The San Francisco call., 1909-10-17

of LiIienthal Mouillard and Chanute.
which adhered to soaring flight with
the application of gravity below the
wings, and then to a dihedral system
of construction, and Sir Hiram Maxim
with his power driven machine.
Later Lilienthal and Chanute sought
the solution of the question of equilib-
rum by balancing the machine with
the body
DEATH MARKED EARLY TRIALS
With the failure of the French ma
chine Alder and the resultant death of
Liiienthal. Chanute gave up the eH-
periments. but Langley continued his
experiments. The public. too. became
discouraged and the question of con-
quering the air with q heavier than air
machine was allowed to pass as one of
the things beyond the reach of man.
IT was only when the Wright
brothers took up experiments with the
aeroplane that this hope was revived,
and how well they have succeeded is
shown by their recent exploits
STARTED WITH TOY
In 1873 the Wright brothers were
the recipients of a simple little toy
called the "helicopter" constructed by
the elder Wright. This consisted of
light frame of cork and bamboo COW
cred with paper which formed two
screws driven in opposite directions by
rubber bands under torsion. This little
toy would fly to the ceiling like a bat.
Finding no aid from complied scien-
tifc data. il was necessary for the
/ Wrights TO solve every problem in
volved in the flying machine through
inventive genius. and this, coupled
with the ability TO solve scientific
problems. the result of a careful study
of various scientific works, evolved the
heavier than air machine that is daily
thrilling thousands and sending a
shiver down the spinal column of Brit
ish statesmen.
WRIGHTS STARTLE NATIVES
The Wright brothers began their
experiments in 1900 at Kitty Hawk
on the remote eastern coast of North
Carolina. The first question was the
solving of the problem of equilibrium,
which was attempted by adopting the
Lilienthal shape of surface, which was
a segment of a parabola.
Chanute joined them later and gave
aid on many knotty problems. But
the ideas of Lilienthal, Pitcher and
Chanute proved erroneous, and it was
not until machine had been evolved
on which it was possible to coast
down hill that any practical results
were accomplished.
FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT
The first flight was made down Kill
Devil hill (an appropriate name), a
distance of 800 feet While much had
been accomplished, the experiments
were abandoned until September. 1903.
when gliding flights were again in
dulged in and a distance of 600 feet
was covered against a wind velocity
of SO miles an hour. The same year
wright constructed a machine that re-
mained in the air one minute This.
was followed by the first power flyer
with their own data for making cal
culation and a system of balance effec-
tive in wind and calm a machine was
evolved that was capable of sustaining
a weight of 600 pounds, including the
aviator On December IT, 1903, the
flrst hight with this machine was made
1t lasted Il seconds. 1t was the first
time in the history of the world that
a machine carrying a man had raised
itself with its own power into the air
and sailed straight at an even speed
and landed without demolition.
The first successful flight was fol-
lowed by others, the fourth making
a record of SO seconds, during which
the aeroplane Travelled $50 feet against
a 90 mile wind This machine was
wrecked and experiments ceased until
1904. when the Wrights resumed at
Huffman prairie, near Dayton, Ohio.
DAWN OF A NEW ERA
The first flights at Huffman prairie
proved failures, and again doubt as
serted itself in the minds of those who
had witnessed the attempts Finally,
in 1904, a flight of six miles was ac-
complished It took until 1906 to over
come the remaining knotty problems.
Experiments ceased during the remain
der Of 1906 and all of 1907, but in 1908
were resumed at Kitty Hawk, N c.
1t was here that the Wright aero
plane that has been accepted as the
4 final solution of aerial navigation was
+ constructed. This embodied few
changes from the model of 1905, and
when the government announced that
( IL would purchase machine capable
/ of carrying two men and fuel sufficient
/ for fight of 125 miles at minimum