Every-day Science: Volume VII. The Conquest of Time and Space

even to the dignity of acquiring its name. Thus, it is recorded by a medieval historian that during the reign of Charlemagne some mysterious persons having acquired some knowledge of aeros

where they were immediately seized and condemned to death as sorcerers. But the wise bishop of

alchemist could create gold and prolong life and youth indefinitely, would find nothing startling in the announcement that he could also perform the relatively simple feat of flying-a thin

are supposed to contain passages to show that the worthy friar had an inkling of the secret of air navigation. But he himself a

the idea of constructing jointed wings to be worked with strings and pulleys, the motive power to be that of a man's arms and legs. It appears also that later he had very definite ideas as to the possibilities of an aerial scre

of birds. Leonardo was peculiarly capable of discerning this discrepancy in strength, since he himself was one of the strongest men of his time. It is said that he could bend and straighten horseshoes with his hands. But in his experiments with the aer

em to use artificial wings for flying. For this purpose a certain number of young boys were selected and constantly drilled in exercises of flapping the arms, to which broad sails were attached. These attempts were persisted in for several years

that they could be worked up and down by movements of the hands and feet. At the ends of these two bars were muslin wings made like shutters, so arranged that they were opened by a downward stroke and closed automatica

e made flights from window-sills and even house-tops. On one occasion he is said to have sailed from his attic window over the roof of a neighboring cottage, alighting, with

s sure of accomplishing it. He therefore announced publicly that at a certain time the attempt would be made, and on the appointed day an immense crowd of people gathered on the banks of the river to witness the spectacle. Starting from a building some little distance away from the stream, the marqui

idea of the balloon was developed. This was the result of the numerous important discoveries made about that time as to the qualities of the at

ld rise to a certain height through the heavier atmosphere, as a cork rises through water. At the same time the experiments of the chemist, Dr. Joseph Black, and those of his younger contemporary, Doctor Priestly, were directed along the same lines, all of them pointing to the possibility of construct

. But the balloons of Cavallo were small affairs made of bladders or paper bags filled with hydrogen gas. One of these materials being too h

LLOON

country in a strange birdlike machine. Rumor pictured this machine in various forms and sizes, but in point of fact there was really very little secrecy on the part of the inventors themselves, who frankly explained the principl

, although the balloon they were working on was not completed to their entire satisfaction. Nevertheless, they fixed on the definite date of June 5, (1783) as the day and Annonay as the place for maki

eet in diameter, without machinery or wings, and capable of containing some twenty-two thousand cubic feet of air, which the Montgolfier brothers and their assistants were inflating with heated air. As

ectators that it was tugging at the restraining ropes in efforts to rise, in a most extraordinary manner; and when, at a signal from the inventors, the ropes were cast off and the monster shot skyward, the crowd's smiles were turned to expressions of gaping astonishment. Straight into the air the mons

erformance repeated in the capital. The king and court were as interested as the savants and the popul

de Mars to a distance of three thousand feet and disappeared into the clouds. Three-quarters of an hour later it descended in a field near the little village of Gonesse, to the great consternation of the inhabitants of the neighborhood, who supposed it to be some monster bird, animal, or flying dragon. Arming themselves with scythes and pitchforks, therefore, but keeping at a safe distance, the boldest of the peasants sallied out and surrounded the field in which the creature had alighted. As it made no offe

ng the moon in an eclipse," the proclamation ran, "should be aware that far from being an alarming phenomenon, it is only a machine, made of taffeta, or light canvas covered with

r. As a result, France became at once the centre of ballooning, the whole nation being eagerly absorbed in the subject of navigating the air. In the theatre of action, the Montgolfiers continued to occupy the centre of the stage, and at all times showed themselves worthy of

e a cock, a duck, and a sheep were fastened, and these were carried some fifteen hundred feet into the air, descending uninjured, two miles from the starting-point,

