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Out Do Darius Green

Reprinted from 
THE CHICAGO TIMES-HERALD,
SEPTEMBER 5, 1897
Pages 1 & 12 

CHICAGO MEN WHO REALLY FLY

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Flying Machine Season Sets In With Great Virulence and Astonishing Results Among 
the Sand Dunes South of the City.

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   This is the time of the year when the wind generally blows from the north over the sand hills at the foot of Lake Michigan, and its average velocity is about fifteen miles an hour. Given these conditions, and not forgetting the sand hills as soft places to light upon, this vicinity is an inviting one to certain scientifically inclined persons who are who are seeking to conquer the air as a route for travel. In other words, this is the season for the air ship to begin flying, and it has been taken advantage of with astonishing results during the last four days.

   A.M.Herring, a mechanical engineer who was for a considerable time associated with Professor Langley of the Smithsonian Institution in his experiments with a flying machine and Harry Clark of Philadelphia are the daring individuals who have seized the opportunity for breaking their necks in emulation of the famous Darius Green, but thus far they are fortunate enough to escape without so much as a scratch. More than that, they have surpassed all previous records in the performance of the machine they are operating, and believe they are on the eve of a revolution in the methods of transportation.

 

Herring's New Aeroplane.

Since last Wednesday Herring and Clark have been living in a tent hidden among the sand dunes two miles north of the little railroad station of Dune Park, Ind. It is the same location chosen last year by Octave Chanute, the eminent civil engineer for a series of experiments with the aeroplane of his devising and a more elaborate and pretentious machine invented by William Paul. Herring was a member of the Chanute party for several weeks, and suggested numerous improvements in the birdlike contrivances during the experiments.

   When the season advanced too far for a continuance of the flights, Herring had stored away a stock of ideas on flying machines. He thought he had the problem solved before winter arrived, and went in search of a backer who would assist him in the construction of his machine. He continued his search through the winter and into the spring, and finally found a gentlemen with money to throw at the birds, so to speak, and Herring was made happy once more. He had his flying machine ready in less than a month, and then waited for the wind to begin blowing from the right direction at Dune Park.

 

New Record of 200 Yards.

   With this machine - an aeroplane of the class with which Otto Lilienthal, the unfortunate German avator, made such wonderful advances in aerial navigation - Herring and Clark have exceeded in the length of the flights all previous performances of the same character. On the first attempt to use the machine Herring was surprised to find that he had glided through the air almost 200 feet, a distance exceeding by fully fifty feet his expectations. His experience last year at the same point had led him to calculate on flying no further than the distance measured than. Yesterday he traveled through the air almost 200 yards, and narrowly escaped taking a bath in Lake Michigan at the same time.

Two hundred yards breaks all the records for aeroplanes, and the two aviators are duly swelled with pride over the achievement. Last year, with a machine built on the same lines as the one Herring used yesterday, William Avery, one of the Chanute party, traveled through the air not quite half the distance and set the mark for the season. During the two or three weeks that Mr. Chanute remained in camp at the place flights were made every day when the wind blew from the right direction, but none passed over the landing place of Avery.

 

Double-Decker "Whatnot."

   Otto Lilienthal, the German engineer who drew the attention of the scientific world to this method of aerial navigation a few years ago, never succeeded in equaling the performances of last year. He killed himself accidentally Aug. 30 [sic - ed. actually August 10], 1896, while experimenting with one of his machines. Mr. Chanute constructed one of the Lilienthal machines for experimental purposes last year, and the best that could be done with it was a flight of 106 feet. It was so obviously unsafe that Mr. Chanute abandoned it altogether and turned his attention to constructing machines of his own design. 

   The Herring machine closely resembles the one with which Mr. Chanute secured the best results last year. Its description is difficult without the aid of an illustration. Herring calls it a "double-decker" aeroplane. Its framework resembles one of those old-fashioned "whatnots" more nearly than anything else, with the difference that it is constructed of the lightest spruce pine, and has but two shelves or decks. These decks are oblong planes of varnished silk, stretched very taut, and presenting an area of about 140 square feet. Extending from the rear of the machine is a rudder, very much the shape of a bird's tail expanded, which is controlled to a certain extent by cords within reach of the avators hands.

