The Washington herald., 1909-07-02
AEROPLANE FLIES
FOR 22 MINUTES
Continued from Page One.

last fan In which Orville Wright was
severely injured and Lieut.. Selfridge
killed, had taken any OF the aviator's
nerve from him No indeed That was
no fault Of Orville's. 1t was due to a
mechanical accident. and hasn't affected
Orville's confidence In himself in any
way"
An eighteen-miIe wind that blew
across the parade ground early in the
afternoon gradually went down as the
hours wore on. until az $50 o'clock the
silver painted cups OF the anemOmeter.
or wind guage. on the roof OF the aero
plane shed were barely moving about
axis. registering breeze OF hardly more
than three miles an hour.
CavaIrymen Trotted Ont.
A few minutes later a mounted guard
OF cavalrymen trotted out on the field.
deployed in single line, and commenced
getting the crowd back TO the side lines.
Mai. Foltz. who is In charge OF the po-
Icing OF the grounds. directed the opera
ton with something IN his hand that
looked like a red feather duster. To the
undisciplined and irTeverent eye Il was
evident whether Il was a sign OF author
ity or 10 keep or the flies.
By that time about ! 800 men and vvom-
en- were there The hyer was pushed out
OF the shed BY the men OF the Signal
Corps and wheeled up the field to the
starting derrick, where IL was adjusted
over the monoran. The lines running TO
the 1,4OO-pound weight. the fan OF which
was TO give the machine its initial mo-
mentum. were connected. and the men IN
khaki uniforms, leaning forward against
the pull walked back with the end OF
the rope The weight rose slowly, while
the machine was held in place by wires
running down 10 the track, connected
10 a release mechanism operated from the
seat OF the flyer.
Wilbur Wright. al one propeller. and
Charles Taylor. the mechanician. at the
other. gave a downward heave 70 crank
the engine With a blare OF metal
throsted explosions the motor sprang
into life. and the propeller blades ripped
through the air IN a dim gray circle Or
vile touched the spark contr~' advanc-
ing Il a trife. and giving a little more
power than was used in the unsuccess-
ful fight OF Wednesday. The explosions
accelerated until they made an almost
continuous roar. Orville climbed into the
seat. worming hts way IN under Two
wires that crossed IN front 0f him.
Everything WIS ready. The men Of
the Signal Corps stepped back leaving
only Wilbur Wright there, standing tense.
with a hand on the right wing Tip or
vile glanced al him. The older brother
nodded his head and at the nod Orville
reached down for the releasing lever.
Made "A Leap Forward
With sudden rush the winged thing
leaped forward Faster and faster Il
sped down the track. until az the end II
seemed 10 exert not feathers weight
on the rail. II flew out over the ground.
barely a foot above the grass For sew
enty-fve feet its rise was almost imper-
/ eeptible.
Then il lifted It's head, rose for a few
feet, and went on Another lift took il
fifteen feet from the ground Suddenly,
with a rush Of confidence. II struck its
pace. and swept upward IN q steady slant
20 a height Of fortF feet There IL was
/ content TO stay. and seeing that it had
again found It's element, the crowd broke
/ into cheers OF delight. and automobile
horns lent their toots Of approval and
men and women cIapped their hands.
Just before reaching the southern end
OF the field the machine seemed 10 veer
dangerously, and the spectators caught
/ their breath At the curve 10 the left
( the inner wing tip swayed FAR dawnward-
AT the same time the speed lesscned. and
l Il seemed for a moment that Orville did
not have all the control he wanted OF the
seroplane. which had sunk 10 level
about fifteen feet from the ground. Again
the forward planes were slanted upward
and the machine responded i rose in
the air again. and at no time after that
was there any doubt Of its ability 20 stay
up.
As the machine swept back up the field
| toward the spectators II looked rs II
Ory-iUe intended 70 make the turn or the
north side OF the derrick directly over
| the heads Of half a hundred privileged
/ spectators inside the rope. There was an
[ involuntary rush % get back out Of he
way. With another dipping of the inner
-ing tin the m1f hlne was frous1t
around In turn that seemed marvel
cus'v small. rushed across the Held d.
rett;v in front Of the crowd. clipped CIose
/ 70 the derrick. turned and WIS 0n down
/ the parade ground again, the roar Of she
uot0r going down the scale As the dis
lance increased
| We'll there IS no doubt about its be-
1 ing q real flying machine said spec
tator. And that was about the size Of H.
Close to the Ground.
Five times the aeroplane made the CIR
cult. the noise coming and going, while
this thing OF white SCARED In gentle un-
dulations and a big shadow raced under
/ it along the ground. On the sixth lap
/ OrviUe brought the flyer close TO the
ground. so close that at one point the
dust was seen 10 fiy up into the air from
the rush OF the lower wing tip. AS the
machine came back Orville lowered it
gently until it was almost sweeping the
grass.
! Then he reached up and pulled a cord.
shutting on the engine. Instant silence
took the place Of the roar. The runners
slid down into the dust, the machine tee
tered fore and aft couple OF times. and
then rested quietly For the nrst time in
the afternoon Orville heard the shouts OF
acclaim that had been drowned for him
while the engine was in operation. The
/ flight started at 6:13 and ended az Sis
/ There was no way Of telling exactly
! how high a speed was reached. and VIII
! bur did not care 10 estimate it. II is
/ probable. however. that the aerOplane
was travelling at the rate Of about thirty
eight miles an hour.
The engine was not touched between
the first and second flights. The second
was commenced at 6.42. The getaway
was perfect, and II was seen that Orville,
who has not been in flyer since his ac-
cident last fall, was rapidly getting the
feel Of the machine. The swaying was
almost entirely eliminated For hundreds
of wards the craft scared through The air
with hardly noticeable deviation.
/ This time eight circuits were made. and
/ the machine was brought 10 the ground
] q counla Of hnnArAa faat shnrt Of the