NO. 3 LAN<;LK\ MKMoIli OX MECHANICAL FLIGH1 L51 



above. It was therefore decided to place the upper works of the boal rather 

 nearer the rear cud than the front, thus leaving a spare over the fronl end of 

 the house through which a large trapdoor tnighl be cul in the roof, and il was 

 thought that in this way the aerodrome might he passed up to the Launching 

 track by the use of suitable ropes and pulleys. The upper works were so ar- 

 ranged, and a sliding trap-door was provided in the roof, but more intimate 

 knowledge of the difficulties of handling so large and heavy a frame made it 

 certain, even before the aerodrome was ever placed upon the house-boat, that 

 it would be impossible to transport it to the upper works by passing it through 

 the trap-door. A different plan was then resorted to. A very large door was 

 constructed at the rear end of the house, through which the completely assem 

 bled frame could be carried in a level position and placed upon a large raft, 

 consisting of a lattice flooring over pontoons, moored at the rear end of the 

 boat, as clearly seen in Plate 38. In order to raise the aerodrome frame from 

 the raft to the upper works, a large, but light, mast and boom, with suitable 

 stays were provided. As the wings, when mounted in their proper position 

 on the aerodrome, would be interfered with by such a mast, the mast and boom 

 were so devised as to be capable of rapid erection and dismounting, only five 

 minutes being necessary for either operation. In Plate 38 the mast and boom 

 are seen in position in Fig. 3, while in Figs. 1 and 2 they have been dismounted. 



The construction of the launching track and car was begun in November, 

 1899, but their completion was long delayed, as they were frequently put aside 

 for the more immediately important parts of the work. Moreover, the arrange- 

 ment of the struts and clutch of the launching car depended entirely on the form 

 and dimensions of the frame of the aerodrome, which could not he entirely de- 

 cided until a proper engine had been secured and tested in the frame to deter- 

 mine what modifications of it were necessary. In the spring of 1902, however, 

 the launching car was entirely finished and a number of tests of the large engine 

 were made in the shop with the frame mounted in position on the car. 



From the description of the "overhead " launching apparatus (Part I, 

 Chapter X) which had proved so successful in the tests of the models, both in 

 1896 and in the later experiments of 1899, it will be recalled that the essential 

 features of it were a track and a light car with three hinged struts which ex- 

 tended below the body of the car, and against which suitable co-acting bearing 

 points attached to the frame of the aerodrome were tightly drawn by means of 

 a clutch which gripped a special fitting fastened to the aerodrome frame near 

 the central point of its length. After the engine of the aerodrome had been 

 started and got to running at full speed, the car was released and moved for- 

 ward along its track by the combined force of the thrust of the propellers and 

 the pull of the coiled launching springs. Just before the car reached the for- 

 ward end of the track, a cam at this point caused the clutch to open and release 



