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set, and the wire simply to support the machine at the start. When 

 the motor developed one and a half horse-power the stroke of the 

 wings was sufficient to raise it and cause a jump along the wire. The 

 total weight of the apparatus was about seventy-five pounds, and the 

 motor could be run to develop three horse-power for a little time, and 

 w ith that power it flew along in an interesting manner. 



In studying the principles of mechanical flight, many experimenters 

 have made little flying toys and have launched them in the air to see 

 how they worked. M. Pichanconrt made a number of these, with 

 twisted rubber as motive power, but no one of them ever sailed more 

 than sixty-three feet. Prof. S. P. Langley had greater success in this 



Fig. 7. Myers's Sky-cycle (II). 



direction, and one of the rubber motor toys' is shown in Pig. 11. I 

 do not know how far it flew. Lawrence Margrave made use of a tube 

 of compressed air, on which were mounted wings that vibrated as long 

 as the air furnished enough power. Tie built one of these, seven feet 

 in length, that weighed only fifty-nine ounces, and it flew 350 feet. 

 Another form of toy, designed to be thrown from a high station, is 

 shown in Fig. 12. Several of these were built by James Means and 

 launched from the top of a lighthouse in Boston harbor. The length 

 was about six feet, and they sailed a considerable distance. 



Mr. Beecher Moore, of Buffalo, N". Y., has originated the very in- 

 teresting machine shown in Fig. 13. Mr. Moore states that the 

 working model which he constructed was charged with a slow-burning 

 mixture of saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, and would fly about 500 



