BUREAU OF PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE |
| DIRECTOR Methodius Vann |
ABOUT
Having lately proposed a plan for employing a balloon for an observatory, 1 shall now endeavor to describe more minutely the construction of a similar balloon, with apparatus for propelling and mode of managing the same under various circumstances, and show the comparative safely to which this mode of travelling may be reduced.
A balloon 500 feet long and 50 in diameter, gradually tapering from the centre to a point at each end, (which figure, for want of a better name is called a pointed t:}>hi>. roid,) is made of strong sheeting, and is rcn. dered tight by oil or varnish ; and its form is supported by eight wooden rods, an inch and half in diameter, which extend the whole
length of the balloon, inside of the sheeting,
and are fastened together at the ends, but
separate so as to be equidistant from each
other towards the centre, the sheeting being
nailed to the rods at every foot of their
length, by which they are effectually kept
in place. These rods, it will be understood,
continue in contact the whole length, until
the balloon is inflated, when they become
separated as above mentioned.
A stage fifty feet in length and twenty in
breadth, constructed economically with re-
gard to the weight of materials, is suspend-
ed by cords about twenty feet below the bal-
loon ; the cords, thirty or more in number,
being attached to the stage at various points
and convenient distances, are supported at
the top by rings, which are attached by
screws to the several rods or ribs of the bal-
loon. The stage is further supported by
four other cords, two ol which extend from
the two forward corners of the stage to the
forward point of the balloon, and the other
two from the two hind corners to the steri
point. T« this point is connected, by a uni
versal joint, the end of a pole four inches
in diameter, which extends backward hori-
zontally twenty-five feet, tapering to the di-
ameter of two inches. From the small end
of this pole four arms project in opposite di
rections ; and from the outward end of each
arm, a cord extends to the forward end ofl
the pole, being made fust to both. These
arms are six feet long, ten inches wide, and
one inch thick, being tmnoned to the pole,
and supported by a wire which compasses
the four, and is fastened to the end of each.
To the space between each coitl and the
pole, a piece of painted cloth is fitted, one
edge of which is nailed to the pole, and the
other is sewed to the cord : the wide end is
also nailed to the arm. Other four arms,
six feet in length, project in opposite direc-
tions, two vertically and two horizontally,
from the forward end of the pole, near the
universal joint. Two cords extend from
the small end of the pole to the ends of the
two horizontal arms last mentioned ; thence
forward to two pulleys, which arc attached
to the sides of the balloon, a little forward of
the centre ; thence down to a light steering
wheel, on the forward part of the stage
Three other cords proceed from the same
point : two of which pass over the head oi
the upper arms ; thence over two pullies
near the first ; and the other cord passes to
the end of the lower arm, thence over a pu
ley attached to the lower side of the balloon ;
and the three terminate on a small shaft
with a crank, ratchet and fall, near the steer-
Ding wheel, that the steersman may be able
to govern the vertical as well as horizontal
variations in the direction of the balloon.