 

Flies against the wind.

   To operate the machine Herring climbs to the top of one of the numerous sand dunes that skirt the shore of the lake and lifts the machine above his head. Then he faces the wind squarely, and starts to run down the steep declivity at full speed. The wind striking beneath the superposed planes lifts the machine upward, and the next moment Herring is suspended in the air by his arms from two parallel bars that form the lower braces of the machine. The machine glides through space in a series of swoops, the length of which are in a great measure dependent upon the skillful efforts of the operator, and finally settles down upon the sand.

 

Camp is well hidden.

   The experiments will continue indefinitely, the expectation being that numerous improvements will be suggested. The location of the camp in which Herring and Clark are making their home is such that they feel quite secure from intruders. The curious person who attempts to find the camp without the aid of a guide will stand a good chance of spending a few days in the swamps and sand hills that abound in the vicinity of Dune Park. Fishermen and the few hunters that wander along the beach pass the camp without discovering its location, so securely is it hidden among the hills.

   Octave Chanute was an interested visitor to the camp yesterday, and he returned to the city last night highly pleased with the success of the machine. It is possible that he will renew the experiments that were discontinued last year on the account of the unfavorable weather. At that time he was financially interested, as well as scientifically, in the invention of William Paul, a Russian sailor, who had constructed a machine in close adherence to the lines suggested by the albatross. A succession of accidents interfered before the machine could be perfected, and then bad weather set in.

 

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How It Feels To Fly

 Reprinted from 
THE CHICAGO TIMES-HERALD, Vol.17, 
Wednesday Morning, September 8, 1897 
 

REPORTER TRIES AN AEROCURVE
--

With One of A. M. Herring's Flying Machines He Soars 
110 Feet on the First Trial -- Description of His Experience.

 

Any man endowed with an average amount of nerve, a cool head and a quick eye and a fair muscular development, can soar through the air nowadays, provided he is equipped with a ma-chine like the one being used by A. M. Herring among the sand dunes near Dune Park, Ind. All that is necessary for him to do is to seize the machine with a firm grasp, say a prayer, take a running jump into space and trust to luck for finding a soft place when he alights. His chances of getting hurt are about one in a thousand in his favor, while having more sport to the second than he ever dreamed possible.

   Mr. Herring has been making flights with his machine for more than a week. Last year with a machine almost identical in construction he made daily experiments in flying for over a month. He made several hundred ventures into the air, ranging over distances from 100 to 600 feet, and in none of them did he receive as much as a scratch. William A. Avery, who was one of the party to which Mr. Herring belonged, took the same risk fully as many times, and he, too, has yet to spend a cent for arnica or court plaster as a result of his seeming recklessness.

 

Reporter Takes a Flight.

   With all these arguments before him in favor of the docility of the flying machine, a reporter for Time TIMES-HERALD persuaded himself yesterday afternoon that he would like to hitch himself to the airy steed and try conclusions with a fish eagle that circled over his head a mile or so. He had witnessed the success of Mr. Herring half a dozen times. It looked so very easy. Just a little jump off the end of a plank, and then a swift glide downward for 200 or 300 feet in the space of five seconds, a gentle drop on the soft sand, and it was all over. It was a thousand per cent better fun to look at than shooting the chutes.

   It was not a good day for coasting on the air, although Mr. Herring had found the conditions suitable for several very interesting and successful demonstrations of the merits of the machine. The wind was blowing from the south at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour, but it blew irregularly. This was unfavorable to the making of any long flights, and the best he could do was to fly about 300 feet from his starting point on the crest of a sand hall. He was about to conclude his experiments for the day when the feasibility of a greenhorn making a flight was suggested, and the machine was placed in the hands of the young man who made the suggestion.

