Omaha daily bee., 1909-07-03

that lined the sides Of the ~aerodrome.
cheered heartily. Down the field the aero
plane sailed. curved gracefully about the
lower end and back up the east side of the
field, along the edge OF Arlington ceme-
terry.
The machine seemed to be behaving
beautifully. Mr.. Wright was making very
short turns, but as he seemed to regain
the familiarity with the ground over which
he was travelling he increased the radius
Of his trips about the field. The first round
was made in fifty seconds. Five times the
machine skirted the field. attaining a height
which varied from fifteen to thirty feet.
On the sixth round Mr.. Wright came to
earth within a few hundred feet Of the
starting point. completing the flight in five
minutes. The landing was perfect, the
machine swooping down in successive
glides until within a few feet Of the earth,
when Orville pulled the string which stops
his motor, and the aeroplane gndcd
smoothly over the grass on It's skids until
IL came to a stop. The machine was re-
turned to the starting apparatus, while
the two brothers held a consultation. Again
the aeroplAne was placed in position, the
motor was tested and another flight was
essayed.
Rises to Greater HeiRAt.
The start was as successful as the first
In the second flight orvnle made much
wider turns and rose to q greater height
II was evident that Wilbur had cautioned
him to do so. The elder brother watched
every detail Of the flight with care. The
machine encircled the field with ease and
, grace. responding readily to the aviator's
guiding hand. Mr.. Wright approached
dangerously near the starting tower and
flew within a few feet of the stables which
line the field on the west.
II WAS noticed that at times the motor
skipped, but this seemed to have no erect
| upon the progress of the aeroplane' Ehe
starting rail runs downward into a little
hollow in the field and whenever the
aeroplane passed over this hollow IT dipped
noticeabIy and whenever 1t passed over a
vacant space between two of the stables
II was seen to rise as though on a billow
OF air. 1t was also noticed that there
was a tendency to approach nearer the
earth whenever the machine flew along
the east side of the field. which is bor-
dered by large, thickly foliaged trees in
Arlington cemetery. But all these atmos-
pheric conditions were easily overcome by
clever manipulation of the levers.
on his second Tight Orville made nine
rounds of the field in a few seconds less
than eight minutes. He made another
graceful landing, but flew close to the
ground for some time before stopping his
motor and descending.
The machine was again returned 10 the
starting rail at 7 o'clock.
Stays AIOft Nine Minutes.
In his last flight Orvilie remained aloft
for q few seconds more than ninO minutes,
and enaircled the field nine and q half
ines. For one complete round he flew
very close to the ground, evidently pre-
pairing to land. This he did within 200
feet Of tho aeroplane shed. During this
last flight he went higher than On his
previous trials. reaching a height of forty
feet. Just before making his landing, the
left wing scraped the ground and raised
a cloud of dust, but Mr.. Wright con-
tinued to fly half way around the field
before descending at the point he had pre-
viously decided upon for a landing place.
Orville FASTENED to the shed. and Wilbur
acted as spokesman. He said that the
flights were very satisfactory to them, al
though they would make a number Of ad-
ditlonal preliminary flights before essaying
the official trials.
How are you satisfied with today's show
ing?' Mr.. Wright was asked by . by
stander
III we couldn't do any better, I would
say that l was very we'll satisfied" was
his confident reply. I'VE didn't make any
changes in the motor for today's trial, 4"
he continued. we only advanced the
spark somewhat. We are not using the
full power that our motor is capable Of
developing"
Mr.. Wright would not estimate the speed
at which the aeroplane travelled, and the
length Of the flights could not be ac-
curately determined. Major Squire ex-
pressed the opinion that the rounds on the
first flight were approximately half a mile
in length. As the machine made the
rounds in fifty seconds each. it probably
was travelling at a speed Of from thirty
six TO thirty-eight miles an hour.