Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1909-10-14
AV|1ATORS WILL
SOAR LIKE BIRDS
WILBUR WRIGHT GIVES FIRST
REAL INTERviEW-TALks AT
LENGTH TO WRITER.
TALKS OF AEROPLANES
In Simple Phrases the conqueror OF
the Air Tells How He Succeeded
and Why-TeIIins Of the Advantage
OF His Machine.

To the public at large the Wright
machine and it's simple mechanism
has been a hidden mystery. Its very
simplicity has been charged with the
mysterious, to the layman mind. he
porters have Wed with each other In
vain to penetrate the Wright mind
and extract from the Wright voice
| the intimate details OF his aeroplane,
and particularly his own opinion as to
its achievements and future possibili-
ties. What is in the mind of Wilbur
Wright and what he himself thinks
Of his own work has not hitherto been
revealed to the public. Inspired by
the spirit of the Hudson-Fulton cele-
bration, and by the few who have been
closely in touch with him during his
almost close confinement on Cover
nor's island, has opened his mind on
the question of aerial flight and his
own accomplishments in this line as
l,never before.
~.Ouroo you think any of the machines
L-ano q been built in Europe are
that hav6onec own acceptance he was
equal to your -egat.o.
asked tense lips, Mr.
NO" with drawn a1antly. with
Wright remarked signifiok uasas race,
a semi-amused expression on ~ kS1a
They have all copied us as much ASK
they could, but as yet they still use /
twice the power, and even then they
are not able to produce results equal
to ours"
Much surprise was expressed i'm this
~ h. -.
did not win in the race at Rheims.
Mr.. Wright's attention was called TO
this fact and he was asked why he
had not been successful against the
other aviators.
IF ! wanted to build machine for
racing would build one different from
the one which i have here, and
think | shall probably do so in few
years" he remarked. "The type we
have now is not designed for racing
purposes. Our machine is designed
for general, practical use. 1t is not
a freak machine" emphatically empha-
sizing the fact that his machine was
not of the racing class or built with
that view
In view of the recent accidents to
Selfridge and Lefebvre, who were
hAiiSu, MI. NIISuI was DIS |
to whether his type of machine was
not equally unsafe, il not more So
than other aeroplanes, and whether
or not the chances which he took
were not equally as great as those
which cost the lives of other daring
aviators.
NO." he answered, in his quiet, ef-
fective manner, 1.-The control of our
machine is so perfect that unless care
lessness or structural defects occur
unforeseen, which is carelessness, no
accident can happen to our machine
The Selfridge accident was due to the
structural defect of the propeller,
which should have been foreseen the
Lefebvre accident to unwarranted
carelessness."
I'm view Of the universal interest
in your machine, would you give some
details as to the structure and mechan-
ism upon which you rely for efficiency
and safety of your machine, or for
the great efficiency which you claim"
Then followed a series of talks with
Mr.. Wright-who never has given a
detailed explanation Of his aeroplane
in which he revealed all of the
crucial points OF the Wright machine,
the theories upon which he has
worked, and he gave this technical
and general explanation in very
simple and clear way.
Our machine is superior to all otn-
ers," he said. THE Wright biplane is
efficient not only in It's economic use
Of power, but also in it's maneuvering
qualities. The biplanes of Voisin and
Farman are about the same size as
ours. 1t Is noticeable however, that
they use double the power and travel
at less speed. In flight. the Voisin
and Farman are sluggish, slow. and
lacking in precision of movement,
while the Wright is the true bird
quick in its action, maneuvering with