The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1909-10-15
.AWTATORS WILL /
SOAR LIKE BIRDS
WILBUR WRIGHT GIVES FIRST
REAL INTERViEW-TALKS AT
LENGTH TO WRITER.
TALKS OF AERoPLANEs
In Simple Phrases the conqueror Of
the Air Tells How He Succeeded
and Why-Telling Of the Advantage
Of His Machine.

To the public at large the Wright
machine and its simple mechanism
has been hidden mystery. Its very
simplicity has been charged with the
mysterious, to the layman mind. Re-
porters have We'd with each other in
vain to penetrate the Wright mind
and extract from the Wright voice
the intimate details of his aeroplane,
and particularly his own opinion as to
its achievements and future possibili-
ties. What is in the mind of Wilbur
Wright and what he himself thinks
of his own work has not hitherto been
revealed to the public. Inspired by
the spirit OF the Hudson-Fulton cele-
bration, and by the few VINO have been
closely in touch with him during his
almost close confinement on Cover
nor's island, has opened his mind on
tie question of aerial flight and his
own accomplishments in this line as
never before
DO you think any of the machines
that have been built in Europe are
equal to your own aeroplane?" he was
asked.
NO" with drawn, tense lips, Mr..
Wright remarked significantly, with
semi-amused expression on his face.
They have all copied us as much as
they could, but as yet they still use
twice the power. and even then they
are not able to produce results equal
to ours"
Much surprise was expressed in this
country because the Wright machine
WI m hn NJ hai
Mr.. Wright's attention was called 10
this fact, and he was asked why he
had not been successful against the
other aviators.
IF l wanted to build a machine for
racing would build one different from
the one which | have here, and-I
think / shall probably do so in few
years." he remarked "The type we
have now is not designed for racing
purposes. Our machine is designed
for general, practical use. 1t is not
freak machine emphatically empha-
sizing the fact that his machine was
not Of the racing class or built with
that view.
In view Of the recent accidents 10
! Selfridge and Lefebvre, who were
! killed, Mr.. Wright was questioned as
| W NhtlnSI lilb pc vi
not equally unsafe, If not more So
than other aeroplanes, and whether
or not the chances which he took
were not equally as great as those
which cost the lives of other daring
aviators.
NO." he answered, in his quiet, eff
! fective manner, the control of our
machine Is so perfect that unless care
| l.. I1fa
unforeseen, which is carelessness, no
accident can happen to our machine.
The Selfridge accident was due to the
structural defect of the propeller,
which should have been foreseen; the
Lefebvre accident to unwarranted
carelessness."
''In view of the universal interest
in your machine, would you give some
details as to the structure and mechan-
ism upon which you rely for efficiency
and safety of your machine, or for
the great efficiency which you claim?"
Then followed a series of talks with
Mr.. Wright-who never has given a
detailed explanation OF his aeroplane
lin which he revealed all OF the
crucial points of the Wright machine,
the theories upon which he has
worked, and he gave this technical
and general explanation in a very
simple and clear way.
Our machine is superior to all 9TH
ers," he said. The Wright biplane Is
efficient not only in its economic use
of power, but also in its maneuvering
qualities The biplanes of Voisin and
Farman are about the same size as
ours. II is noticeable, however, that
they use double the power and travel
at less speed. In flight, the Voisin
and Farman are sluggish, slow, and
lacking in precision Of movement
while the Wright is the true bird,
quick in its action, maneuvering with
promptness."