The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-07-28
0RVILLE WRIGHT
BREAKS RECORD

SDeeu averaging ABOUT lOIlf lulleS
an hourly Orvllle Wright at Fort
Myer, with Lieutenant Frank P Lahm
of the army signal corps as passen-
ger. The former record was made
last year by his brother Wilbur. joint
inventor with him of the machine in
, which both achievements were per
formed at Leman's, France. with Prof.
Painlove of the French Institute as a
passenger That flight was one hour.
nine minutes and thirty-one seconds.
Wilbur was an eager spectator of to-
days flight
The cheering which heralded the
setting OF a new mark in the conquest
of the air was led by President Taft
In person, who had sat an intensely In
terested spectator throughout the
flight This success was all important
to the WrightS in that it completed
the first of two crucial tests of their
machine imposed upon them by the
United States-the so-called "endu-
rance test" which required them to
remain one hour continuously in the
air with one passenger Orville did
nearly thirteen minutes better than
that and could have kept on indefinite.
ly-three hours and n half the limit
imposed by the gasoline capacity of
the supply tank.
The Other test, that for speed will
be completed tomorrow, weather per
mitting. when Orville is TO take Lieu
tenant Benjamin Foulois of the signal
corps on a cross-country fight to AL.
eXandra. Va. and return
Orville could have made that flight
when at last he alighted. after a
fight which would have carried him
almost twice across the English chan
mel
Poignancy was added to Orville
WHght's achievement by the realiza-
ton that upon his previous attempt
TO navigate the air with a passenger
Lieutenant Selfridge was killed and
he himself terribly injured
His sister, Miss Katherine Wright,
anXlously watched him and when he
returned unhurt from his flight she
gripped him eagerly and said: Bully
for you. brother; 1t was beautiful"
A few minutes later President Taft
took him warmly by the hand. saying:
1T congratulate you heartily, sir. Il
was great exhibition, You came
down as easily and as gracefully as
you went up. You beat the worlds
record"
Yes, sir" replied Orville. evidently
embarrassed" | beat my brothers
record"
How did your passenger conduct
himself? Did he talk to the motor
man." asked the president
He behaved very we'll" replied the
aviator,
We'll, congratulate both OF you
and / thank you for the privilege of
witnessing such flight" added the
president
Until 6 o'clock the prospect Of a
flight appeared very slim A high wind
had prevailed all the afternoon and
the apparently adverse conditions un-
doubtedly kept away many hundreds
Of people.
Round and round she went, seventy
four times about the great drill
grounds-4.000 feet in circumference
some times In shorter circles. The
machine kept nearly sixty feet high.
save where some stray currents of
air rocked her up and down.
After the SEVENTEEN turn a great
shout went up. Automobile horns
were footed In deafcning chorus and
hand clapping and cheers and waving
of hats and handkerchiefs told the
men in the flying craft that their task
was accomplished The crowd expect
ed Oryille to come down then. but he
kept on until he established a new
record.
While his brother was circling
around bird-like In the air Wilbur,
Stan0inr, tho oh ,,r,1
ly. The army officers began TO chaff
Wilbur over his losing the worlds rec.
ord TO his brother Watch him. On
the next turn he's got me-" said VIII
bur. When he comes by, let's give
him a cheer"
Wilbur waited until the machine
was almost overhead. then rushed
ahead of II, waving his hat and dane
ing gleefully II was the first sign of
emotion Wilbur had ever shown at
Fort Myer The crowd was yelling
Historically and UP at the presidents
tent General Edwards forgot the pres
ident and shouted Ike boy. The pres
ident, too, was showing signs OF ella
tion
Then the machine descended. slid
along the ground in a cloud of dust,
and stopped almost on the identical
spot Of last September'S fatal fall
This time there was no fall the beau.
tiful aeroplane was unmarried. and the
two men stepped out unhurt and tri-
umphant.
Il was nervous at first" said Or
vile. You know this was my first
attempt with passenger since last
year. Gradually the machine found
herself. however, and | felt as sure as
If ! had been swung at the end OF a
string with no such problem as diTec-
tion or elevation or speed 10 solve. /
could hcar Lieutenant Lahm at first,
bait the terrible racket of the motors
soon deadened my ears and We nban-
doDed all attempts at conversation.
did not Intend to land so abruptly as
| did and was trying some low flying,
but | mjsjudgcd the elevation and be.
fore | knew 1t We struck the ground.
] could have remained up another hour
but there was no necessity"
The machine used In the fight con.
sists Of two planes. one i've feet above
the other and measuring thirty-six
feet from tip to tip. The seat for the
operator Is placed In the center of the
lower plane. off 10 the left Of the mo-
tor. The passenger sits on the other
side Of the motor. The motor Itself is
a product Of the Wright brothers and
is n four-cylinder thirty-horse-power
water cooled gasoline engine. The
gasoline is pumped directly Into the
intake pipes. there being no carbu-
retors. The tips of the planes arc fex-
ible for about twelve feet BY means
of lever they can he turned in