Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-21
SEEN FROM STAR BUILDING.
Orville Wright's Machine Resembles
Giant BuZzard in Sky.

Orville Wright could be plainly seen
yesterday afternoon, in the course OF his
| record breaking flight over the Fort Myer
parade ground, from the upper windows
of The Evening Star building. distance
of about three miles. Without the aid OF
glasses the aeroplane could be followed
in its course throughout the fight.
Owing to the height at which the trial
was maintained ii appeared as though the
aviator was circiing ABOUT over the top
of the Arlington grove. On the north
ward flight, on the east side of the
ellipse described by the machine, the APP
paratus was distinctly a bit of mechan-
ism, but when Wright was going down
the parade ground to the south, on the
west side. his biplane was strongly sug-
gestive of great buZZard wheeling
swiftly over the tops of the trees.
On the turns, when the machine was
travelling: toward or away from the OBJ
server. it was almost lost to sight. there
| being no flat surfaces to see. AS the
time passed and the dusk deepened it be-
| machine completely fading for fractions
| of second from time to time in the hazy
air of the evening.
Nothing could more distinctly emphasize
the remarkable achievement of human
| flight by means of a heavier-than-air
machine than this three-mile view. There
was no suggestion of apparatus or of hu-
man mechanism. Over the tops of the
| trees scared the black speck, in almost a
| uniform course. reaching about the SAINT
point on both the northern and southern
turns at each round of the parade ground
+! When finally, just before the close of the
| fight, the aviator turned his machine
| toward the earth, apparently in prepara-
tion for his landing, he disappeared be-
| meath the tops of the trees. strongly sus-
10 perch upon a limb. But the machine
| did not entirely disappear. for after a
| few seconds it could be seen gliding uI
( on the far side of the elliptical course
| Just pickering out of the tree tops. An.
| other short turn and then the aviator
could be noted making his slant for a
| safe landing.
| Those watching from The Stars win
| doWs could imagine the cheers greeting
Wright as he slided to the ground. 1t
! was evident from even the distant point
| OF view that he had made a record flight.
| for although the earlier circles were not
| plainly visible owing to the lower alti-
! tude at which he flew. he had been visible
! for more than an hour when he finally
| slanted down beneath the tree tops.
| 1t is probable that the Wright flights
| at height of seventy-five feet above the
| parade ground can be seen from any point
| n the District from Which the Arlington
mansion is visible. With the aid of q
glass it is quite likely that even at five
| miles distant. or possibly farther, these
remarkable experiments can be observed.
The speed of the machine. yesterday es-
timated at over forty miles an hour, can
be cas- ly appreciated when viewed from
a distance, perhaps more so than when
the spectator is Immediately beneath the
aviator. The great apparatus scars ST.
lently over the trees. swiftly eating up
the distance much after the fashion of a
railroad train watched from afar off. The
course over what appears as the top of
Arlington mansion occupies only the frac-
ton of a second Another interesting aspect
of the d slant observation is the thought
| Impressed upon the observer of the diff
Guilty attending defensive operations
against the aeropiane of the future used
| in warfare. 1t will obviously be an eX-
ceedingly difficult mark for even an eN-
pert rifcman.