

KITES and airplanes are associated 

 in the mind of the present-day boy. 

 The former came down to us from 

 great antiquity; but the flying machine, 

 as we know it, is of such recent origin 

 that the wonder due to its performances 

 has not yet abated. It is 

 singular that the one great 

 weakness in airplanes is 

 lack of control — the inability 

 to stabilize the floating de- 

 vice. That has always been 

 the difficulty with kites. 

 The box-kite is not an old 

 invention. That and the 

 Malay kite have no tails, but 

 possess inherent stability. 

 The development of the air- 

 plane has brought out a 

 stabilizer — the well-known 

 gyroscope, which, when set 

 in motion, objects to a 

 change in the plane of its 

 rotation. This device is now 

 applied to a kite in such a 

 manner as to give it a steady 

 motion and to add wonder- 

 fully to its attractiveness 

 when in flight. 



The outline of the kite ap- 

 proaches the ordinary air- 

 plane structure. The gyro- 

 scopic wheel is at the forward 

 end of the main plane, mounted on a 

 horizontal axis, so that it rotates on a 

 vertical fore and aft plane, giving an air 

 of vitality to the kite, and making it ap- 



iraainie 



y{^- By 

 ^~~"^ JSZerbe 



pear as though the wheel actually 

 propels or sustains the kite 'in its 

 flight through the air. 



The frame is made of a pair of 

 pine strips, each 4 ft. long, of 

 straight clear pine, J2 by ^ in. in 

 thickness. These are secured to- 

 gether at their rear ends and 

 separated 5 in. from each other at 

 their forward ends. They are held in 

 permanent alinement by a cross strip, 

 also 4 ft. long, of the same material and 

 dimensions, this strip being located 16 in. 

 from the forward ends of the parallel 

 strips. At the crossing points the pieces 



GYROSCOPE WING »««/■ 



A wheel is interposed between the front ends of the main 

 frame; the wind gives it speed for gyroscopic action 



are provided with shallow gains, so they 

 will fit together snugly, and are then se- 

 cured by means of small wire nails and 

 wrapped with a strong fine cord. 



771 