mpt, it needed but a word of the monarch to commute the death-sentence of some criminal, placing him at the disposal of the scientists for a better or worse fate than the gallows, as the case might be. And so when Louis XVI heard of the plight of the balloon-makers, he came to their assistance with the offer of two condemned prisoners to be sent on the first aerial voyage. This offer had an unexpec

he Faubourg St. Antoine. Let no one suppose, however, that this first man-carrying balloon was cut loose from the earth and sent skyward to shift for itself, as might be gathered from the reluctance of persons to make the ascent. On the contrary, the balloon

nineteenth-century contempt for altitude. Furthermore, no one could tell what might be the effect upon the human system of ascending to a great height when away from a building or other terrestrial object. Fainting, hemorrhages, heart-failure, and death had been predicted, and could not be practically refuted. In short, it was an

in some of the American cities. Two members of the Philosophical Academy of Philadelphia, Rittenhouse and Hopkins, constructed a peculiar balloon having forty-seven small bags inflated with hydrogen attached to a car. On November 28th, six weeks after Rozier's ascent, this balloon was sent up, with James Wilcox, a carpenter of Philadel

were tireless in denouncing this "tampering with God's laws by invading the inviolability of the firmament." Fortunately, the king took a broader view

soon made. One balloon sent up in London landed in Sussex, forty-eight miles away, making the voyage in two hours and a half. A few days

for companion a Benedictine monk; but as the machine began to rise from the ground the monk was seized with fear, turned deadly pale, crossed himself, and seemed about to collapse. Fortunately at this moment a leak was discovered in the balloon and it was accordingly lowered for repairs. When these were completed the aeronaut decided to dispense with the company of the monk, who was only too willing to gratify his wish. But just as the car was again ready to start, a stripling s

youthful Napoleon Bonaparte, then a student at the Academy. Throughout the entire reign of the emperor this was the general belief, and if it was denied at all by Napoleon, the denial was not mad

voyage Blanchard proposed to make the attempt, taking with him as companion an American physician named Jeffries. On January 7, 1785, these two embarked from the cliffs of Dover, a strong wind at the time setting toward the French coast. Before their journey was half completed they discovered that an insufficient amount of ballast had been shipped, and that the balloon was gradually descending at a rate which would land them in the Channel several miles fr

st balloon, no one of them had been seriously injured. Indeed, this apparently most dangerous undertaking had been relegated to the grade of commonplace in pop

ly of fuel, made this the most desirable type, at least for long-distance voyages. By the advocates of the hydrogen balloon it was shown that the hot-air balloon must be constructed much larger to obtain the same amount of lifting power, could be maintained in the air for a comparatively short time at most, and was in constant dan

done by Blanchard and Jeffries a short time previously. All went well at first and the balloon was several miles on its journey when suddenly the wind changed, the balloon was blown back over the heads of the anxious watchers below, and when a short distance inland, suddenly burst into flames. At first it descended with an oscillating movement, and then, freed from the restraining silk and canvas, it

demand or suggestion came from the balloonists themselves. They could point to the fact that, while as yet the balloon had been of no importance commercially, it had at least been turned to some account in the field of science, which

stu-Bressy, who, wishing to test his theory that large animals would bleed from the nose at a much lower elevation than man, despite the thicker consistency of their blood, made an ascent mounted on the back of a hor

TIONAL BAL

ternational balloon race near Berlin. The bal

artly for the purpose of making observations, and partly to impress the Arabs with the superiority of Christian armies. A school of aeronautics was established at Meudon, and some fifty young men, sworn to secrecy, assigned to it. Balloons were constructed, tested, and distributed among the different divisions of the army, and one of these was used for reconnoitering the position of

ffect attached to some of his balloons. It was not until 1799, however, that the folding umbrella-like parachute was invented, the inventor, Garnerin, having developed the idea in trying to devise some means of escape from the fortress of Buda, Hungary, where he was being kept prisoner after one

to which was attached a parachute of the ordinary umbrella type still used. At that altitude he cut loose the balloon which rushed upward unt

