Aerial navigation

“ It even appeared to me that the balloon itself, admirable for vertical ascents, was not necessarily a first step in aerial navigation, and might possibly have no share in the solution of the problem. It was this conviction that led to the formation of the Aeronautical Society a few years since under the presidency of the Duke of Argyll. In the number of communications made to this society it is evident that many minds are taxing their ingenuity to discover a mode of navigating the air ”

“ We would not befog our vision of the future with any wild imaginings, seeking, as some have done, to see in the electricity or other hidden power of heaven the means for its subjugation by man; but it is far from unreasonable to hope that but a little while shall pass, and we shall have more perfect and reliable knowledge of the tides and currents in the vast ocean of air, and when that day may have come then it may be claimed that the grand problem of aerial navigation will be already solved. ”

“ First we were taught how to read a map, how to judge the height of hills and the size of towns, so that when flying we would know at a glance just where we were. This, we later appreciated, is a very important matter. When passing through clouds or mist an aviator may become momentarily lost, and the instant he again sees the ground he must locate on his map the country he views or else land and ask where he is. Aerial navigation may not be as complicated as that employed by mariners upon the high seas, but it is not easily mastered by any means. ”

“ As my air-ship ploughed ahead the wind struck my face and fluttered my coat, as on the deck of a transatlantic liner, though in other respects it will be more accurate to liken aerial to river navigation with a steamboat. It is not like sail navigation, and all talk about "tacking " is meaningless. If there is any wind at all it is in a given direction, so that the analogy with a river current is complete. When there is no wind at all we may liken it to the navigation of a smooth lake or pond. ”

“ There are three methods of aërial navigation—"Dead Reckoning," Astronomical Observation, and Directional Wireless Telegraphy. None should be used alone; for although accuracy may be obtained with any single method, it is highly advisable to check each by means of the others.
As in the case of marine navigation, a reliable compass, either of the magnetic or gyroscopic type, is essential for aërial navigation, as well as an accurate and reliable chronometer. Suitable charts must be provided, showing all parts of the route to be covered. ”

“ When their observations, their needs, or their pleasures demanded it, they could descend to within a short distance of the earth, say ninety feet, and fix themselves in their position by means of an anchor. It might, perhaps, be possible, by taking the advantage of favourable winds, to make the tour of the world. “Experience will perhaps demonstrate that aerial navigation presents less inconvenience and less dangers than the navigation of the seas.” ”

“ But there is no need to ask the Navy, since we know perfectly well in advance what the Navy thinks of aerial navigation and its probable influence on war at sea. Is it for fun that the Navy is establishing aerial stations round the coasts and is training dozens of officers in the science of flight? ”

“ The aerial ship devised by our correspondent, however, happens not to be new; a similar one was illustrated in our first volume. To others, as well as to himself, who may be indulging in such lofty visions, we must tell them that safe, practical and economical aerial navigation never can be rendered successful by application of known powers. This subject has engaged the attention of inventors for hundreds of years, and although many successful balloon experiments have been made, yet ballooning is not flying. ”

“ Not with balloons and their cumbrous inflations, but with machines capable of carrying the load, and traveling by displacement of the air at high velocities. Therefore we may expect that aerial navigation will be developed in the near future to be one of the greatest enterprises of the world. ”

“ Another great desideratum in aerial navigation is a power of guiding the balloon according to a given direction—of propelling it through the atmosphere as steam-boats are propelled on the ocean. It has indeed been said that, as nature is very profuse in the variety of atmospherical currents within two miles above the level of the sea, we are not, in sailing through the air, driven to the necessity of attempting to go right against the wind, but have only to ascend or descend, as the case may be, to a current, which will waft the vessel to its desired destination. ”

“ Aerial navigation—and particularly aviation—has now passed beyond the pioneer stage, but it still bears the dubious reputation that it acquired when it was in its infancy. Aerial travel, under standardized conditions, is no longer unsafe. There are good reasons for regarding it already as safer than automobiling. ”

“ To those who, from a modest beginning and with gradually increased extent and elevation of flight have gained full control over the apparatus, it is not in the least dangerous to cross deep and broad ravines. It is a difficult task to convey to one who has never enjoyed aerial flight a clear perception of the exhilarating pleasure of this elastic motion. ”

“ It must have been an impressive sight for friend or foe to witness the departure of each aerial vessel on its venturesome mission. The bold plunge into space above the roofs of the imprisoned city; the rapid climb into the sky and, later, the pearl drop high in air floating away to its uncertain and hazardous haven, running the gauntlet of the enemy's fire by day or braving what at first appeared to be equal danger, attending the darkness of night. ”

“ FREE DIAGONAL MOVEMENT UP
[86]
"No. 6." FREE DIAGONAL MOVEMENT DOWN
[87] My first impression of aerial navigation was, I confess, surprise to feel the air-ship going straight ahead. It was astonishing to feel the wind in my face. In spherical ballooning we go with the wind, and do not feel it. True, in rising and descending the spherical balloonist feels the friction of the atmosphere, and the vertical oscillation makes the flag flutter, but in the horizontal movement the ordinary balloon seems to stand still, while the earth flies past under it. ”

“ The air-ship never leaves its medium—the air—in which it only swings.
This consideration brings me to the most remarkable of all the sensations of aerial navigation. On my first trip it actually shocked me! This is the utterly new sensation of movement in an extra dimension!
Man has never known anything like free vertical existence. Held to the plane of the earth, his movement "down" has scarcely been more than to return to it after a short excursion "up," our minds remaining always on the plane surface even while our bodies may be mounting ”

