Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-04
fly WHY, OF COURSE
OrviIIe Wright EIectrifies Army
Officers With Feat.
STAYS UP OVER A MINUTE
Maximum Height Reached Is Thirty
Five Feet.
COMES DOWN RATHER HARD
Runner Is Smashed, But Can Easily
Be Mended-Fort Myer
Field Too Small.

Orville Wright yesterday afternoon
made his first trial fight in his aeroplane
at Fort Myer He was in the air
minute and ten seconds. travelled, rough
ly speaking a mile and a quarter. and
circled the parade ground once and
half His maximum height was about
thirty-five feet. The landing was little
rough. and one of the runners of the
machine was smashed. but the aeronaut
was unhurt and the army officers who
witnessed the test were delighted with
the performance.
All day had been spent in preparations
and i'm waiting for favorable wind con-
ditionS. There was a ffteen-mile wind
blowing in the middle of the day, and
while this would not have been enough
to have prevented a fight under ordinary
conditions. it was blowing down the
track in the direction the plane would
go. This was directly opposed to ideal
conditions. the aviator always wants
to rise in the face of the wind He
was particularly anxious too that this
first flight should be a success. for the
eyes of the army and. indeed, the whole
world, were on him. and it would have
made a bad impression to have bungled
the first public flight of one of the Wright
machines in America.
plane WAS drought out Oh tie Dbl
loon tent about ) o'clock and placed on
the starting rail. The machine rested on
the tiny wheels not more than two inches
in diameter.
1t was brought up to the head of the
starting track and the weight that gives
1t its impetus was raised. Then the motor
was started and whirred loudly for a
minute or two. Then something went
wrong and the poser was cut off and
Taylor. the mechanic, was sent on IA run
70 ha1 for for h
that was wanted in the adjustment. He
came back on the run and the motor was
started again.
People in the Way.
The signal service officers had warned
back the crowd to a semi-circle behind
the machine and four or five hundred
people lined the .curving road. all curious,
some skeptical. Few except the signal
officers and few scientists who had gone
over to New York for the Farman flights
had ever seen an aeroplane in the air.
The photogra pliers. who were out in force,
were the hardest to keep under control
They wanted to get the machine in
flight from the front. Mr.. Wright eX-
planned as patiently as he could that 1t
was bad enough to work with crowd
! around him. but that anybody In front of
| him was not only likely TO get Killed, but
| interfered with the attention he must de-
| vote To the machine.
| After almost an hour the motor was
| startetd on its final whirl. 1t had to be
started from storage battery. When
| Il had picked up speed the magnetic was
switched in. There was an instant S heS-
| tation as the machine picked up the new
| firing device, and then IL settled down 10
| a steady roar, the gray propellers max
| ing about zoo revolutions to the engine
| LOO.
| Mr.. Wright tossed the batteries from
| under the vibrating machine and climbed
/ into the drivers seat. At a scarcely per-
| ceptible nod the trigger OF the starting
| device was sprung The weights came
taneously the big silver ami white bird
| jumped down the fifty-foot starting track.
| The start was SO easy and smooth that 1t
| is doubtful if one person in a hundred or
| the crowd could say Just when the ma
| chine left the rails and when II was
! travelling under its own power.
Crowd Holds It's Breath.
There was just an instant of suspense
| as the big bird took the air. quick as the
| flash of camera shutter in fact, but
| seemingly drawn out several seconds.
| Would il rise. or wouldn't it? For hun
dred feet or SO il brushed the TOP of the
/ weeds in the field as the momentum of
| the weights died out and the engine power
was taking hold Then the propellers be-
/ gan to get IN their work. The forward
edges of the planes dug irto the air and
| the machine began to climb. The slope
| OF the ground favored the flight and Il
| quarter of the way down the feld 10 the
| balloon tent it was seen that the heav er
! than air machine was really in the air
and travelling.
There was "A long in-drawn breath from
| the crowd. more eloquent than cheer.