 

Getting Ready to Start

   One will never know what it is to sail through the air at a speed of thirty or forty miles an hour, sometimes at a height of ten feet and at the next moment three times as high, until he has tackled the aerocurve, or gliding machine. The first step is to get under the apparatus, and, after all, this is the most difficult part of the performance. The machine weighs only twenty-three pounds, but it is as big as the bay window of a cottage and has an alarming tendency to topple over on a man's head at a critical moment. With but two small upright sticks to grasp and a frail wooden bar under each arm on which to support the weight of the body one is not deeply impressed with the stability of the machine on coming into actual contact.

   Once underneath the machine one finds himself standing on a wide plank which rests on the sloping side of a sand hill. The hill is about 100 feet high and steep enough to test the lungs and legs of the strongest man. You face the wind as squarely as possible and shift the machine to and fro until you feel that it is balanced fairly on your arms. You are suddenly aware that the broad expanse of varnished silk above your head is pulling on your arms and trying to get away from you with each gust of the freshening wind. At the same time you remember the caution to keep the front edge of the machine depressed until the instant of your departure from earth.

 

Hard Work to Start.

   It becomes necessary to start, of course, if one wants to fly. Just at this time, when one finds himself starting down the side of a steep hill and sees a stump sticking out of the sand at the bottom, he wonders whether he will hit or miss it in his downward flight . He sees a small tree, and shudders at the thought of landing in its top. One of his friends about half way down the hill suddenly comes within the range of his vision, and his cautioned to move a half mile to the side. In the meantime a sickening fear comes over one that he may lose his balance and plow a long and deep furrow in the sand with his nose.

   The wind grows stronger, and blows with surprising steadiness. Somebody -- one can't turn his head to see who it is -- mutters that the wind is just right, and that it is a good time to start. Grasping the uprights with a grim determination to never let loose, and drawing a deep breath, one takes four or five running steps down the plank and jumps off, expecting to drop like a stone to the sand. To his surprise and pleasure he experiences about the same sensations felt by a man when taking his first ascension in an elevator. There is the same queer feeling of being lifted from beneath and a corresponding exhilaration as the sense of motion is realized.

   As the machine mounts in the air one sees the ground sinking beneath. He imagines he is a hundred feet in the air, and begins to wonder if he will ever come down and be able to see his folks again in this world.

 

Ups and Downs of Flying.

   The thought no sooner comes when the machine suddenly begins to descend with lightning speed. The wind rushes in the face of the operator like a hurricane and hums through the network of fine wire that forms part of the framework with a high, shrill note. There is a rustling sound, as of sand rushing over the white silk surfaces that sustain the machine in the air. All of these things are noted in a moment of dread, for the earth is rising all the time, as though to strike one.

   Just as one stretches his legs out expecting to plant his feet on something solid, the wind suddenly lifts the machine again toward the sky. As it mounts upward one's confidence returns. It is not so dangerous after all, just as Mr. Chanute and Mr. Herring and Mr. Avery said, and the possibility of flying across the valley and returning to the starting point is mentally revolved. Then the bottom of every-thing seems to have dropped out, and one realizes that the wind is not blowing at all. The machine settles down slowly and steadily, and to the disappointment of the operator his feet strike the sand. His experience in the air is over.

   He turns around and looks up the side of the hill, feeling that he has traveled at least a thousand yards. When the tapeline is brought out, however, he is somewhat disgusted to find that he is only 110 feet away from his starting point. He wonders how this can be, when he was up in the air at least ten minutes. Then he receives another shock, when he is told that his flight lasted just five seconds. He still fails to understand, knowing positively that he was at least 100 feet up in the air, but some  of the observers tell him that he was never more than thirty feet above the earth. This is the funny part of coasting on the air when one is beginning. It's different when you know how.

   Mr. Herring expects to break camp to-day and return to the city. He is satisfied that nothing more can be accomplished for the benefit of science by continuing the experiments with the machine which he and Octave Chanute have jointly invented. He expects before many months, however, to make a practical test of a motor in connection with the machine. If it works, Mr. Herring says, the problem of mechanical flight will be solved.

