Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . nley, who helped Langley, is said to have made atrip along the Potomac Eiver in the following fashion. Theworkshop had a horizontal platform 30 ft. above the level of thewater. The aerodrome was mounted on a car, which was £>ushedrapidly forward by means of strong springs. The movement ofthe car was stopped as soon as it reached the edge of the plat-form ; the aerodrome then slid off, and after dipping down for a 104 AIRSHIPS PAST AND PEE SENT. short
Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . nley, who helped Langley, is said to have made atrip along the Potomac Eiver in the following fashion. Theworkshop had a horizontal platform 30 ft. above the level of thewater. The aerodrome was mounted on a car, which was £>ushedrapidly forward by means of strong springs. The movement ofthe car was stopped as soon as it reached the edge of the plat-form ; the aerodrome then slid off, and after dipping down for a 104 AIRSHIPS PAST AND PEE SENT. short distance, it turned upwards and continued its flight. Thisat any rate was the intention; but according to the reports ofthe Smithsonian Institute, there was a slight hitch in the pro-ceedings, which resulted in the sudden immersion of the was prevented from sinking by certain hollow cylinders, whichhad been thoughtfully fixed to it at different places, and Manleywas eventually rescued from the water. The arrangements for starting are of great importance. It hasbeen already pointed out that a certain amount of kinetic energy. Fig. 57.—Professor Langleys flying machineat the moment of starting. must be created in orderthat the air may besufficiently compressedbeneath the sails. Themachine can then hoverin the air. The motorshave then their work to do in the shape of driving it forward. As a start, it would besatisfactory to make the machine work with special arrangementsfor launching it; but it ought to be understood that this is only atemporary expedient. Otherwise the area over which it would bepossible to fly such a machine would be very limited. This point hasbeen borne in mind by another inventor, Herr Hofman of Berlin,who uses the kinetic energy generated by the fall to start hismachine. It is built on legs or stilts. When ready to start, thelegs are laid against the body, and the wings folded together in the FLYING MACHINES. 105 middle. Just before the flight
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpubl, booksubjectaeronautics
