William A. Sharpe in his motor goose which is a com- 

 bination automobile, motor boat and flying machine 



BEFORE an aeroplane can fly, it must 

 be in motion. Therefore a prelimin- 

 ary run upon the ground is necessary. 

 Hence, every aeroplane is virtually an 

 automobile and could be used as such if 

 our roads were wide enough to accommo- 

 date its wings. A hydroaeroplane is a 

 flying machine which takes its running 

 start on water. Hence, it must be a service- 

 able water craft. Is it not possible to build 

 a machine which will be automobile, motor 

 boat and flying machine in one? William 

 A, Sharpe, of Detroit, thinks so. 



It is not a new idea to build a floatable 

 automobile which can run into a river from 

 the shore without a stop. But it is certainly 

 a new idea to combine in one vehicle the 

 properties of an automobile, a motor boat 

 and a flying machine. 



Mr. Sharpe's ve- 

 hicle has a boat body 

 which is mounted on 

 regulation auto- 

 mobile wheels, which 

 is equipped with a 

 rudder, and which is 

 propelled by four air 

 propellers. These air 

 propellers are in 

 reality feathering 

 paddle-wheels such 

 as have been often 

 proposed for air craft. 



Benbow used them on the dirigible with 

 which he flew over the St. Louis World's 

 Fair in 1904, for example. 



The ordinary air propeller is usually 

 mounted on an aeroplane at the rear or in 

 front. Mr. Sharpe would mount his pro- 

 pellers as the paddle-wheels of river steamers 

 are mounted — that is, flat along the sides 

 of the craft. In that position they un- 



The Motor Goose 



She runs on the ground ; she 

 swims in water ; and her 

 inventor says she will fly- 



By Carl Dienstbach 



doubtedly take up much less room 

 than ordinary aeroplane propellers. 

 By a simple adjustment of the me- 

 chanism that controls the feathering, 

 they can be made either to lift or 

 propel, or perform both functions to 

 a varying degree. To maintain the 

 balance of the craft in flight, seems theoret- 

 ically easy; for the lift at each of the four 

 supporting points may be increased or 

 reduced at will as the occasion may demand. 

 As the boat, automobile, or flying ma- 

 chine, whatever it may be called, is driven 

 over roads or water, the lifting effect of the 

 propellers would undoubtedly be conducive 

 to high speed. But, can the propellers 

 support a machine in the air? If you will 

 study the accompanying photographs you 

 will see that no supporting surfaces, such 

 as wings, are provided. How then can the 

 machine fly? 



Perhaps you have seen a little toy which 

 consists essentially of a horizontally mount- 

 ed screw-propeller driven by a rubber band. 

 When you tighten up the rubber band and 

 release it, the propeller literally kicks the 

 little toy up into the 

 air. Such a machine 

 is known as a heli- 

 copter, or screw-flyer. 

 No helicopter has 

 ever been built bigger 

 than this little toy — 

 that is, a helicopter 

 that will fly. 



Mr. Sharpe intends 



to rely upon the 



helicopter principle 



in order to get his 



machine into the air. 



Unfortunately, his propellers are smaller 



than those of a helicopter's of equal size. 



Even if they were of the right size and even 



if they were mounted horizontally like 



those of a true helicopter, it is doubtful if 



he would get off the ground. Only one of 



the blades of his propellers is effective at a 



time, just like the paddles of a river 



steamer. To get a substantial lifting grip 



There are no supporting surfaces, such as 

 wings. The machine would mount into the 

 air by the helicopter, or screw-flyer, principle 



370 



