The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-01-13
1 MACHINE that FLIES.
The Wright Brothers Declare that
They Have Solved the Problem
Of Navigating the Air.

Of Navigating the Air.
sDayton, O., Jar. 6.-Tbe Wright
brothers, inventors OF the flying
machine which has attracted such
widespread attention, have prepared
the following, which they say-is the
first correct statement Of the successful
trials made by them:
"On the morning of Dec. II, between
1890 and noon, four flights we're made,
two by Orville Wright and two by Will
bur Wright. The starts were all made
from point on the level and about
zoo feet west of our camp, which is
situated quarter of mile north OF
Kill Devil Sand, in Dare county. N.
G.. The wind at the time of the flight
had velocity of 27 miles an hour at
10 O'Clock and a miles An hour at
noon as recorded by the thermometer
at the Kitty Hawk weather bureau
station. This thermometer is 80 feet
from the ground. Our own measure
ments, made with an thermometer at
height of four feet from the ground,
showed velocity of about % miles
when the first fight was made and
221a when the last flight was made.
The flight was made directly against
the wind. Each time the machine
started from the level ground by its
own Iower with no ssistance from
gravity or other source whatever.
After run of about 40 feet along the
monorail track which held the ma
chine eight inches from the groundd,
it rose from the track and under the
direction of the operator climbed ups
ward on an inclined course until a
height of eight or ten feet from the
ground was reached, after which the
course was kept as near horizontal as
the wind gusts and the limited skill
of the operator would permit. Into
the teeth of 25-mile gale the flyer
made it's way forward with speed of
10 miles an hour over the ground and
80 to 35 miles an hour through the air.
It had previusly been decided that for
reasons of personal safety these first
trials should be made as close to the
ground as possible. The height chosen
was scarcely sufficient for manoeuver-
ing in so gusty wind and with no
previous acquaintance with the con-
duct of the machine and it's controll-
ing mechanism. Consequently the first
flight was short. The succeeding
flights rapidly increased in length and
at the fourth trial fight of SO sec
onds was made in which the machine
flew little more than half mile
through the air and a distance of more
than S52 feet over the ground. The
landing was due to a slight error of
Judgment on the part Of the operator.
After passing over little hummock
of sand in attempting to bring the
machine down to the desired height
the operator turned the rudder too far
and the machine turned downward
more quickly than had been expected.
The reverse movement of the rudder
was fraction of a second too late to
prevent the machine from touching
the ground and thus ending the fight
The whole occurrence occupied little
if any more than one second of time.
"Only those who are acquainted
with practical aeronautics can appre-
ciate the difficulties in attempting the
first trials of flying machine in 25-
mile gale. As winter had already set
in, we would have postponed our
trials to more favorable season. but
for the fact that we were determined
before returning home to as
certain whether the machine
possessed sufficient power to
withstand the shock of landing and of
sufficient capacity of control to make
a fight safe in boisterous winds as
we'll as in calm air. When the points
had been defnately established we at
once packed our goods and returned
home, knowing that the age Of the fly
ing machine had come at last.
"From the beginning we have en-
ployed entirely new principles of con-
troll and as all the experiments have
been conducted at our own expense
without assistance from aay individ-
ual or institution, we do now feel
ready at present to give cut any pic
ture or detailed description of the ma
chine -