The Washington herald., 1909-07-31
ORVILLE WINS
IN SPEED TEST
Continued from Page One.

Taken from the shed.
When the wind dropped TO the eight !
mile point shortly after o'clock. the |
order was given for the removal OF the |
biplane from the shed to the starting /
derrick. 1t was wheeled out turned |
around. and pushed up the field by the /
'huslSies" OF the Signal Corps Almost |
Immediately after the machine came
OrviIle. and after him Miss Wright and |
her friends.
Oryine was as calm as ever, and might !
as well have been preparing for simple !
flight OF a few turns about the parade |
ground. Considerably later up walked !
Wilbur and Lieut.. Foulois. side by side |
Lieut.. Foulois, IN addition to filing the
position OF one Of the first two men to /
make such a flight as that contemplated. /
had had charge OF the Signal Corps end |
Of the preparations.
FOuIOis Kept Busy.
He had seen 10 Il that the balloons used |
as markers had been sent Up into the
air, and that proper measures had been |
taken for receiving the messages over
the Signal Corps telephone wire from
Shooters Hill.
parent in his manner. although It should
not be called nervousness, but an appre-
citation OF the novelty OF HIS coming ex-
perience. He was dressed in HIS regular
khaki uniform. with a soft tan shirt,
puttees, and service cap. This cap ne
removed several times while the prelimi
nary operations were on and smoothed
his hair carefully.
BY this time the crowd had seen that
the speed flight was about TO be at
tempted, and was leaning forward tense
ly, catching every move that was made
about tho biplane. Off to the south. three
miles away, the first OF the two small
cylindrical balloons could be seen. look
ing like a short, Fat. yellow pencil
against the sky. Two miles further away
against the SKY fiuttered the other bal
loon. visible only now and then with the
naked eve.
Country Is Rough.
These tiny spots marked the course the
flyer was TO take.
Beneath the line running through them
was country Of the toughest scrt. Ridges
and gullies followed each other con-
tinuously, with the comparatively level
and open spaces bearing about the rela-
ton Of a lead pencil dot to a sheet OF
paper. Trees reared their lofty tips from
the bottom OF valleys so deep that the
tips OF the trees were invisible 200 feet
away.
From Fort Myer the unevenness OF the
topography could only be guessed at
One ridge Of trees showed plainly a mile
and half away. Beyond that was an
other .1dge-the jumping-or place at
-Four Mile Run--showed pale blue In the
distance Another faint line against the
sky. beyond that the tiny pin point OF
the farther balloon against the clouds,
and nothing was left but the miles-deep
/ oblivion OF atmosphere. Into that the
Wright bi-plane was 20 stick SIS inqulsi-
tive nose with two human beings aboard.
Carried American Flag.
The Signal Corps men adjusted the
machine over the monorau The wind
had died down 10 a light breeze. which
itself was falling rapidly. on the for
ward planes OF the flyer hung a small
American flag. limp In the air. There
is a story connected with that flag
A couple OF days ago, when the speed
flight was expected, and the biplane was
still resting down at the she'd a small
boy walked UP TO Orville Wright. hold
ing the little red, white, and blue thing
out In front Of him.
Here. Mr.. Wright" he said won't
you take this and stick It up on your
flying machine?" he asked.
Orviue took the bit OF cloth. went into
the shed, and placed It securely in the
middle OF the upper forward plane
where It should be the first part OF the
machine to feel the effect OF the atmos-
phere.
Flag a Good Omen.
That day and Thursday the little Amer
lean flag almost tapped It's stitches loose
in the winds that blew. But yesterday.
as the machine stood poised over the
monorail, the breeze barely moved It's
| fclds-and the omen was good.
Wilbur and Orviue Wright seemed IN
usually talkative-among themselves. that
! is They seemed to be coaching each
/ other For let it not be thought that
| they were entirely unconcerned with the
/ thing they were doing. 1t was Here.
/ Orve." this, and Look, Wilbur" that,
while the preparations were made.
For the space OF fifteen minutes Or
/ VILE stood within the braces Of the ma
chine. looking off II the south at the tiny
spots OF balloons. and now and then
| turning his face 10 feel the wind. which
! was blowing almost from the west. lit
tie from the south II was not from a
/ favorable direction. but It was saved by
its comparative lack OF force.
Engine Is Started.
At e:37 o'clock Wilbur and the mechani-
clan, Charles Taylor, went back to the
propellers and ''cranked" the engine The
gasoline charges exploded. the wooden
blades cut the air IN two almost invisible
circles. and the grass Jared back in the
| sudden blast OF wind. Wilbur stood there.
holding his hat on his head with one
hand. He seemed to glory In the gale.
/ Every ounce OF pressure in the air cur
rent meant more power in the machine
| engine and the engine was the deep
/ artery OF the biplane. AS Wilbur stood
there his coat and trousers Tapped In the
gale, the soft band Of his straw hat fat
ened against the crown. and his figure
swayed slightly back and forth.
In the meantime Orville was standing at
the front of the biplane attending TO the
engine. He had little to do. however, as
the motor was working in perfect shape.
| without a break IN the steady. raucous
drumming Of the explosions Then he
cut the engine off. and the order was
given to the Signal Corps men to raise
the 1.5G5-pOund weight used. the fan Of
which was 10 give the machine it's initial
impulse.
OrviIIc Takes His Seat.
Immediately Lieut.. Foulois climbed into
hts seat next to the engine leaving the
outer seat for Orville. He was then in
the exact center Of gravity Of the blplane,
so that his presence there did not affect
the equilibrium at ALL The engine was
started again. Orville climbed into his
place. touched the spark control, acceler-
ated the speed of the motor, and settled
bir,seif firmly