 

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Octave Chanute's Progress With Flying Machines

Reprinted from 
THE CHICAGO TIMES-HERALD,
Sunday, SEPTEMBER 12, 1897
 

 The day is almost at hand when man will dispute with the bird for supremacy in the air. For hundreds of years his ambition has been at work with such persistency of effort that he now begins to see the end. He has grappled with the invisible forces of the atmosphere, sometimes blindly but always courageously; generally to meet with disappointment, but happily with enough success to keep alive his determination to master the most difficult of all problems in physics. Lives have been lost and fortunes have been expended in the pursuit of this baffling question of man-flight. Ridicule has been heaped upon the heads of those who sought to cope with the feathered messengers of the air, and their sanity questioned by the world at large.

   Each success failure only served to strengthen the popular belief that the problem of mechanical flight was beyond human understanding. The belief has grown so universal that little or no attention has been paid to the wonderful progress of recent years in this field of research and experiment. So marked has been the advance in the last five years, however, that it is now the exception to find an intelligent engineer who disputes the probability of the eventual solution of the problem. Incredulity has given way, interest has been aroused in the scientific side of the question, a sound basis has been furnished for experiment, and practical results are being evolved by many workers which go to show that the end is not far away.

   The advance made toward the full solution of the problem of man-flight during the year 1896 was greater than that of any previous year, and attracted the widest attention, among scientists. Probably more interest centered in the experiments conducted thirty miles southeast of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan by Octave Chanute of this city than anywhere else. The prominent position occupied by Mr. Chanute in the scientific world was accepted as a guarantee that he had faith in his experiments, and that he had no other purpose in view but to demonstrate certain principles involved in the problem.

 

Lines of Investigation.

   At the time he was thus engaged Mr. Chanute observed much caution in his utterance concerning the results obtained. Fearful lest his conclusions might not be properly formed, or that he might be misunderstood, he refrained as far as possible from committing himself on the subject further than to say his experiments were very satisfactory. Since he has gained courage, so to speak, and has become enthusiastic over what has been accomplished. He is now confident that the way is clear for the solution of the problem, and modestly takes to himself a good share of the credit for pointing the way. He claims that his experiment have marked out the best lines for investigators to follow, and numbers them as follows in the order of their importance:

1. The development of the self-propelled aeroplane.
2. The development of the motorless air sailer.
3. The development of the motor.
During the past week the experiments of last year have been renewed near Dune Park, Ind. and Mr. Chanute has been an almost daily visitor to the scene of action. His interest in the results will not let him stay away longer than one day for several reasons. One reason is that the machine being used is one of his own invention in its most important details, and another is that the experiments are following the second line of investigation, which he laid down as necessary for the solution of the problem of man-flight. It is said that Mr. Chanute is the real one who is conducting the experiments, but this he denies in favor of A. M. Herring, a young man of considerable scientific knowledge, who was associated with Mr. Chanute last year in his extensive experiments at the same place.

Where and Why the Secrecy.

   Those who have by casual reading formed the opinion that a few cranks had hidden themselves among the sand hills at the foot of Lake Michigan for fear somebody might steal the pattern of their airship have made a wide mistake and a natural one. It is true that Mr. Herring wishes to avoid publicity as much as possible, just as Mr. Chanute did last year. It is equally true that no better place could be found a hundred miles around for conducting such experiments secretly. It is, to all intents, miles away from civilization, and as desolate as the center of the Sahara. The few fishermen who pass along the shore once in a while are generally ignorant of the camp that has been established not more than 300 yards from the beach.

   All this secrecy, however, is only for the purpose of avoiding the curious-minded and inquisitive visitors who would gather by thousands were the experiments conducted openly. The fear that unscrupulous persons might appropriate the design of the machine does not enter the minds of either Mr. Chanute or Mr. Herring. It has been fully protected by patents, and the most minute descriptions of its construction have been submitted to the readers of scientific publications. In fact, both gentlemen are willing to supply all the information desired concerning the machine to those who wish to build one for experimental purposes.

   "My only object in taking out patents on the machine," Mr. Chanute says, "is to prevent its use for commercial purposes. It was constructed solely for experimental purposes, and in the interest of science. I have no objection whatever to its being used in that way by anybody, but I would institute proceedings at once against anyone who attempted to use the machine for exhibition purposes. I have had offers of financial backing in unlimited amounts from men who thought the machine could be used in a commercial way., and have refused the offers each time."