IN MECHAN

that the resistance presented by the great surface necessary in a balloon of sufficient size to have the required lifting power was such that no known efforts of propulsion could overcome this resistance even

emporary inventors were of the same opinion, that when this machine proved to be an utter failure, the blow to the advocates of the flying-machine was so great that they did not rally from it for something like a quarter of a century. In 1809, however, a Viennese watchmaker named Degen

type in which he proposed to descend from a balloon. The parachute of Garnerin, as we know, had been constructed like a huge umbrella, whereas Cocking's parachute had the general appearance of an umbrella held upside down. An unusual interest was aroused in the prospective experiment from the fact that a great majority of scientists did not consider that this parachute was constructed on correct scientifi

ly toward the earth, however, the parachute fell rapidly, with an oscillating movement, gaining speed and jerking violently as it descended, until finally when several hundred feet in the air, Cocking was thrown from the car and dashed to pieces, while the wreck of the parachute landed a few yards away. Thus

, were able to soar in any direction at will, holding their wings rigidly. It was evident, therefore, that shape, position, and construction of the bird's wing played quite as important a part as the flapping movement. The lifting power of plane surfaces, or aeroplanes, was also carefu

tion until the force of the movement of throwing is exhausted. Obviously, if this force were self-contained in the card-if it could continue rotating and moving forward-it could fly indefinitely. Henson had s

eived that if the article possessed in itself a continuous power or force equal to that used in throwing or projecting it, the article would continue to ascend so long as the forward part of the surface was upward in respect to its hinder part, and that such arti

ine driving the propellers. It was evident, however, that if the power of the engine could be sufficiently increased, or, what amounts to the same thing, its weight sufficiently lightened, a machine built on the aero

ar or pear-shaped-shapes that offered great resisting surfaces to the atmosphere. Now it was proposed to make them in the form of long, horizontal cylinders, with pointed ends, these cigar-shaped, or boat-shaped balloons offering much less resistan

ip without any apparent exertion. Anxious to study the wing-mechanism of this bird, the captain, overcoming the scruples of the mariner against killing the sacred sea-rover, shot one of the birds. On removing a wing and spreading it in the wind he thought that it had a very

e bow of the modern torpedo-boat, and through this deck protruded a small mast which was used for supporting the pulleys and cords used in working the machinery of the wings. Each wing was about twenty-five feet long, so that the entire spread of the machine was fifty feet. T

d with canton flannel. The front edges of the wings could be given a rotary motion to fix them at any desired angle by an ingenious device worked by two l

knot held by the captain, who took his position in the boat. On reaching the open country the driver put his horse into a brisk trot when, the levers controlling the wings being set, the machine rose gracefully into the air and travelled forward a distance of perhaps a hundred yards. At this moment the running-rope in some unaccountable manner became wound about the

hortly after starting, landing the inventor in a stone-quarry with a broken leg and a shattered machine. This accident also shook the courage of the captain, and for several years he made no more attempts at flight, confining his attention to sailing a coasting-vessel. But his faith in his "albatross" never wavered, even if his courage did for a time, and in 1867 he began building a more elaborate machine, aided by public su

FULTON OF AERI

"the Fulton of aerial navigation." In principle, and indeed in general appearance, this balloon was not unlike some of the balloons built by Santos-Dumont fifty years later. It had the now-familiar cigar shape, common to most modern dirigible balloons; and beneath was suspended a car carrying a steam-engine that worked a screw propeller. The rudder, placed at the stern just below the balloon in a p

e will of the operator. He continued his maneuvers for some time, and then extinguishing his fire, opened the valve and returned safely to the ground. This was a great victory for the advocates of the dirigible balloon, and was indeed a performance that has no

