Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-09
AMERICAN FLIES
NEARLY D MILES
Aeroplane in Initial Performance at
Lemans Works Perfectly--oper-
ator Has Complete Control
of Machine
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
LEMANS, France, Aug. S.-Wilbur
Wright of Dayton, o., made flight of
three kilometers (1.S7 miles) with his
aeroplane here this afternoon in less
than two minutes. Throughout the
flight Mr.. Wright had perfect control
of the machine
No attempt was made for distance
record, the only object of the flight
being to try out the aeroplane. While
flying through the air Wright demon
strated, or so it appeared to the spec
tators, that he was absolute master
of the airship, first soaring, and then
shooting downward and then mounting
again, until finally, after completing
two circles, he came down easily TO
earth.
The performance was greeted with
a burst of cheers from a small num-
ber of people invited to view the eX-
pertinent. Wright was warmly con-
graduated by all the experts, who
styled the flight a wonderful exhi-
bition of aviation.
The successful flight made by Will
bur Wright in his aeroplane today
puts an end to the long anxious wait
in America, and Europe. to see what
the Wright brothers were capable of
accomplishing. In Europe the 'mys-
terious Wrights" have been an alb
sorbing problem for aviation enthu-
siasts and they have interested the
representatives of various govern
ments
The long postponement of a public
exhibition of what the Americans had
to show the world aroused the liveliest
comment, and from some quarters a
touch of skepticism, a Paris news
paper only last night referring to the
bluff Wright brothers, of whom
everybody has been talking for many
years, but who as yet have not made
good"
Upholds Name of America
Nevertheless the silent Wright pre-
pared patiently and carefully for the
great occasion when he was to dispel
these doubts and uphold the name of
America. Though disabled as the re-
suit of an explosion of a tube, Wright
labored steadily. He put his machine
together in a shed on e field just out
side Lemans, sleeping by night be-
side the invention.
Weather conditions for the test were
splendid. The sky was blue and with
out a cloud, and gentle northwest
breeze was blowing.
1t was shortly before 3 o'clock this
afternoon when the aeroplane which
is the same as that used in the United
States, was brought out of it's shed
and mounted on small single wheeled
CndflOJ, winch III turn was resting on
a single rail on the ground. After a
preliminary test of the apparatus Mr..
Wright declared all was ready and
took a position beside the motor. BY
means of falling weight rigged on a
beam erected in the ground and con-
nected with cords running to it, the
chariot was started running over
the rail- and the aeroplane, thus
having been given a forward motion,
suddenly left the chariot and ascended
like bird to height of about forty
feet
Sails Up the Field
Then it swerved and turned in it's
course and sailed up the field, 1t
dipped gracefully up and down, at
tanning a height of sixty feet, and
then descended to between thirty and
forty feet Mr.. Wright thus twice cir
cled the field and then, stopping the
motor. brought the aeroplane directly
in front of the improvised grandstand,
which was filled with wildly cheering
spectators The descent was sure and
easy and was carried out with great
nicely without causing shock to either
the machine or it's operator.