The helicopter is not Mr. Brennan's only success. He is the inventor of the Brennan torpedo, selling his invention to the British Government in 1880 for £110,000, more than four times as much ae was ever before paid by the Government for an inyention; and also of the mono-rail, gyroscopic railway consisting of a single line laid down on the ground. Mr. Brennan is an irishman, a native of Castlebar, West Ireland. His parents emigrated to Australia when he was-a boy of 11. In Melbourne he was apprenticed to an engin-ocr. He invented the torpedo there. He has been in England since 1887.
Throughout the world to-day Governments and private inventors are striving to perfect a helicopter, or a machine which rises straight up into the air wuder the upward! pull of whirling screws, and capable of hovering over a given point. Most of the machines have horizontal screws giving the vertical ascension. One of the chief difficulties is the question of what would happen if the engines failed. Inventors in several countries have given the assurance that in such an event the helicopter would descend slowly and not crash. Another difficulty is that of securing horizontal flight, speed, and direction. A __helicopter is not an aeroplane, but a combination of the two principles. It is understood that the gyroscope plays an important part in the stabilization of the Brennan machine. It is believed that he has gone farther in this direction of stability than anyone else.
A year ago the Brennan machine lifted a pilot, 250 lb. weight, and fuel supplies, and hovered fur a little while, but__ its achievement then was nothing like so successful as the recent one. In an interview last year Mr. Brennan said: The machine is absolutely unlike an ordinary aeroplane. It will an eye-opener to the world." Mr. Brennan is barred by the Government from the helicopter competitions next year, when prizes of £50,000 are offered.
The Oemichen and Pescara helicopters have achieved vertical flight in France and Spain, hovering in the air without increasing Or decreasing their altitude. The De Bothezat helicopter (U.S.A.) achieved vertical flight.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.