GES OF T

nstructing this leviathan balloon was simply for the purpose of raising money so that he might build a practical flying-machine, constructed on the aeroplane principle, and which, he declared, would revolutionize air navigation. The Giant, he said, would be the last balloon ever constructed, as thereafter air-ships, made on the principle of the one

ing this excess as was usual with balloons constructed in the ordinary manner. But perhaps the most interesting thing about this balloon was the structure of the car and its contents. Like the ordinary car it was constructed of wicker work, but was of the proportions of a small house, being built two stories high, with an upper platform like the deck of a ship, on which t

ority of the spectators thus gained free admission. Fifteen persons made the ascent upon this occasion, but instead of making a protracted voyage as intended at first, the balloon was brought to the earth at nine o'clock in the evening only a few leagues from Paris. It

one might presume to question. A set of rules governing the conduct of those on board and setting forth explicitly the authority of the captain was posted in the cabin, the nature of some of these giving a cue to the peculiar attitude of mind of the origina

roken, and the car was dragged along the surface of the ground at terrific speed, striking and rebounding into the air, dragging through marshes and rivers, bruising and battering the occupants who were unable either to leave the balloon or to check its flight. As they were whirling across the country in this manner an immense forest came into view directly in their path, and believing that when this was reached every occupant of the car would be dashed to pieces

ly it made numerous voyages, none of which was particularly profitable, however, so that the purpo

ty miles in three hours. This was in 1849; and in the same year M. Arban crossed the Alps from Marseilles to Turin, covering the distance of four hundred miles in eight hours. In July, 1859, the American aeronaut, John Wise, sailed from St. Louis, Missouri, to Henderson, in New York State, in nineteen hours, travelling eight hundred and fifty miles at the rate of

LOONS AND DIR

ean pair of heels in practical results. A dirigible, man-carrying balloon that can be guided under favorable conditions, and can maintain itself in the air for any considerable length of time, was an accomplished fact at least five years before the practical aeroplane flying-machine. Yet the majority of scientists had become convinced several years b

eral of the Continental wars during the first half of the nineteenth century. After that time, however, interest in their use for this purpose flagged so

r Evreux, after being in the air about three hours. The success of this journey and several others that quickly followed led the French Government to establish a regular balloon-post, and to undertake the manufacture of balloons for this purpose. The mere matter of balloon construction offered no difficulty but a more serious one was met in the lack of experienced aeronauts. In this emergency, however, it occurred to the authorities that sailors, accustomed to climbing about at dizzy heights, might be taught to take the place of trained aeronauts. This experiment proved most successful,

midnight of November 24th. As a strong wind was blowing from the north at the time, it was hoped that the balloon would descend in the vicinity of Tours. The first intimation that the voyagers had that there was a deviation from this course was the sound of the waves breaking against the shore beneath them. At this time they were in a thick mist, and it was not until some time after daybreak that this mist cleared away sufficiently for them to get an idea of their surroundings. Then they found, to their horror, that they were over a large body of water, out of sight of land, in what part of the world they had not the slightest idea. The balloon appeared to be drifting rapidly, and

d with the greatest kindness. The balloon and its contents were subsequently secured, and all the despatches

hand toward the crowd, shouted dramatically, "I go upon a great voyage!" He did-and on one much greater than he anticipated-for the balloon was blown out to sea and lost. As he was passing over England after successfully crossing the Channel, he threw out his package o

ances. In fact, there was small chance of failure, starting as they did from a central point, and being almost certain of success no matter what direction was taken, except, indeed, the one that would blow them over the German fronti

t either they lost their way, or were captured by the enemy, for nothing was ever heard of them after starting on the return trip. In this extremity the members of the "Société Colombophile" came forward with the offer of the use of their homing-pigeons. The society had a large number of these birds, trained to return to their cotes from long distances, and the experiment of send

so that, although each bird carried only a single quill in which were rolled thin collodion leaves, the whole weighing o

es wide, and weighing about three-quarters of a grain! Twenty of these, representing six thousand words, or twice the amount of printed matter contained in suc

little leaflets were carefully removed, placed in an enlarging optical apparatus, thrown upon a screen

