will destroy the proud
est aerial cruiser of the future.
' Perfection of the aerial motor and In
crease of the carrying capacity of the fly
ing machine will at once suggest Its use-
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fulness for dispatching written communi
cation now transmitted by the rail. As
steam supplanted the postboy and the
mall coach, so the aeroplane will cut
hours and days between the lengths and
the breadths of continents.
The flying machine of the next decade
will only slighUy resemble its forerunner.
It will be a smaller vehicle. Its wings
will have been clipped. Its motor will
have shrunk In weight and size, but Its
energy will have increased enormously In
proportion to the losses in bulk. It will be
able to navigate the treacherous air cur
rents In the canyon street of modern
cities. Where It Is now relegated to un
obstructed surfaces, It will then fly over
and between and under roofs, walls and
bridges.
NOW the fire chiefs automobile dashes
through crowded streets, scattering
the life of the city and thrilling the
startled people. Then the flying fire ap
paratus will skim overhead, sounding Us
alarm with the blast of Its whirring
blades. Leaving Its garage et the Bronx,
it will have reached the fire at the Bat
tery In seven minutes. I am told that
the distance is nine miles, which Is well
within the capacity of motors designed
and soon to be mounted on aeroplanes
now In course of construction. A an
example of the terrific speed already ac
complished by the aeroplane I might
mention the Flying Pish, my latest de
velopment and the embodiment of all my
advanced knowledge, keyed to travel 60
miles an hour. M. Blerlot only the other
day on the field of Issy. at Paris, shot
BO feet into the air at a speed of 60 -miles
an hour upon a monoplane, or two-winged
THE SUNDAY OREGOX1AX, PORTLAND, AUGUST 30, 1908
darting here and there with the rapidity
and certainty of a swallow.
Naturally the layman would .ask how
doe M. Bleriot or any other aviator
ride on the air. This la easily under
stood when we begin to ask what is
air. No one, even the scientist, has
been able to answer this question. The
easiest definition la that air is a body
with enough stability and with enough
resistance to support any amount of
wefght if these weights axe ao arranged
as to take advantage of this resistance.
The birds are provided by nature with
an apparatus enabling them to ride upon
It. Man has only been able to achieve
this end by mechanical appliances. His
only model has been the bird. Hi
started wrong by Imitating the flapping
of the bird's wings. This action was the
bird's only motive power. No such thing
as a gasoline engine had been designed
by the Infinite. Man found that the
gasoline motor would take the place of
the flapping wings.. The most significant
thing to him was that the bird was
able to remain suspended In the atmos
phere on extended and motionless wings
and sail upon them. This gave the ex
perimenter his clew. He realised that
mechanical flight was a question of
merely sailing on the air with rigid
wings, driven edgewise through the air
by a motor, the velocity of who pro
peller would be sufficient to enable the
resistance of the air against the planes
to support the machine. It will be seen
that these principles are very aimple ones
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and only follow Ideas that the most un
trained mind can thoroughly grasp.
ALTHOUGH these principles1 are sim
ple, they do not yet admit of flying,
say, from the roof garden of the Hotel
Astor to Brighton Beach, as one of my
visitors recently suggested, and yet the
recent development of the flying ma
chine has carried the airship a little
further than was the automobile after a
corresponding period of experiment. For
the way to fly is no longer a secret. We
know how to sustain ourselves on the
air and how to overcome its disturb
ances, which waa the most difficult prob
lem of man flight. The perfection of the
motor is the thing upon which all ex
perimentation Is centered. It U only
the unreliability of the motor and the
Inability to carry sufficient fuel which
prevents almost unlimited flight. The
progress made In the motor is told by
the figures of the two last years. From
70 yards we have advanced In that time
to 12 miles, done In 20 minutes and 30
seconds. Within another year I expect
to have a motor which wUl enable me
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to go as high as. the amount "of fuel
will carry.
