And, granting complete success, imagine the proud possessor
of the aeroplane darting through the air at a speed of several
hundred feet per second! It is the speed alone that sustains him.
How is he ever going to stop? Once he slackens his speed, down he
begins to fall. He may, indeed, increase the inclination of his
aeroplane. Then he increases the resistance to the sustaining
force. Once he stops he falls a dead mass. How shall he reach the
ground without destroying his delicate machinery? I do not think
the most imaginative inventor has yet even put upon paper a
demonstratively successful way of meeting this difficulty. The
only ray of hope is afforded by the bird. The latter does succeed
in stopping and reaching the ground safely after its flight. But
we have already mentioned the great advantages which the bird
possesses in the power of applying force to its wings, which, in
its case, form the aeroplanes. But we have already seen that there
is no mechanical combination, and no way of applying force, which
will give to the aeroplanes the flexibility and rapidity of
movement belonging to the wings of a bird. With all the
improvements that the genius of man has made in the steamship, the
greatest and best ever constructed is liable now and then to meet
with accident.
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