 

Same Class as Lilienthal's.

   The machine with which Mr. Herring is now experimenting daily represents the ideas of both himself and Mr. Chanute. It belongs to the same class as the machine which the late Otto Lilienthal of Berlin brought out in 1894 and in the use of which he met his death. It might well be termed a flying machine, and yet this description does not fit accurately. It is technically known as an aero-curve, or a gliding machine. Better still, it might be called an air coaster, for in its action it approached very closely to the motion of those machines known as roller coasters. The resemblances is carried still further in the application of the principles of operation.

   It is one of the three machines invented by Mr. Chanute, including a steering apparatus designed by Mr. Herring. The first machine was based upon a reverse of the principles evolved in the Lilienthal apparatus. Instead of the man moving about under the machine to bring the center of gravity under the center of air pressure, it was constructed with a view to bringing the center of pressure over the center of gravity by the aid of wings moved automatically. This machine had twelve wings, each six feet long and three feet wide, and each pivoted to a central frame. It had a total wing surface of 177 square feet, and weighed thirty-seven pounds.

   By a process of evolution this apparatus became the machine in use at the present time with which such remarkable results have been obtained. Experiments showed many defects in the machine, and it was rebuilt on a different principle. The twelve wings were discarded, and in their stead were substituted three superimposed concave surfaces, each sixteen feet long and four feet wide, with an aggregate surface of nineteen square feet. Attached to the rear of this machine was a combined horizontal and vertical rudder, designed by Mr. Herring as a result of his frequent trials of the machine. In the course of the experiments it was found necessary to remove the lower surface, and this left the present machine.

 

Weight and Dimensions.

   The several changes therefore reduced the sustaining surface of the machine from 177 square feet to 135 square feet. The weight was lowered at the same time from thirty-seven pounds to twenty-three pounds. This general reduction did not impair the strength of the machine, while at the same time it improved its efficiency to a remarkable degree. Repeated trials showed the machine capable of sustaining an aggregate weight of 178 pounds, this figure representing the combined weight of the operator and the machine. The frame is constructed of spruce wood, braced with fine piano wire, and the concave surfaces are formed by varnished silk stretched over the frame to the highest tension.

   Will this machine fly? Mr. Chanute will answer this question by replying that it was never intended to fly. He will inform those asking the question that the machine is made for experimental purposes solely, with the end in view of developing the motorless air sailer. At the same time, Mr. Chanute might say, the experiments may lead to a solution of the most important part of the problem of man-flight - the maintenance of the equilibrium of the machine under all circumstances. He holds that this problem must be solved first. It has been demonstrated to his satisfaction that until automatic stability at all angles of flight and conditions of wind is evolved and safety thereby secured it would be premature to seek to apply a motor or a propelling instrument to a full-sized machine.

   The ordinary observer would answer that the machine does fly, nevertheless, after witnessing a day's experiments among the sand dunes. The distinction between sailing and gliding and flying would not appeal to any but the scientific mind while watching the "double-decker" travel through the air a distance of 200 yards with Mr. Herring hanging by his arms beneath. If the spectator was daring enough to tackle the machine himself and succeeded in getting the right kind of a start he would be willing to take oath that the machine flew. He would also be willing to testify that his sensations while the flight lasted were indescribably thrilling and delightful.

 

Principle of Flight.

   It is all very simple, this gliding through the air. If it should ever happen that the machine is placed on the market it would soon develop a new and very popular form of athletic sport beyond any doubt. The operator would have to be nervy to a certain degree and in the full possession of his wits and muscular powers. He might take a few falls at the beginning of his flights, but a week's practice might prove him a skilled avatar. The experience of Mr. Herring and William A. Avery during weeks of experiment showed that the machine offered as safe a form of amusement as skating or riding the bicycle. Neither one received as much as a scratch.