“ The physical exertion demanded of the mountaineer is entirely absent in the case of an aeronaut who is sailing at perfect ease in a free balloon. Moreover, it must be remembered that—a most important consideration—the aerial voyager, necessarily travelling with the wind, is unconscious, save at exceptional moments, of any breeze whatever, and it is a well-established fact that a degree of cold which might be insupportable when a breeze is stirring may be but little felt in dead calm. ”

“ The coal mines of the world cannot long afford the increasing drain made upon them. Steam has reached its utmost limits of power, and does not fulfil the requirements of the age. Electricity holds back, with bated breath, dependent upon the approach of her sister colleague. Air ships are riding at anchor, as it were, waiting for the force which is to make aerial navigation something more than a dream. As easily as men communicate with their offices from their homes by means of the telephone, so will the inhabitants of separate continents talk across the ocean. ”

“ To use the advantage of travelling in the air at altitudes for the purpose of the wanton destruction of harmless citizens, and, further, to destroy in cities the amassed wealth of art that only centuries, not years, produce, is an unrighteous use of the science of aërial navigation. ”

“ Speaking with some experience, the writer has found that instruction in the principles underlying the science and sport of aviation must be vitalized by some contemporaneous study of what is being accomplished in the air. No one of the revolutionizing inventions of man has progressed as rapidly as aerial navigation. ”

“ When navigating on the water you steer for a goal which lies in a horizontal plane, on the surface of the water; the airship has to negotiate a second dimension due to differences in height. And this it is which presents such great difficulties in aerial navigation. In contradistinction to the aeroplane, the load, including its own weight, carried by an airship is not borne by motor power, dynamic lifting power, but by gas-tight cells filled with a gas lighter than air. ”

“ International compacts on the subject of aerial navigation must be respected. To set a dishonourable example by disregarding them for our own immediate purpose might lead to disastrous international results. ”

“ Indeed, it may be claimed that, among the very earliest aeronauts, those who had sailed away into the skies and brought back intelligent observations or impressions of the realm of cloud-land, or who had only described their own sensations at lofty altitudes, had already contributed facts of value to science. It is time then, taking events in their due sequence, that mention should be made of the endeavours of various savants, who began about the commencement of the nineteenth century to gather fresh knowledge from the exploration of the air by balloon ascents organised with fitting equipment. ”

“ Aerial navigation will, no doubt, be accomplished, but in the opinion of the writer it will never be used for commercial purposes, simply because it can not, even if developed to the highest state of perfection, compete with transit on the surface of the earth, either in speed or cost of transportation. ”

“ At a distance of 7 mètres from the other extremity is situated the little basket-work car in which the aeronaut takes his place and where he commands the arrangements for lighting the motor, for starting the screw propeller, for working the rudder, controlling the escape valves and regulating the displacement of the guide-rope from 'bow' to 'stern,' if I may use the terms, by means of fine cords. ”

“ Wise, by his expedient of tying ribbons at different points to his trail rope, would obtain much more correct and constant information respecting those general streams through which the pendant rope was moving. A similar expedient adopted by the same ingenious aeronaut is worthy of imitation, namely, that of tying ribbons on to a rod projecting laterally from the car. These form a handy and constant telltale as to the flight of the balloon, for should they be fluttering upwards the sky sailor at once knows that his craft is descending, and that he must act accordingly. ”

“ The vexing and expensive explorations in the interiors of Africa and Australia, and towards the North Pole, will soon be brought to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion; and some of the wildest dreams of men be realized.
XXI.—CONCLUDING REMARKS.
The accomplishment of ærial navigation, then, is within reach; its practicability can no longer be denied. It will be one of the most glorious and fruitful conquests, and of the highest value and importance to civilized nations. But all inventions, and particularly an undertaking of such gigantic nature, require pecuniary assistance. ”

“ Each passenger basket is large enough to contain four passengers; and it is to carry such passengers that "The Omnibus" has been constructed.
"No. 10"
WITHOUT PASSENGER KEEL
Indeed, after mature reflection, it seemed to me that this must be the most practical and rapid way to popularise aerial navigation. In my other [281] air-ships I have shown that it is possible to mount and travel through the air on a prescribed course with no greater danger than one risks in any racing automobile. ”

“ It will be urged, however, that for purposes of exploration some form of dirigible balloon is desirable, and we have already had proof that where it is not sought to combat winds strongly opposed to their course such air ships as Santos-Dumont or Messrs. Spencer have already constructed acquit themselves well; and it requires no stretch of imagination to conceive that before the present century is closed many great gaps in the map of the world will have been filled in by aerial survey. ”

“ TYPES OF MODERN AIRSHIPS With the new century came the modern military airship—to stay, at any rate, until the heavier-than-air principle of aërial navigation has so developed as to absorb those features of utility the airship has and the aëroplane has not. ”

“ It was proved that the airship has an average speed of forty kilomètres the hour; that it answered the rudder with the most perfect and obedient docility, that the problem of landing was solved each voyage round the racecourse, rigorously ending with a descent at the spot in the pelouse indicated beforehand. ”

“ There may be, also, an error inherent in the sextant itself. For extremely refined navigation, corrections are applied in accordance with the direction and velocity of the aëroplane or airship; but these are not really necessary, since navigation of aircraft does not require such close calculation.
When the sun or star observed is directly south of the aërial navigator in the northern hemisphere, or north of him in the southern hemisphere, the altitude, corrected for declination of the body under observation, gives the [Pg 103] aircraft's latitude. ”