The Washington herald., 1908-08-22
THREE TRIPS IN AIR
Signal Corps Officers Are In,
Structed by Baldwin.
ALL THE FLIGHTS SUCCESSFUL
Lfeuts. Lahm. FOUIois, and Seifridge
Rapidly Becoming Proficient in
the Handling of the DirIgibIe Re-
Gently Purchased by the Govern
ment for Use in the Army.

! IIeuts I.ahm. FouIoIs and SeIfride
made three successful flights In the Bald
win dirigible at Fort Myer yesterday aft
/ ernoou-
I The ascenSIOus were Witnessed by Gen
Allen. Chief Signal Corps officer and a
party Of friends in an automobile. Cen
Allen was pleased with the trial spins
made by members Of his branch Of the
military establishment Several times the
dirigible passed dierrtly over the auto
mobile Gen. Allen saluted the Ieuten-
ants IN the air cruiser. and smiled with
satisfaction.
I Orvils Wright. who invented an aero
plane with -hc collaboration Of his brotaer
Wilbur. arrived at Fort Myer yestrrt7y,
and was an interested spectator of The
three flights
That's a fine machine. and performs
well" said AIr Wright. when asked what
he thought Of the invention which the
[ government has purchased from Capt
Baldwin.
Ideal weather Conditions.
Weather conditions were almost ideal
/ yesterday evening. and shortly after the
[ arrival Of Instructor Baldwin tie third
lesson was begun Lieut. Lahm. ranking
officer among the pupils ordered tie en-
listed men q initiate che dirigible with
the reserve supply OF gas in the lemon
. shaped auxiliary balloon. and atterwari
the dlrlglbIe was t0w-d from the tent
some time was spent I'm getting tEe en-
gine ia working order one of the leu
tenants had been r.aksrirg with the car
Fburetors. and the performance oS the
motor had been adjusted properly. Lieut.
F0uIoIs took his seat behind u. while
Lieut. I-anm was assigned 90 tie rudder
bv Capt baldwin
The e-St ficat was entirely satisfac-
tory. although -He enthusiastic young Of
dc-rs were a triGe GOO high Co slate Capt
Baldwin. Th- inventor was unable 90
make tae officers hear Lim through
ueEaphaur. he finally seized tae aras
rope and pulled Vigorously This -f-
Itraerei -E- attention ~ Lieut. Fa-.alS
and be- pointed the forward steering
planes @ ur- and the machine descended.
More trouble was experienced il start
trg the engine. I-- wien O. was lu con-
dit.uu again and r.- ignition was perfect.
tile same officers a-raul-l and made t-e
best fight of their carer ass ae-gl-lts.
They sHEfvI 81 feet iU --- asr and circle.
around the outer edges % -Ha parade
EFt.af-fl- I..a N"a-.a fa.....
has developed into r~----'1s- helms
man. and Capt Baldwin sl.u---l Hlu
VII. praise Lieut.. FauIa.s has become
SD expert az the engine that no -la.s--
ness whatever IS lel- when La is .- -H-
front end of the a.r vessel T1aGt self
ridge has achieved success iI both ends
o- tile ship and as an aI---.Gul 5.riElale
man he has f=w equals among amateurs.
Went In for speed
Tie third rIEu- was made with Lieut.
|S-lfridge a- tie engine and Lieut. LaHu
IN the rear. TIE engine was r-uel Up %
high pitch. and the officers went .u f1-
speed This was the -sae-st flight - the
cav. and one Of tle most successful
Lieut. Ialu st---aE -le balloon OF the
parade grounds for the first time since lt
was accepted Hv the government TIE or
f-crs sailed over the wau tent 10 which
the balloon Is kept. and did not change
.r.g direction OF the Gl-Tgll-- until -N--
were above the pistol target range This
much CT the trip was aEa.-Sr The wind.
Lieut. Lahm kept "a tight grip on tie t.I-
Ter -oQ=s. and had the dir.s-his under
absolute control rrrE-E E.0ur the yaya Ee
When -he balloon YVES headed back to-
ward the parade grounds. Lieut. Sa,fri5Es
Increased the speed. and rE- machine
Travelled ar a rate Of about sixteen miles
LHrs- LIT SEEHEl4 'laH-l.t--.Le
When the dI-iglbIe descended. Capt
Baldwin said there was little LEFT f0r HIN
. 20 teach the three officers u is not u--
likely Ee wfII conclude IFS course % In
I stru-tiors this afternoon or on Monday.
: as the Iieuteuacts know bow 20 initiate
the balloon. repair the engine. obtain
proper balance. and are rapidly qualify
ing as expert ravlgatCrs OF tie air
Give Reception Tonight.
; This evening al S o'clock the Washing
E ton uewspaper men who have been Gov
ering-' the balloons ascersious in the
last three weeks. VIII give banquet
FL Capt Ba1dwiu's honor a. the Nl-
tIonaI Press club. 1915 F street north
west. The guests Of honor viii De Capt
Baldwin Gen. Allen. Maj. Squisr. Capt
( Wallace. Lieut. Lahm. Lieut. Foul1is.
r and Lieut. Selfridge. Augustus Post, sec
reta-y Of the Aero Club of America, Dr.
Albert ZaEul. OF the Catholic University;
OrvuIe Wright. Lincoln Bearhey. and sev-
eraI other men prominent in the aero
' nautical world The banquet viii begin
at s O'Clock
If You. Are Resident
OF the westerly end Of Mount Pleasant
and are without a phone. You can leave
I your want ads for The Washington Her
.