Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-05-29
Norfolk. washington. New York. Lon

Il
woods were full Of them-the wood:
far away from the camp and from the
big sand dune. Not one Of these news.
paper men saw the machine fall
though they all saw it fly. Some OF
the widest accounts had been printed
in some Of the papers about this fly
Ii ing performance. A Norfolk paper
printed story that the Wrights had
the sea. The same paper after the
accident said that the Wrights had cut
their machine up into unrecognizable
splinters TO preserve their secret. The
newspaper men who saw it were at
least quarter Of q mile away. 1t is
but just to those who did see 1t and to
the profession generally to say that
Norfolk paper did not have a man on
the scene at all and the absurd stories
were evidently written by some expert
think artist in the home office. Other
wild stories were printed in other pa
pers.
The Wright brothers would not op-
crate their ma chime when any news
paper men were present. In order to
see it, they had to stand afar off, and
many humorous accounts of their ex-
periences were related. Some of these
experiences were not quite so humor-
Gus, though at the time. such as get
ting blistered in the sun, skinning their
shins climbing trees making a close
acquaintance with the enterprising
and distinguished Mr.. Chigoe, who In
habits the little patches Of woods all
long eight-mile flight, though, and
they learned from a reliable source
through a man who was there at the
time that one Of the Wrights pressed
the wrong lever Of the steering appa-
ratus, causing the machine to shoot
down instead of up. 1t shot into the
sand, and as the speed was something
like a mile a minute, great was the
fall thereof.
The flying machine consists Of two
horizontal oblong discs, or planes,
forty feet long, six and a half wide.
A propeller Is in the rear, run by a
gasoline engine set between the discs
or planes. There Is an arrangement
to steer by raising the edges Of the
planes, and by shifting the direction
of the propeller. The engine is twen-
ty-fve horsepower, and weighs 100
pounds. The whole machine when 1t
took it's long flight the other day
weighed, including the two men, LOO
pounds. There is no balloon or gas
bag attachment, nothing about the
whole thing which is lighter than air.
1t is maintained in the air on the
same principle exactly as a disc sail
ed by throwing it laterally into the
air. The disc you throw is held up by
the motion impaired in the throwing.
If this motion did not spend itself
against the resistance of the air and
gravity it would go on forever. Now,
what the Wright brothers have been
generator on the disc itself so that in
stead Of the one impulse given to 1t
at the start it shall have a continuous
force operating upon it.
Before putting motor on their
machine, the Wrights practiced for
years riding on ii as it was projected
into the air with one impulse given it
in starting They have been coming
down to Kill Devil Hill for seven
years, getting upon one Of these sand
dunes and gliding off on a simple lit
tie track made of two parallel planes.
BY climbing upon the top of the hill
and sliding down part the way they
would generate enough motion to sail
out into the air, and they would prac-
tice steering it in this way. When
they had become skillful in doing this
and had contrived a steering appara-
tus they made a gasoline engine and
continued the motion. For a long
time and until this year they would
lie down between the planes, but they
thought it would be better to sit up
And that was the principal thing they
went to their camp for this year, to
practice with the new steering appa-
ratus which had to be changed so
they could handle it sitting up. And
that was likewise the reason Of the
accident the other day. The steering
arrangement being changed, the posi-
tons of the levers were new to them
and by mistake one of them grabbed
hold of the wrong lever and shot
down instead Of up.
When they fly they keep very close
to earth. from fifteen tn twenty feet
all the time. The longest flight they
have yet made was made three years
ago at Dayton, Ohio, which was tWen-
ty-four miles. This distance they
made in thirty-eight minutes. They
flew eight miles the other day in about
nine minutes.
Now. this disc sailing principle
with the engine to impart continuous
force is all right, so far as it goes. But
suppose the engine should so wrong
or something should happen to the
propeller or other part of the appa-
ratus, what would happen? Would
the machine, men and all, like bird
shot i'm the wing come tumbling
down? There is where the danger
would seem to be, for it must be re-
membered that there Is no danger In
going up into the air, unless you go
pretty high up where the air Is very
rare and you might take cold or run
out of oxygen. The real danger In all
aeronautic performances is in coming
down. But a disc thrown into the air
after the manner so well known does
not come suddenly to the ground
when the original force impaired In
the throwing Is exhausted; 1t sails
slowly to the ground, This Is what
the planes would do, If the engine is
shut off it would have a certain
amount of momentum which it must
expend, and this it would do gradual
ly. and thus If the steering arrange
ment is properly manipulated the