AEROPLANES.
89
tained by laths of a half hollow form pressing against them,
and communicating their pressure through the body of the
chariot' from one wing to the other, and supported by cords,
whose force, acting on two hoops nearly of an oval shape,
hold the wings firmly in their position.
A tail can be raised and lowered at pleasure by means
of a cord.
The chariot is drawn forward by an " aerial screw"
in front thereof, " which screws into the air at an eleva-
Fig. 40.—CARHNGFORD—1856.
tion of 450, similar to the bird's wing ; and is turned by
means of a winch acting on three multiplying wheels."
This screw " is known as the Carlingford screw ; the blades
of this screw become more straight as they approach the
center, or, in other words, their edges become more direct
toward the center. . . . When a certain altitude is
attained the chariot may go several miles, perhaps 50 or
60, as it were, upon an inclined plane of air."
A novelty consisted in the mode proposed for starting
the chariot. It was proposed to suspend it by ropes be-
tween two poles, and then allow it (by drawing a trigger
suddenly) to fall upon the air and to be drawn " forward
with great velocity by the falling of the weight in front ;"
a method which we have seen to have been subsequently
adopted by M. Trouvé in starting his bird. If the invent-
or was thoroughly assured beforehand of the stability of
his apparatus at all angles of incidence, this would be an