Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-29

speed. turned up his elevating planes and,
rising superbly, headed toward the west
ern edge of the aerodrome. Turning to the
left, he made a wide sweep of the field.
and, coming around to the southern end of
the island, headed over Buttermilk chan
mel, going toward Brooklyn. AS soon as
he was out over the water he turned north
and circled the island, being lost from
view of the spectators behind a clump of
trees. He reappeared on the outer side of
Castle William and made a complete circle
in the southern half of the aerodrome be-
fore coming around a second time very
close to the earth.
When about to land the left wing tip
scraped the sand and whirled the ma
chine around SO that it landed sidewise
on the skids
That's the worst landing I've made
try anything like it again. said the
aviator. Il thought surely the machine
would be smashed to pieces. 1t is the
only machine in the world that would
stand such bad landing"
Throughout the flight was character
istically Wright flight. The machine
gained an altitude of 80 to 100 feet at
certain points, but flew on an average
forty feet high When at right angles
to the wind it listed somewhat, and
there were fluctuations which tended
to show that the operator had good
control and was meeting with effect the
puffy gusts of wind.
Flows the GoingP" Asks Curtiss.
There were marked differences in the
manner the Curtiss and the Wright ma
chimes behaved Curtiss flew on an even
keel and with less movement from side
to side. The Wright aeroplane when
taking curves heeled over like an au-
tomobile rounding a banked track. 1t
also flew somewhat faster than the
CurtisS machine.
After Wright had inspected his aero
plane to see if it had suffered any dam
age. Curtiss, who. had reached the field as
Wright came to earth. greeted his rival
familiarly and asked him:
"How's the going this morning."
Very good. responded the Dayton
aviator. but l made very bad landing.
Conditions for flying improved as the
day advanced and crowd gathered at
the Battery and boats surrounded Gov
ernors Island in expectation or further
exhibitions.
After Tightening the wires and screws OF
his aeroplane and shifting the starting
rail so that it faced directly against the
wind, Mr.. Wright made another flight,
during which he crossed the lower bay
and passed around the Statue of Liberty.
He started on his flight at 1O:1S O'Clock
ami finished in 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
/ While returning from the statue. with
the wind behind him, he made approx
Heads Across the Water.
| In starting, the machine went along the
monorail for the entire distance of 1855
feet, and then turned upward. Ascending
| as he circled about, Mr.. Wright headed
his machine directly toward the Statue
of Liberty. At height of thirty feet he
| flew directly over the water with the
! wind coming slightly over the port side.
| In cHr annrO2rho0
| the Jersey shore, and had attained the
! height of 100 feet when he began his
turn to the southwark to pass around the
| statue He was fully $50 feet in the air
when he headed for the starting point on
! Governors Island.
| Coming with the speed of an express
train. the aeroplane was only ten or fif-
| teen feet from the ground when II
reached the aerodrome. Amid the cheers
| of the soldiers, guests and newspaper
| men, Mr. Wright brought his machine
head-up to the wind and made a perfect
! landing.
| Il guess l made fifty miles an hour
coming back" he said: He had taken ei
using the force Of gravity In coming
down from a height of 40 feet. He had
made his return trip in. almost one-hali
the time that it took him to go over to
the Statue of Liberty.
Will Overhaul His Machine.
After his flight Mr.. Wright said he
would thoroughly overhaul his machine
before taking it into the air again. II
the good conditions which prevailed this
morning continue this afternoon Mr.
Wright will make the hour flight which
is stipulated in his contract with the Hud'
| SON Fulton celebration commission. Five
minutes after Mr.. Wright had landed
| the giant steamer Lusitania crossed un.
| der the course which Mr.. Wright had
! taken in his fight.
During the entire time that Mr. Wright
was in the air the craft on the lower bay
blew their whistles. Mr.. Curtiss will fl
his machine with a new propeller, but
| expects to make another flight today.