Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1907 — Aeroplane Balloon Fails. [ARTICLE]

Aeroplane Balloon Fails.

The first test of the combination of a dirigible balloon and aeroplane constructed by Santos-Dumont, which was made recently at Paris, resulted in complete destruction of the machine. It consisted of a balloon shaped like a cigy, 23 yards long and 3% in diameter at the center, hitched to two aeroplanes directly underneath, and a frame carrying a 50 horsepower motor, with a screw 400 centimeters in diameter, the whole being 80 kilograms heavier than its bulk in air. The machine started all right and skimmed along over the grass a short distance until the rear of the aeroplane suddenly lifted and caused the front end of the balloon to strike the ground so that the whole thing collapsed.