THE ' OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, : AUGUST 18,. 1907. ; :
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IriVention of the
Gliaing oat
TTT-ONDERFVL water craft, half
yy airship and half boat, speeding
' ' over the ocean at the tremen
dous pace of 100 miles an hour this is the
spectacle that may soon be presented to sea
travelers.
Such, at any rate, is predicted by eminent
marine architects and engineers, after examin
ing the new gliding craft invented by Peter
Cooper Hewitt, father of the Cooper Hewitt
converter and the Cooper Hewitt light.
This new boat, embodying a principle
discovered by accident, actually flies over the
surface of the water. Going at the rate of
thirty-eight miles4an hour, as the experimental
. craft has done, the hull is lifted entirely out of
the water, diminishing by that much the re
sistance and consequently accelerating speed.
Slightlv inclined planes are used to lift
the vessel from the water. It is believed that
large, ocean-going craft may be hoisted thirty
feet above the surface or above the highest
waves and will be enabled to fly along, re
gardless of storm or rolling billow, at a speed
,of IOO tntles an hour.
Across the ocean in 30 hours! Even the
fleetest seagoing greyhounds of today will
seem like canal barges in comparison. Sea sick
ness will be banished and Europe will become
'America's next door neighbor.
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AS TET Mr. Hewitt's experiment hare been con
flned to hie flrat model, a craft XI feet long and
weighing about 2630 pound.
With two paatengera aboard, thla flying veuel
haa made thirty-eight mllea an hour on Long Island
sound And it has not been pushed to the limit of speed 1
Mr. Hewitt has no doubt that, even with this model,
which Is about 1000 pounds heavier than It might be, he
could speed along at fifty miles an hour; but thus far he
has not allowed the craft to travel that swiftly. "The
chance of striking a log or a big wave at the rate of
fifty miles an hour," he says, with a sort of dry humor,
"should be avoided, !f possible, with such a small craft."
For many year marine architects have found that the
great obstacle in the way of swift ocean trafflo has been
the fact that, with any great rise In speed, the resistance
of the water to the boat Increases enormously.
Tbls is so to such an extent that to double the speed
In an ordinary vessel It has been found that eight times '
-the power Is necessary; to triple the speed, twenty-seven
times th power.
It has been the dream of the marine architect to con
struct a boat which would not have to cut through the
water, but which would glide over It. The only resistance
that would be met In such a case would be the air and
the support of the boat. It was found that boats could be
mira out oi me water oy means or planes.
ine tendency or tne plane to rise in tne direction In
which It is propelled has been known for centuries by
neiiyera . ana mis DnnciDie. wnen irniira to doilu. wna
resful to a degree.
nsr aao as i860 tne British srovernment carried on
experlirnegto on this line, and In 1896 Count de Lambert, a
irenonman, actually Duur a ooat wnicn was urtea out or
the water by means of planes attached to Its keel, and
several gilding crafts appeared on the Seine. - V
But there were two obstacles In the way of the devel
opment if gliding crafts for a long time. In the first
place, the engine, until the Invention of the gasoline en- .
glne, could not be easily secured light enough to be lifted
out of the water by means of planes.
In the second place, after the gasoline engine was
made available, the great obstacle met was this: When
the boat began to go, at great epeed, there was nothing
to prevent fhe planes from rising to the surface of the
water therselves, it being their tendency to rise In the
direction ihey were propelled.
CONQUERED GREAT OBSTACLE
It is this great obstacle of the rising of the planes out
of the water, when they are supposed to support and
hold the boat on a constant level, that Mr. Hewitt has
met and conquered in his little craft And, In doing so,
experts believe that he haa removed practically the great
est obstacle to swift water trafflo.
Instead of eight times the power being necessary to
double the speed, only approximately double the power
Is necessary.
Nothing more simple In construction and appearance
can be imagined than this little craft, which has been
seen frequently this summer on Long Island sound. It
Is a shallow structure, 27 feet long, with a ift-foot beam.
In appearance It resembles nothing ao closely as the body
of a rowing shell, wider, of course, with a gasoline motor
In the bow. . ,
The shell Is made of mahogany, and Is really the least
Important part of the boat. It function simply amounts
to this: It carries the machinery-and floats the remainder
of the cratt wnen it w at rest on ma water., in motion, It
represents uuiy w mucn uwa mau, vjt weignt, to OS luted
the boat is In motion.
In the fore part of the boat Is the eight-cylinder gaso
line engine of about 100 horsepower, in the rear part
there are aeats for two passengers, in the stern, on each
side of the shell, Is a gasoline tank.
