Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-07
FLY THIS EVENING MAYBE
ENGINE OF BALDWIN AIRSHIP
OUT OF ORDER YESTERDAY.
Aeroplane Inventors Will Congre-
gate at Fort Myer Soon for
Heavier-Than-Air Tests.

Minor alterations and repairs in the
Baldwin airship prevented flight yes
terday at Fort Myer but there is every
prospect that the ship will be in work
ing order for a spin this evening. The
trouble was with the long engine shaft,
The new shaft ordered from Hammonds-
port had not arrived yesterday after
noon. but it probably will be adjusted to-
day There was trouble also with the
sparkling arrangement, and Mr. Curtis
was seated all the morning on the floor
of the balloon tent playing solitaire with
a pile of storage batteries, testing each
one to get the best combination for the
spark coil. The rudder and the vertical
steering planes have also been enlarged
so that the ship will be under the best
possible control
Asked how soon speed trial would
be made. Mr.. Curtiss replied that the
makers wanted to have everything in the
hest possible order before taking the
least chance on long fight. AS he put
it. You would not want to swim a wide
river the first time you had been in the
water. That is more or less the position
we are in with this new ship
Experts on the Ground
There were several distinguished Wis
itors yesterday at the balloon tent. One
was Prof. Henry Clayton of the Blue
Hill. Mass. observatory. He has made
number of ascensions and has done
much in the way of scientific experiments
to help aeronautcs. He is the inventor
of the Blue Hill box kite and his kite
flying experiments have made him widely
known in aero circles.
Two very interested visitors were the
Z u
who were the makers of the fabric from
which Capt. Baldwins balloon is fash
Toned. They have made large number
of balloons and have never seen an as
cension. Being personal friends of Capt.
Baldwin, they have been much interested
in the performance of the dirigible and
came down from New York to see the
flight
Roy knabenshue. who saw the Wright
brothers machine in Dayton as he came
through on his way to Washington. says
that the machine will be here early next
week. Orville Wright will operate it and
the chances are that the brothers will
try to make simultaneous flights I'm Fort
Myer and Paris. Wilbur Wright now
being in France with the machine the
brothers are trying to sell to the French
government
There seems to be a good deal of jeal-
ousy among the heavisr-than-air experts,
and Henry Farman. who is now in this
fail both here and abroad He says that
the government requirements are ridicu-
1ous and cannot be met by any machine
now made He says also that the An
tionette motor that Wilbur Wright has
installed in the French machine is q
tricky engine and that Wright will not
be able to master 1t.
Just a Little One.
Some of the aeronauts who have been
recently at Herrings workshop in New
York say that he is busy day and night
on his machine and is sure Of having 1t
on the ground by August l3 the time
specified in his contract for it's presenta-
ton. They say that he is liable to pack
it up in a dress suit case and bring 1t
down to Washington the night before the
trial. OF course this is not the case but
it Is said to be remarkably small plane
for man-carrying machine, and has two
engines. either one of which one man can
easily lift.
Everybody interested in the Fort Myer
tests expressed great satisfaction over the
popular subscription that is being raised
in Germany to help out Count Zeppelin.
The disaster to his airship was taken
here as serious blow to aeronautics In
spite of the fact that it leaves the United
States much nearer the front in aerial
navigation than it was before the dis
aSter.