AERIAL LOCOMOTION 417 



in a supporting wind, it would rise of itself into the air, if re- 

 lieved of the weight of the man, and fly as a kite. It would 

 then be a comparatively simple matter to lower the kite to a 

 convenient height from the ground, and to hold it steadily in 

 position by subsidiary lines, while the aviator ascends a rope 

 ladder to his seat in the machine. In this way the man would 

 not be exposed to danger during the critical operation of launch- 

 ing the apparatus into the air ; and, by a converse process, a 

 safe landing could be effected without bringing the machine to 

 the ground. The chance of injury to the machine itself would 

 also be much lessened by relieving it of the weight of the man 

 during the initial process of launching, and the final process of 

 bringing the machine down to the ground. 



Such speculations as these of course are only justifiable upon 

 the assumption that it is possible to construct an aerial vehicle 

 large enough and strong enough to support a man and an engine 

 in the air, and yet light enough to be flown as a kite in a moderate 

 breeze with the man and engine and all on board. My experi- 

 ments in Nova Scotia have demonstrated that this can be done ; 

 and I now therefore find myself seriously engaged in the attempt 

 to reduce these ideas to practice by the actual construction of an 

 aerodrome of the kite variety. The progress of experiment may 

 be divided into three well marked stages — the kite stage, the 

 motor boat stage, and the free flying-machine rising from the 

 water. 



THE KITE STAGE. 



In April, 1899, I made my first communication on the subject 

 of kites to the National Academy of Sciences in a paper entitled, 

 " Kites with Radial Wings," which was reviewed, with illustra- 

 tions, in the Monthly Weather Review for April, 1899 (Vol- 

 XXVI, pp. 154-155, Plate XI). I made another communica- 

 tion to the National Academy on the 23rd of April, 1903, upon 

 "The Tetrahedral Principle in Kite Structure," which was 

 published, with 91 illustrations and an appendix, in the National 

 Geographic Magazine for June, 1903 (Vol. XIV, pp. 220-251). 

 The substance of the present address was presented, in 

 part, to the National Academy of Sciences at their recent 



