The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-10-11
BY Harry G. Farmer

1
1t was the hope of taking a ride
in big cloth kite-a hope which
many a boy has cherished in his
heart-that set the Wright broth
ers to experimenting with what be.
came, seven years later, the first
successful flying machine.
Lets build a kite strong and
Hight enough and with enough
face to lift a man." said Orville to
Wilbur.
about so square feet of sur
face ought to be enough to lift a
man. Anyway, we can soon find
by trying how big the kite should
| be.
1--WE will make the kite some
thing like the Hargreave box kite,
with top and bottom surfaces.
Then I will get in between, and
you take the rope and run with
the kite"
This was the plan as proposed
by the younger brother. Wilbur
said: Bully. Well try it,"
But where" both asked, stimuli
taneously, "can We play with big
40-foot kite without Attracting a
crowd and making ourselves look
silly?"
This looked like a staggerer. A
couple of bicyclemakers in Dayton
running up and down the streets
flying a 40-foot kite would have
disturbed trade, to say the least
And crowd of hooting boys
would be in the way.
But Wilbur had an idea.
Suppose" said he, 1--WE go to
some lonesome, godforsaked piece
of seashore. The wind will be
STEADY, and that's one very i'm
portant thing; the more lonesome
it is the cheaper will be the living.
We can knock up an inexpensive
shed and this will serve for shell
ter for us and as a workshop and
shelter for the kite. Why not?"
So the brothers wrote to the
weather bureau at Washington,
and asked about wind currents,
and where they could find a
STEADY, strong wind.
The weather bureau is full of
information of this sort, and came
back with reply saying that the
Cape Hatteras section of the North
Carolina coast had 20-mile winds
practically all the time. The gov
eminent maintained an observa-
ton station at Manteo, an island
near the life saving station at
Kitty Hawk, near Kill Devil hill.
The place was quite remote, but
provisions could always be had at
Manteo.
The letter of the weather bureau
man added that there were great
sand hills-drifted by the wind
on the spit where the life saving
station stands-hills four and five
hundred feet high.
Great" said Orville. eve could
fly the kite from the top of one of
the sand hills"
So the Wright brothers worked
lin their shop in Dayton, making
the parts of big kite, which was
carefully designed on paper. Then
they bought and shipped some
rough lumber and tools to Manteo.
together with the parts of their
kite, and with gay hearts set out
for a novel summer outing. For
the Wrights at this time (1S9S)
did not admit to themselves that
they were doing anything but
amusing MISUNDERSTANDING, in
their own way.
1t was good sport, the wrights
have told me so. They built their
shed, put together the parts OF
their kite, and flew it. There was
plenty of wind, plenty of room,
and nobody to look on or laugh ex.
cept a lonesome coast guard.
The kite flew, and it was strone
enough to carry up Orville, when
be Jay "belly-whopper" between
the upper and lower planes of the
kite. That part of the theory was
all right. But the kite would
not stay up with its human freight
The wind was not strong enough
and one man was not STRONG
enough to keep running with the
rope.
But they found a new game
They found the kite to be fine for
'sliding down hill on the air." In.
stead of using arope to fly It they
took the kite to the top of a sand
hill and sent 1t off into the teeth OF
the wind. All that was needed was
a slight upward tilt of the planes
land the wind would almost sup
Iport the weight Of man and planes,
1t would, in fact, support the thine
long enough TO make a long glide
from the top Of the hill to a point
leight or ten hundred feet from the
lstarting point.
4 This was gliding" The kite
became gliding" machine. The