BLE BALLOO

d and twenty feet long and fifty feet in diameter. Beneath this was a rudder placed in the same position as that of a ship; and suspended still further below was a large car fitted with a two-bladed screw-propeller, thirty feet in diameter. Manual labor was to be used for turning this screw, two relays of four men each relieving each other at the work. An ascent was made in February, 1872, with fourteen persons in the car, who, by working in relays, demonstrated that a speed of about seven miles an hour could be maintained i

which combined lightness with power seemed absolutely essential. The electric motor gave promise of success in this direction, and in 1883 the two Tissandier brothers in France applied such a motor to a balloon that was able to make headway against a seven-mile b

e the minds of the inventors, and in 1894 such dreams took practical form in a balloon whose construction was begun by Herr Schwartz, under the auspices of the German Government. This balloon was of most complicated construction, depending for its lifting

FRENCH WA

away and lost taking a northwesterly direction which probably landed it ultimately in the Arctic Sea-in 1908. The upper figure r

first it rose rapidly and appeared to be making good progress against a strong wind; but suddenly it stopped, descended rapidly, and was smashed to pieces, the aeronaut saving himself by jumping just before it touched the ground. It developed later that he had lost control of the machine, simply because the machinery was t

st some of their prestige of late by the performances of the flying-machines of Maxim and Langley, undertook, through their enthusiastic representative, Count Zeppelin, the construction of the largest, most expensive, and most carefully built dirigible balloon heretofore constructed. This balloon was of proportions warranting the name of "air-ship." The great cigar-shaped body was almost four hundred feet in length, and thirty feet in diameter-the proportions o

t and four assistants in the cars, started on the maiden voyage. The balloon rose and made headway at the rate of eighteen miles an hour, responding readily to the rudder, but soon broke or deranged some of the steering-gear so that it became unmanageable and descended at Immerstaad

IN DIRIGIB

irigibility of the balloon. The problem of housing has been met by erecting a structure over the water. It is planned to have a balloon house that will revolve and thus faci

e German monster. The young inventor had come to Paris from his home in South America backed by an immense fortune, and by a fund of enthusiasm, courage, and determination unsurpassed by any aerial experimenter in any age. He began at once experimen

ecided improvement, still came far short of answering the requirements of a dirigible balloon. But the young experimenter was learning and profitin

balloon, the Santos-Dumont No. 4. In this balloon everything but bare essentials was sacrificed to lightness, even the car being done away with, the aeronaut controlling the machinery and directing the movements of the balloon from a bamboo saddle. But an accident soon destroyed this balloon, and a fifth was hastily constructed. With this the enthusiastic aeronaut s

o its limit of capacity with gas, while the lifting power was counterbalanced by the operator, car, engine, and ballast, so that the entire structure weighed practically the same as the air it displaced. At the stern was a powerful propeller. Obviously, then, if the long spindle-shaped machine was tilted upward at the forward end, and the propell

H DIRIGIB

e cumbersome nature of balloons of this modern type, and suggests

ld not rise until propelled by mechanical means. It lacked the requisite of the flying-machine, however, in that it was not "many times heavier than the air." After giving this new balloon several preliminary trials, which included such exciting incidents as collisions with a tree in the Bois du Boulogne, an official att

sailing-craft. Nevertheless, its performance was a decided victory for the balloon over the flying-machine. No flying-machine of whatever type had ever even approached the performance of Santos-Dumont No. 6, which had carried a man on a voyage in the air, traveling with the wind, against it, and with the wind on either quarter at every possible angle at various times during the journey. And yet there were few scien

AMERICAN DIRIGIBLE WAR BALL

loon is the Baldwin airship. The essential clumsiness of a lighter-than-air craft, as contrasted with the

alloon closely resembles the one described a few pages back. Its best performance, however, is more remarkable. Starting from Lake Constance on the night of May 29th, 1909, and sailing almost directly northward regardless of air currents, the balloon reached Bitterfield, a few miles beyond Leipzig, four hundred and sixty-five miles from the starting-point, the following evening. T

ifficulties that attend the management of such a craft when not high in air were again vividly illustrated when, in April, 1910, the Zeppelin II., w