The Washington herald., 1909-07-22
MY GEAR HELPS
AEROPLANE'S SPEED
0TYilleF FlieSat Rate OF Forty.
five Miles an Hour.
DEFIES A TEN-MILE BREEZE
Sister of WriEhts Arrives and Sees
First Public Flight by OrviIIe.
Distinguished Party at Fort Myer
90 Witness Tests Under NeT Con-
ditioIs-Win soon Take Passenger.

A clean leap from forty-one miles an
hour o. forty-fye miles an hour was made
in the speed Of the Wright aeroplane at
Fort Myer yesterday afternoon. Orville
also sent il swishlng around the parade
ground fdr eleven minutes in a ten-mIle
breeze.
Miss katherine Wright. sister OF the
aviators. arrived early IN the afternoon
from Dayton. and for the first time saw
Orville make public flight. As the
legend runs. IL was she who dug into the
bank account she had saved as a school
teacher and gave her Two brothers tho
financial assistance which years ago made
possible their experiments In flying.
The flight was Intentionally brief With
a new gear wheel on the shaft Of the en-
Sine and the propelleTs cutting the air at
a higher number OF revelations, the
Wright brothers considered it inadvisable
10 make a long stay in the air until the
new conditions OF things had time 90 ad-
Just themselves.
Engine stops Suddenly.
Il was the second flight Of the after
noon. The first ended abruptly when one
minute and q half had elapsed. and sent
an unexpected coterie OF thrills up the
back OF the crowd. Directly after the be
ginning Of the third circuit OF the parade
ground the blare Of explosions from the
engine suddenly stopped. gear wheel
on the magnet had been Jared of.
In the almost uncanny stiffness that
followed the machine was seen 10 dip
quickly toward the ground. But only for
a moment. There was a sCOOping recOv-
cry, and a glide As the flyer dipped
again at a sharp angle downward and
again glided. the spectators realized they
were watching a demonstration OF one Of
the features of hcavier-tnan-air naviEa-
tiOn--a descent from an altitude without
propeIing power.
The scoops and glides were unerringly
controlled by Orville Wright, and the
landing was made so easily that a shout
Of joy went up from the crowd.
Glides TO the Ground.
II was only the second time Orville had
come to the ground with the engine on a
strike. The glide to the earth July ?
when the skids We're broken. would have
been successful, even TO the landing. If
Orville had nos mistaken the intentions
of an apparently genteel clunIp of foliage
beneath him.
The largest crowd that has jOurneyed
out 20 Fort NIyer during the present
series of trials was on hand when at $50
o'clock the order was given for the re-
moval Of the aerOplane from the shed TO
the starting derrick; also the list Of dis
tinguished persons was as long as a love
letter.
Secretary Of state Knox spent HIS time
when nothing skyward WAS doing with
Representative and Mrs. Nicholas Long
worth and an army officer in the Long
worth electric The daughter Of former
President Roosevelt had a couple OF
thermos bottles handy and served tea to
her guests. while the photographers had
a field day and ran themselves into hys-
terra going for fresh plates
Some of Those Present.
Others OF the spectators were the
French Ambassador and Nine. Jusserand.
the Secretary of War and Mrs. Dickinson.
former Secretary Of State Bacon. Lieut.
Gen. s. 3. NJ. Young. Brig. Gen Wither-
spoon. Senator's Newlands Elkins Dolli-
yer. and Dick. former Assistant Secretary
Of the Treasury Coolidge, and Represent
atives Keifer. Hnshaw. Scott, Campbell.
Cole. Walter / Smith. and Hill
While the machine was being made
ready for the first flight Miss Katherine