A Project for Flying: In Earnest at Last!

An author surveys past attempts at aerial navigation, critiques balloons as incapable of directional control, argues that imitation of birds and understanding flight principles are necessary, identifies gravity and insufficient velocity as key obstacles, reports experiments with heavy fowl and a foot-powered gliding apparatus, proposes a training machine called the Instructor—an apparatus of a long beam on a universal joint that provides inclined planes and partial weight support—to teach human flight through practice and gradual mastery, and lays out the rationale and early trials toward achieving controllable, sustained artificial flight.