Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-26
TWO MINUTES IN AN AERO
An Airship's Motion Like that of a
Bucking Broncho.
HOW IT FEELS TO Av1ATE
Experience of n Man who wanted 60
Fly and Id-N smOOth, swoOp-
ing Sensation, but Lots of
Excitement.

NEW YORK, Dec. 25.-'I think 1 should
like to go up in one Of these flying ma
chimes" said the fat man. 1T must feel
fine to go sweeping smoothly through the
air. with the wind whistling past your
ears. l see they're just putting them on
the market commercially"
1--WE had my share OF EN-, and that's
just where you're about a million miles
out of the way" said the man VINO had
bought one of them, as he flung down the
illustrated paper containing pictures Of the
recent Italian meet. See that picture
there? Well a machine like the one you
see in the air was offered me.
Il was wildly enthusiastic about getting
one Of EN-, and the philanthropic guy that
had this one got wind Of the incautious ex-
preston forced out Of my confilding heart.
Came right up to me the last night of the
meet, and told how ned another little
machine like it at home: wanted to popu-
larize his model, would sell this one cheap"
CHEAP
Il suppose you fell right into his arms.
Paid him on the spot for it, eh2" said the
fat man.
mo. l wasn't that much Of a fool
The ex-flyer grlnned sheepishly. Il ac-
eepted his offer TO give me a ride or two.
We sat around talking about the flying
game, and when we parted this fellow
Thibeaudeau told me to meet him at 5
o'clock the next morning at the shed where
the plane was housed"
Il was W bright and early and found
T~hibeaudeau and his m~echanician work.
ing at the engine, and taking a last look
at the whole machine 1t was a grimy
assortment Of dirty canvas planes, spat-
tered with oil from the gin and much
thumbed woodwork.
Getting a Good Start.
"The whole contrivance was set on three
little wheels, and I'd Judge 1t was about
forty feet wide. T~hibeaudeau had a seat
in it, and he'd added a board across it SO
we two could sit side by side. He had a
steering wheel, something like an auto
wheel, just in front Of him and there wal a
crossplece below where we could put our
feet. The engine was almost under us.
They got the thing fixed to their Xix.
ing and we three showed 1t out Of the shed
Thibeaudeau motioned me to the seat or
his right, and / sat gingerly on the edge
Of the board While he took his seat at the
wheel. The mechanician took hold Of tht
pAupSAiCI ALI lWlSlcu II dIOunu OuCt VI
twice, while the engine chugged lazily.
"All Of a sudden 1 felt a terrific jar
and a tremendous bang, like a gun, JUS
under me. The spark had caught. The
whole machine started to SILVER. Tht
m~echanician gave a yell and started tC
push US over the hard, smooth ground.
Every explosion Of the engine mad'
a deafening noise, and every explosion
Jared the affair so that 1 thought my
teeth woul drop out. The racket wa
something fierce.
WE moved faster and faster, RICH
across the parade ground, the plane bump
ing every time 1t struck the least littl,
lump in the ground and the engine speed
ing up all the time till the whole machine
shivered with a steady vibration. Tn,
breeze began to fan our faces, partly from
the suction OF the propeller, partly from
our motion.
TN about ten seconds we were goinl
at a good forty mile clip and the plan,
was jumping six inches or so at ever!
little lump. The engine was making
terrific noise just under me.
Up I'm the Air.
The humping over the ground begaI
to change. We didn't come down, will
a hard jar any more, though the machine
bounded up violently. 1t was as though
we were falling back on a feather bed.
Il suppose that would be the planei
beginning to catch the wind" said tn
fat man. You'd be getting up flynn
speed at the rate you were going.
"An at once Thibeaudeau touched hi
vertical rudder arm, on a bar in front o
him, Just above the steering wheel. Tn,
whole business tilted up at a gentle angi
and we left the ground. speeding up al
the time.
II looked down between my legs at thI
parade ground. It was a funny comb
nation of streaks OF red ground and greer
? grass patches. We were only up abou
six feet from the ground. but climbing
higher at a long slant.
Take care yelled Thibeaudeau to M
Hang on tightly. We're going to hav
trouble in a minute I gripped the bar Ii
front of me n wedged my heels agains
the rest.
A j of a sudden the whole machin
tilted down On the right side and W
started to swoop sideways and drop down
ward. T~hibeaudeau twisted the rudder {
} bring our tail over to the right. and tn