At a mile altitude It Is not necessary
to have any fuel In order-to return to
earth. The motor could be shut off at
that height and the machine be permit
ted to- scale down on the air under the
direction of the operator and as gently
as I landed during my flights at Brighton
Beach. In ascending to the height of
one mile an aeroplane will not traverse
the same distance needed to make the
descent. It will rise against tbe wind
and circle to that altitude like a hawk,
covering not more than possibly two
miles of lateral distance. A good many
people have wondered why I stopped my
motor before descending to the ground.
If I came down to the ground with the
motor running at full speed it would
break the machine by reason of the
tremendous Impact with the earth. A
bird sails down from a tree or fence and
lands lightly. The same principle is fol
lowed with the aeroplanes. The ability
thus to imitate the landing of the bird
emphasizes the stability of the air. My
machine, weighing over half a ton. Is
sustained by the wing surfaces after the
stopping of the motor.
One of the most popular uses to
which the aeroplane will be placed will
be flying as a pastime. The simplest
device for flying the air is the glider,
a machine having rigid wings on either
side and handles to which the operator
.clings. The take-off Is usually from the
"top of a small hill, and when one runs
forward and leaps In the air. the planes
catch a grip on the atmosphere and
carry the . rider gently down the slope.
Aeroplane racing will become as popular
as automobile road racing has hither
to been, and I confidently predict Inter
national contests will be held similar In
every respect to the motor races within
a very few years.
rHB cost of making an aeroplane
will undoubtedly prevent its popu
lar use for some years, but unquestion
ably companies will be formed soon
which will produce the at present
complicated vehicles .at a purely nom
inal sum. Aeroplane clubs will spring
into being and aeroplane clubhouses of
imposing and unique design will be
erected In the suburbs of all the
large cities.
In order to fly an aeroplane must
have great speed. It Is unlike the
dirigible balloon or the water craft,
which can float In Its element at will.
Stability can be obtained only by
gaining air resistance, and air resist
ance can be gained only by hitting the
air hard, which is only one way of de
fining speed. . I doubt very rtiuch If It
will ever be used to carry great loads.
Its capacity Is limited and' the time
seems far distant when it will be able
to carry more than two or three or
four persons, and It is looking far
Into the future to picture It as having
a capacity to carry a dozen men with
the facility exhibited by the dirigible
balloon. .
There is no reason why the future
aeroplane cannot be used by the busi
ness man with just as much ease as
the automobile runabout. The great
speed will make it popular with the
dweller In the suburbs who desires a
quick run to and from his office. The
flights will probably be made higher
In the air, so that if anything breaks
down the operator will have plenty of
space and time In which to select hi
landing. With a little experience one
can learn to land an aeroplane within
a foot of the place from which he '
started. It will be necessary to fit ,
up these landing places on all office
buildings and on tha roofs of many
public buildings, such as hotels, rail
road stations, etc.
But It Is In warfare that the aero
plane Is destined to work the greatest
revolution of any Invention known to
man. Within a short time It will havei
been recognized as a war engine by
every advanced nation In the world.
Let us consider briefly how this aerial
torpedo-boat cun be employed. Battle
ships will carry It not as a means of
defensive but of offensive warfare. The
aeroplane can be stored In sections and
assembled at an hour's notice. It will
have a speed of sixty miles an hour or
more, equal to that of the fastest ex
press train. For scouting purposes at
sea It will have no equal, and Us
radius of action will very soon be In
creased to several hundred miles. It
will be able to carry sufficient high .
explosive to sink any battleship that
floats. Great accuracy can be ob-'
tained by dropping explosives from
dirigibles or aeroplanes, which has
been demonstrated by successful ex
periments. When the fact is taken Into consid
eration that an aeroplane can be oper
ated at night some adequate idea can
be gained of Its effectiveness as a.i Im
plement ' of war. It is doubtful
whether the big dirigibles, like Zep
pelin's, will ever prove at aii effective
In naval warfare. An aero-plane Is far
more manageable and speedy In action
than a dirigible. The aaroplane of the
future will be able to swoop down on
the dirigible and destroy it almost
before the latter c-r.n get into action.
It Is by Its naval power that the
strength of a nation is judged. When
the time comrs when an aeroplane fan
leave the deck of a cruiser and. fly
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