EXPERIMENTS WITH THE LANOLKY AERODROME. 119 



SO trying as the ones which hopui ininicdiatcly nftci' the woi-k was 

 thus ti;ansferiv(l to the h)wer Potomac. 



Tlie object in constructing the quarter-size counterpart of the 

 hirge machine was to duplicate in it the bahinciuii- and rehitive pro- 

 portions of power, surface, etc., that had been arranged in the hirge 

 one, so that a test of it might he made which wouhl determine 

 whether the hu'ge machine should he tried as ari'anged or the bal- 

 ancing and other ari-angements modified. The huinching appa- 

 ratus, which had proved so eminently successful with the original 

 steam-driven models in ISDC, was considered a thing so well tested 

 that it had, as I ha\'e stated, been duplicated on a suitable scale for 

 use with the large aerodrome, and it was felt that if this apparatus 

 were exactly similar to the smaller one it would be the one appliance 

 least likely to mar the experiments. 



In order to test the quarter-size model it was necessary to remove 

 its launching track tVom the top of the small house boat and place it 

 upon the deck of the large boat, in order to have all the work go on 

 at one place, as it was impossible, on account of its unseaworthiness, 

 to moor the small house boat in the middle of the river. 



While this transfer of the launching apparatus from the small 

 boat to the large one was being made, the changed atmospheric con- 

 ditions incident to a large body of Avater over which thick fogs hung 

 a great portion of the time, from those of a well-protected shop on 

 the land, began to manifest themselves in such ways as the rusting of 

 the metal parts and fittings, and the consequent disarrangement of 

 the adjustment of the necessarily very accurate pieces of apparatus 

 connected with the ignition system of the engine. These difficulties 

 might have partly been anticipated, but there were others concerning 

 which the cause of the deterioration and disarrangement of certain 

 parts and adjustments was not immediately detected, and conse- 

 quently when short preliminary shoj) tests of the small machine were 

 attempted just prior to launching it, it was found that the apparatus 

 did not work properly, necessitating repairs and new constructions 

 and consequent delay.' Although the large house boat with the entire 

 outfit had been moved down the river on July U, 1903, it was not 

 until the 8th of August that the test of the (juarter-size model was 

 made, and all of this delay was directly due to changed atmospheric 

 conditions incident to the change in locality. This test of the nu)del 

 in actual ilighl was made on the 8th of August, 1903, when it worked 

 most satisfactorily, the launching a[)paratus, as always heretofore, 

 performing perfectly, while the model, being launched -lirectly into 

 the face of the wind, flew directly ahead on an even keel. The bal- 

 mcing proved to be perfect, and the power, supporting surface, 

 o-uiding, and equilibrium-preserving etl'ects of the rudder also. The 



