AEEIAL NAViaATION. 177 



likely to develop the required minimum speed of 20 miles an hour over 

 the oround, which speed really requires about 25 miles an hour through 

 the air, as there will almost invariably be some Avind, will be the San- 

 tos Dumont No. 7, the Lebaudy and the Deutsch air ships, all of them 

 French. The English vessels of Spencer and of Beedle are too small 

 to lift sutticient power to drive them at 25 miles an hour. The balloon 

 of Doctor Barton might gain this speed if it were not 40 feet in diam- 

 eter, besides being loaded down with aeroplanes, and it remains to be 

 seen what will be the effect of this combination. The American air 

 ships all seem to l)e too small to lift enough power to give them the 

 required speed save the Stanley air ship, 228 feet by 50 feet in diam- 

 eter, begun in San Francisco. Should this be completed in time, and 

 should the weights be kept approximately near those stated in the 

 circulars, it might have a chance to obtain 25 miles an hour, but it 

 would need more than three times the 50 horsepower contemplated in 

 order to do so, and the weight of the aluminum shell and framing 

 would probably absorb much of the lifting power. 



FLYING MACHINES. 



If the aeronautical contest at St. Louis were scheduled to take place 

 a few \'ears later, thus giving time to consummate recent success, it is 

 not improbable that the main prize would be carried off' by a flying- 

 machine. This yet lacks the safe flotation in the air which appertains 

 to balloons, but it promises to be eventually very nmch faster. 



The writer found, somewhat to his surprise, when on a visit to 

 Paris last April, that a decided reaction had set in among the French 

 against balloons. It seemed to be realized that the limit of speed had 

 been nearly reached for the present, and that )mt small utility was to 

 be expected from navigable balloons. They must be large, costly, and 

 require expensive housing, while thev are slow and frail and carry 

 very small loads. As commercial carriers they are not to be thought 

 of, but they may be useful in war and in exploration. 



Hence the French are turning their thoughts toward aviation and 

 propose to repeat some of the experiments with gliding machines 

 which have taken place in America. Even Colonel Renard, the cele- 

 brated pioneer of the modern navigable balloon, is now said to have 

 become a convert to aviation and to say that the time has come to try 

 the system of combined aeroplanes and lifting screws for flying 

 apparatus. 



A good deal of experimenting has been done with power-driven 

 flying models. The more recent types have been actuated by twisted 

 rubber threads, by compressed air and by steam, and the most notable 

 experiments in order of date are those of Penaud, Tatin, Hargrave, 

 Phillips, Langley and Tatin, and Richet. The data of these (except 

 the tirst) will be found by searchers in such matters in the London 