In motion, this apparently simple craft operates In
this manner: The screw drives the boat forward, and the
slightly slanted planea hung from the ends of the steel
frame rise in :ne water according to the tendency- of the
plane to rise In the direction in which It is propelled.
The function of the planea Is not to increase the
speed, but to lift and maintain the boat out of the water,
so that the only-resistance to-its progress shall be the
resistance of the air and that of lta support The greater
the speed, the greater the friction of the planea with the
water, and the greater the lifting power, and, conse
quently, the higher the rise of the boat out of the water.
When the boat reaches a speed of from twelve to six
teen miles an hour, it is already out of the water. At
the rate of sixteen miles an hour, the topmost planes
begin to leave the water; the four main planes, however,
remain submerged. When the boat Is going at the high
est rate of speed almost all of the topmost planes are out
of the water.
One might expect that it the speed were still further
Increased, there would be nothing to prevent all of the
planes, Including the lower main ones, from Issuing out
of the water, and that the boat would thus lose the sup
port which holds It suspended In the air.
This was an obstacle that was met before In this sort
of craft and was not overcome. The function of the
filanea being to lift the boat out of the water and maln
atn it there,' the problem amounted to this: The boat
should be kept at a constant .level, neither sinking Into
the water nor rising so far out of It as to carry its main
supporting planes to the surface.
Mr. Hewett's device has means, not only of support
ing the boat above the level of the water, but of keeping
the main supporting planes below the surface at all times.
In the first plaoe, his four main supporting planes.
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Pocfcion o Panea $6ow? as orf as 3V3pertc!e&
with an area of sight square feet are placed so deep IH
the water that no speed which his present craft could at
tain would be sufficient to bring tnetn altogether to th
surface. But, even If speed sufficient to bring the in to th
surfaoe ordinarily could be attained, he has a contrivance
which would prevent it.
steamboat ILunS on
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Loading Itself on Flat Car.
IT THE -wilds of the Canadian timber lands,
and elsewhere in the world, a remarkable
boat has come into tise on the rivers and
lakes.
Not only does it run on water, but, like a
wagon, travels on land. By power created
I
waters, can climb
and, if necessary,
within itself it can sail the
out on land, crawl over hills
load itself on freight cars.
It is capable of moving a boom of 60,000
logs. Men engaged in felling timber in the Ca
nadian forebts live and sleep in the vehicle-craft.
Starting on a Land Trip.
The boat, which is called the Alligator be
cause of it3 reptile-like movements, is manu
factured by a concern at Simcoe, Ontario. The
boat has been used in the Canadian forest since
1899. At present eighty-three are in service in
various parts of the world.
ami carried bv the Dlanes
The Important part of the structure is a strong steel
frame, similar to an automobile frame, which extends
along the sides of the shell and acress either end. In
other wofds, the frame is placed over the shell, strad-
"rorn this steel frame, at each of its four corners, are
suspended perpendicular flat steel arms, which are
dropped into the water, extending about eighteen Inches
below the bottom of the hull. . - - s
To the arma are fastened steel planes, each one of
them having a slight slant upward, from the back to the
5ront the slant of the bottom ones being one In eight
'here are two seta of planes, front and rear, similar la
arrangement.
Thopowest pianes are tne zour main pianes, two In
hd two In the rear. Tney have a surface of two
foet. elaht sauare feet In all. which la aufflclnnt
unnort the total welaht of the boat it i idm ( ,
thirty miles an hour. - -
These four main planes are always submerged. There
ere several other planes above these, both larger and
smaller, and these at times emerge from the aurfaoe. al-i
though they, too, assist In raising and supporting the boat
. tV.A kt.ta. m. alnwa. annul m
The single-screw propeller turns Just back, of the front ''
Mi of pUnM : and it likewise Is always submerged whea
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pPOK lta completion at the shipyard, and after Its
machinery is started, the boat crawls slowly serosa
the yards, and, without other powar than that
furnished by Its own mechanism, rears Its un
gainly bulk, and climbs over suitable scaffolding, ap
parently of its own volition, upon the flat car, to be car
ried to Its destination.
There.' after crawling down and Into the water, it
teams slowly away to the Canadian wilds.
Here it will glide as placidly over the surface of the
waters as an ordinary boat and then creep slowly out
upon the bank, like the uncanny monsters of old-time
. auegories, and proceed in the same manner through for
est and morass, across apparently impassable swamps,
- up hill and down dale, dragging or carrying an enormous
; burden of logs, supplies, men, horses, provender and oft
times a sawmill. -
Tha boat la operated only by four concerns In the
united 8tates. Two are In Michigan and two in New
Tork. Its use Is confined chiefly to remote and wild
places, wher ordinary boat are not to be taken. s
- In these wilds the glgantla creature, which can pass
over land and water, has proved- of invaluable service
to man. In South America, where a number are now In
use, it carries men Into the Inmost depths of the forests,,
aad, after their work is done, men can Jlvt la the boat, '
secur. from wild beasts and In homely and comfortable
conditions.
