New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-10-27
PUPILS FLY ALONE
LAHM UP 10 MINUTES.
Officers SO Efficient Wnght
May Soon Depart.
Irrom The rrIl,nne Burean.

Washington, Oct Ss-This was getaway
day at College Park with a vengeance
The military pupils of Wilbur Wright who
are learning TO handle the army aeroplano
were allowed, in euchre parlance, To go
II alone" They made tolerably long flights
In the morning, and in the evening got
out and acted the part of old aYiators,
Lieutenant Lahm staying in the air forty
minutes and coming down long after dark
Mr.. Wright Is not very prone TO discuss
his various pupils, but he said after the
flights this morning that Lieutenant Hum
phreys had gone alone in the machine
sooner than anybody else he had ever
taught
Up to this time Lieutenant Calderara, OF
the Italian army. has been the prize pupil.
having gone alone In the machine after
eight or nine days of instruction. The
weather i'm Rome when he was taught was
very much better than at College Park.
and he Was able to fly many times every
day, whereas the present pupils have been
restricted to short fights in the early
morning and late evening.
Lieutenant Humphreys has not been in
the air in the aggregate more than an hour
and a half, but he handled the machine
alone to-day as though he were quite used
to it. and made several landings that were
highly creditable.
The first flight in the morning was made
soon after o'clock. when Lieutenant
Humphreys was allowed alone in the ma
chine for the first time Mr.. Wright eau
toned him against staying up more than
two minutes and against going higher than
twenty feet. His start quite a success,
and the machine went into the air without
trouble.
The enlisted men of the signal detail
ckeered heartily when it was seen that the
machine was going to rise, and everybody
watched the flight with intense interest 10
see whether the lieutenant who is an eX-
pert automobiles, would prove equally at
home in the air. He did so, and made two
rounds of the field with very little of the
pitching so characteristic of novice flights
GOOD WORK OF OFFICERS
Lieutenant Lahm, who is not only the
senior officer of the two. but who has had
more experience in the aeroplane, was sent
up next, and told he could stay twelve or
fifteen minutes. He stayed eleven and one
half minutes and handled the machine very
steadily although his first attempt at ris-
ing resulted In false start, and he did not
get off the ground On the second ATTEMPT
he had better luck. and seemed to have no
trouble in controlling the machine in the air.
The flights in the afternoon were both
longer. Lieutenant Humphreys was allowed
to go up at 445 and remained in the air
"a minutes % seconds. He seemed in
full control Of the machine and said when
he came down that the weather was fine
for flying and he felt as though he could
have remained up indefinitely.
Lieutenant Lahm was allowed to go up at
5:17. 1t was then getting dark, and as he
made a flight of 40 minutes the machine
was wholly invisible by the time he was
ready to come down. Wilbur Wright, who
IS very Unconditional person at best, eX-
pressed himself as considerably worried
over Lieutenant Lahms long trip aloft. He
wanted his pupil to come down, but there
was no way of signalling him, and Mr..
Wright is thinking of getting an electric
torch in order to telegraph to his pupils
when they remain away from home after
dark
Lieutenant Lahm said when he came
down that he had only returned because he
wanted something to eat, and, aside from
that, he would have been perfectly willing
to continue the flying as long as there was
fuel in the tank.