   All the flights begin from an eminence, the numerous sand hills near Dune Park offering all the opportunities desired for starting. Another requisite is that the operator must start facing the wind, although with proficiency good results may be obtained with the machine traveling at an angle with the wind. Those who have seen a buzzard or most any other large bird begin a flight from the surface of the earth will have noticed that the bird invariably faces the wind and runs a few steps before rising. For the same reasons the operator of the Chanute flying machine must face the wind, holding the machine over his head, then run a few steps down the side of the hill on which he stands and finally give a jump outward into space as though he never expected to come down. He will be doing nothing more, in effect, than he did when he jumped from the top of a fence in boyhood days with an umbrella over his head.

   The wind rushing against the lower sides of the two surfaces of varnished silk holds the operator suspended, while the angle at which he holds the surfaces either impels it forward or retards its motion. Sometimes a strong gust of wind comes along when least expected and suddenly raises the machine higher than the starting point. But for the automatic rudder this might prove disastrous to the operator. He would, in all likelihood, turn a back somersault with the machine and get badly hurt. Again a blast of air might strike on the top of the machine and cause it to shoot downward at a terrific rate of speed. This is what happened to Lilienthal last year, and was the cause of the accident which resulted in his death.

   The line of flight of the machine in the hands of a skillful operator as Mr. Herring may be controlled very largely. He has demonstrated time and again his ability to steer the machine in broad curves by simply shifting the weight of his body from one side to another. Last Monday he succeeded in describing a compound curve during a flight of about 300 feet, and ended with his back almost completely turned to the wind. It has also been demonstrated that the machine can be made to travel almost at right angles with the wind at a high rate of speed.

   Flights have been made in all sorts of winds, the speed of which varied from ten to thirty-one miles an hour. The latter wind is higher in its speed than any gliding machine was ever tried in before and tested the steadiness of the machine most thoroughly. The speed at which the machine travel rests very largely with the operator and depends upon the angle of descent from the starting point. When he finds that he is approaching the ground too swiftly it is only necessary for him to tilt the front of the machine upward, when its speed will be immediately checked, and a landing can be made safely. The range of flight is also very largely within the control of the operator, one who is skillful being able to alight within ten feet of any spot indicated while the wind maintains an even rate of speed. The longest flight recorded is the one made this year by Mr. Herring, which was almost 500 feet. Another flight of 600 feet was made last week.

   Long flights are not the aim of the men conducting the experiments with the gliding machines. They are seeking to arrive at intelligent conclusions concerning the problem of automatic stability more than anything else, and it is claimed by Mr. Chanute that many new facts have been discovered bearing upon this question. In anticipation of an early solution of the question, Mr. Herring is hard at work on a motor which he hopes to be able to apply to the gliding machine. An evidence of the faith that is within him is shown by the fact that he predicts that an air ship will be constructed within another year which will fly to New York with but four stops on the way to replenish the stock of fuel.

   "I seriously doubted at first whether automatic stability could be secured with an artificial machine," said Mr. Chanute in speaking of the results obtained by the experiments, "I doubted whether such combinations could be derived for an inanimate apparatus as to perform the complicated functions of the life and instincts of the birds which probably preserve their balance through almost unconscious reflex action of their nerves and muscles. Observation has indicated to me," he says, "that this might be automatic, requiring no thoughts under ordinary conditions, and the final conclusion was reached that it might be possible to solve an artificial apparatus which should afford automatic stability and safety most of the time, that the variations of the winds were great difficulties to be encountered, that they must be met and overcome, and that perhaps they might be utilized in obtaining pulsion and support as is done daily by the soaring birds."

   "I shall renew my experiments next year," concluded Mr. Chanute, "and I believe that I will have a machine by that time which will be automatic in maintaining its equilibrium. Then will be time enough to consider a motor. My experiments have been made in the hope of gaining scientific knowledge and without expectation of pecuniary profit. I believe the latter to be still afar off, for it seems unlikely that a commercial machine will be perfected very soon. It will, in my judgment, be worked out by a process of evolution: one experimenter finding his way a certain distance into the labyrinth, the next penetrating further, and so on until the very center is reached and success is won."