The Alligator is a steamboat and steam winch com
bined. The engine can be thrown in gear to drive the
paddle wheels like an ordinary steamboat If desired,
the power may be applied to drive a cable drum located
in tne bow of the -boat holding a mile of H-inch steel
wire cable, which is used' In warping upon the water and
In conveying the boat across. portages by land,
z The scow-shaped hull measures about 45 by 11 feet
beam, and Is decked with berths for sleeping accommo
dations. The boat Is not built for grace and beauty, but
for strength and durability.
Tho sides are made of pine six Inches thick, while the
bottom is .of solid white oak, covered with steel boiler
plate. So great la the power furnished by the 22-horse-power
boiler and the 20-horsepower engine that it can .
easily convey a lag-boom of 60,000 logs under favorable,
weather conditions;
The manner in which the Alligator la mad to travel
on land, climb hills scaling heights with an elevation of
one foot in three load itself on' a flat car and descend Into
valleys Is an ingenious one.
On the bottom of the boat, six feet apart, are twoi
runners of steel. Near the bottom and attached to the
bow of the boat is a heavy chain, to which is fastened a '
single-block pulley. Another single-block pulley la take
to a, tea ob the side of tha road and maua fast. ,
Tha cable is passed round the block at the tree,
brought back round the block at the bow chain and fas
tened to a tree opposite the first on the roadside. Power
is then applied to 4he steel cable drum, and. aa the rope
winds on the drum, the boat moves forward, keep
ing a straight course between the two anchorages.
To guard against tipping, the boiler is of special de
sign, hung on an axle In the center. A screw arranged
on the front end enables the fireman to tip It forward or
back in going up or down grade The helm is hung with
a hinge, so that it will lift up on land, dropping back to
Its former position of Its own accord when on the watr.
No roadway Is required for a run on land, logs and ',
skids being thrown a few fefet apart serosa the pathway
to keep the shoeing from grinding on the rocks and earth.
The boat can travel from one to two miles a day. ;
- With the growth of our rapid civilisation haa coma an -'
enormous demand for timber of all kinds. As the demand .
-haa Increased, the supply has diminished. unUl lumber- A.
ing operations have been driven northward. Of late
years they have penetrated regions Inaccessible to ordi
nary methods and conveyance. ' , -.- '.
Especially Is this tru in the Canadian forests, where
abound numerous chains of small lakes, connected by
small and uncertain outlets. u To reach them the way lies
over hills and hollows, through narrow winding water- '
ways, cut up by riffles and rapids, where portages axe ,
of tan, necessary, .
It Is for the purpose of maintaining the level of the)
boat that he has two series of planes, tne upper ana ioe
lower, and the Doat can neitner sina w m "'
rise so far out of It as to draw the lower planea out
The upper aeries of planea, some smau ana sum wsj
are ao placed that they, too, are In the water when tha
boat starts, and help raise and support it out of tha
W As the speed Increases, however, one at a tlma the
emerge from the water. When each emerges so muca
supporting power Is lost, and tha craft remains at that
level until the speed Is changed. .. .
If the speed i islncreased, he main supporting planea
will drive theboat out of the water a little ' further, and
the boat will skim along at a slightly higher level. , -To
each speed there Is a different level.
Each one of the surface planes, coming out of tha
water, one at a time, and then dipping in again, operate
to maintain a perfect level for the boat at a given dis
tance above th water. Tho surface planes might ba
called the maintaining planes, while the four lower mala
planes might be called the supporting planes. .
When It reaches the speed of sixteen miles an boar,
the boat Is perceptibly out of the water. Its appearanoa
at this and higher speeds Is peculiar. It glides over tha
water" a long, narrow shell, swifter than any motor boat,
with a long line of spray In lta stern. ;-'',.,"' '
It goes as smooth aa if it were sklmminr along lea,
but the space between the bottom of the hull and tha
water is easily discernible. It does not rock or pltclv4 .
Its motion, but shoots along straight as a bird. It ha;
been remarked that one of the results of the Invention. If
utilised for ocean steamships, will be that seaaickneaa.
will be unknown. ... ' . J
There Is another contrivance for offsetting the ten'
dency of the planes to rise out of the water besides that
of having surface planea to-maintain the leveL It can D
done by adjusting the slant of the planes. -
Mr. Hewitt haa found that the slant of the P
should be from about one In seven to one m ten. It is
obvious that, If ths angle of the planes Is great from back
to front the boat will be driven out of the water sooner
than if the angle is smaller. . . ' .
