A Project for Flying | Page 2

Robert Hardley
strict adherence to the principles upon which birds
fly, and a close imitation of the means which they employ to effect that
object.
It is true, that in respect to the means to be employed, animals designed
by the Creator for flight, have greatly the advantage of us, but what
natural deficiencies will not human ingenuity supply, and what
obstacles will not human skill overcome? It has already triumphed over
much greater than any that Nature has interposed between man and the
pleasures of aerial communication.
We have to a great extent, mastered the mysterious elements of nature.
We have conquered the thunderbolt and learned to write with the
burning fluid out of which it is forged.
We have converted the boundless ocean into a vast highway, traversed
for our use and on our errands, by the swift agent, and by great ships
driven against wind and tide by the mighty power of steam.
And yet a single generation ago, we knew nothing of all this, Our
grand-sires would have given these achievements a prominent place in
the list of impossible things.
But, do you say, "the Creator never intended us to fly--therefore, it is
impossible."

For what did the Creator give us skill and boundless perseverance? Was
it designed that we should swim, more than that we should furnish
ourselves with wings and mount up as eagles? "We sink like lead in the
mighty waters," we only fall a little faster through the air.
Still, I grant that the problem of aerial navigation will only be solved
when the principles of flight are clearly understood, and we recognize
precisely what are the obstacles which prevent us from flying by
artificial means.
Will these obstacles prove insuperable? It is at present believed by the
multitude that they will, but I entertain a different opinion, most
decidedly.
From my earliest youth this subject has occupied my thoughts. It has
been the study of my life, and I modestly trust that I have not
questioned nature and science in vain.
In the first place, I undertook to make myself familiar with the
obstacles to be overcome. I found the greatest of these to be gravity. I
found, however, that heavy fowls, who were unable to rise from the
earth, and only accomplished flight by taking advantage of an
eminence, sustained themselves without difficulty when once fairly
embarked. I also found that the best flyers were not equal to the feat of
keeping me company, when walking at my usual pace; hence I inferred
that velocity was a necessary element in flight, and that gravity, so fatal
to human attempts to fly, might be made a powerful auxiliary when
rightly used.
Acting upon this hint, I made experiments with heavy barn yard fowls,
and finally constructed a light apparatus to be operated by myself,
using, principally, my feet as a motive power, which I repeatedly tried
with various and constantly increasing degrees of success.
Now I am satisfied that my system is right. It is my sober conviction
that the time to realize the dream and hope of ages has come. Startling
as the announcement may be, I propose not only to make short
excursions through the air myself, but to teach others to do the same.

Yet, knowing perfectly the obstacles in the way of flight, and knowing
equally well how to overcome them, I am yet well aware that I must
perfect my knowledge by practice before entire success can be
achieved.
This is only reasonable.
How was it with the swimmer; how was it with the agile and dexterous
skater; how with the acrobat, and what but practice has just enabled
WESTON to walk one hundred and twelve miles in twenty-four hours,
and four hundred miles in five days?
For want of a better name, I will call the machine upon which I am to
practice, the "Instructor." It is simple, but it gives the learner just what
he wants--an endless series of inclined planes.
It will prevent accidents, and until the student has mastered the
mechanical movements necessary to flight, will supplement his efforts
by partially balancing his weight.
It consists of a beam fifty feet long, poised and attached by a universal
joint to the top of a form post, say twenty feet or more in height. Upon
one end of this beam the practitioner stands, arrayed in his wings. A
movable weight at the other end completes the apparatus; and yet this
simple machine, will form the entering wedge to aerial navigation.
And now methinks I see you smile, but, my unbelieving friends, let me
remind you that COPERNICUS, and GALILEO, and FRANKLIN, and
FULTON, and MORSE,--all better men than your humble servant,
were laughed at before me.
Their work is done. Their monuments stand in all lands, and
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