The story of the construction on mt. new. nm"
Ml little craft Is as much that of a discovery as an lnren
tlon. In principle, It might ba called an airship as much
as a sen vessel. At any rste. It was while studying tha
art of flight that Mr. hewltt found that ha had really
solved the problem of swift ocean trafflo. . '
Before he wished actually to attempt flight theTO
were certain practical problems, he said, connected wltlj
aerial travel which he wished to solve and which could)
only be solved by experiment
BEGAN WATER EXPERIMENTS
With this object In view. Mr. Hewitt, Instead of
pertmenting in the air, turned his attention to water aa
a medium for experiment in the problems which na
wished solved. His reason for this was that he con-,
sidered water a more advantageous medium for expert
InThe first place, water la a heavier medium. Jit
weight being approximately 800 timea that of alr. Mr.
Hewitt figured accordingly that the supporting surfaces)
of the aeroplane, auch as wings or planea, and slmllartyj
the propeller, would only have to be made 1-W0 the weighs
In water to have the same effective lift and power aa
they would have In air.
The water device being so much smaller, made hia
experimentatlon-alwavsa great expense to thetoventoij-
mud) more economical He Intended after having solved;
his problems by means of the water devica to apply tha
results to the construction of an aeroplane, merely mak
ins its appurtenances 800 times larger.
While experimenting, however, the performances andl
promise which his water device gave of high P Im
pressed him., and he became convinced of the future OS
Immensely high speed on water, ' .
In order to have a large transatlantic Steamer built
as a gliding craft, the planes , would have to be con
structed large enough to carry-lta monster hull thirty;
feet out of the water, that being practically-the height OS
the wavea above the trough of the sea In midocean. -
Every experiment haa indicated that the principle la
better adapted to large veasels than, to small vessels. It
is too early yet to tell what the development of tha
demonstration may bring ' forth In transoceanic) travel.
This is as yet really only a laboratory craft and only aa
Inventor knows what a gap thera is between the labora
tory and the commercial product But as for swift ocean
traffic, a hundred mllea an hour, the problem will ba ui
to the engineera. Propellers for that high speed will faava
to be constructed. , . ' - 1
"I have been greatly Impressed, aside from tho peace)
aspects of the craft, of lta possibilities in war." said Mr.
Hewitt. "For torpedo boats and messenger boats, a guii
lng craft would be more than available. - '
"Experts say that In naval warfare guns cannot ba .
trained accurately on a vessel going swifter than thirty
miles an hour. So a torpedo boat going sixty miles an .
hour could practically do pretty much as It pleased." ' ,
Mr. Hewitt was asked whether his planes, which wera
so delicately constructed, would not be liable to great
Injury when going at tremendous speed through tha
water by atriking derelicts, or even small objects, llabla
to do more Injury and danger than the hull of a boat.
"Well," he answered, "you might consider It so. But
on a large vessel the planea will be proportionately large.
They will be made of steel and will brush aside objects la
their way Just like a propeller. They are liable to no mora
Injury than a propeller today. .
' A PROLIFIC INVENTOR
"As for Icebergs and derelicts, they are fatat to ships
crashing Into them. But note thlsl In a gliding crate -you
have two chances, at least; If your planes are In
jured, you drop down on your flotation hull; while tn .
an ordinary boat if your hull is injured, you have tha
chance of dropping to the bottom."
"HaveA;ou aver met with any accident while going at
great speed?"
"Why. yes.v About a month ago I hit a log. It was
about Ave feet long and eight Inches thick, and Its weight
I estimated at about 250 pounds, because it was pretty;
' well soaked.1;: :-. v'v &':.: ' ;-'
l waa going at the time at about' thirty miles an
hour. The gliding craft stopped dead when it struck an i
dropped Into the water.; It waa towed in and hoisted i
n the davits to see what had happened. The plants ( 1
. driven into the log about two inchea, and the lug
; atuck there, and had to be pried off with a bsr. '
What is considered Cooper Hewitts grn"-t f "
. tlon. and by some in its posslbllttiea one uf ti - .' -
ventlons of the age. is the Cooper Hewitt t ; ",
valve, for converting alternating eiectrm ;
direct eurrenta. When more fully dvi"w'. l '
! aa.rl Tia Kla lnvantln1 will hvm an tfl ' 1
; electrical Industries which will be enorru
Mr. Hewitt has always been lneret.-. ' . 5
was not until of lt yer lht hn ,
, attention to the solution t ut- ' ""''""" j ,.' i.c i .
designs and flurures of b! vrntvnt, ilnvt t ' s
work about two and JUiU yettfa.
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