Omaha daily bee., 1910-07-24
CROWDS BEHOLD
CURTISS IN AIR
First Day of Aviation Meet Ends with
Spectacular Flights by
Bird-Men.
WIND AN EARLY HINDRANCE
Success Comes as Sun Desoends and
Breezes Quit.
EARLY FLIGHT DANGEROUS
Sudden Gust All But Upsets New York
Aeronaut
MARS AND ELY ALSO FLYING
LOwer-Powered Machines Are Not So
Well Able TO Face the wind ns
Bigger and More Power
full AerOplanes.
Success Comes as Sun Descends and
Breezes Quit.
DANGEROUS
Sudden Gust All But Upsets New York
Aeronaut.
JARS AND ELY ALSO FLYING


Thrice cIrcling the aviation field. Glenn
H. Curtlss yesterday showed thousands Of
spectators what flying ls other thousands
who had gone home too early missed this
chief event Of yesterdays exhibition.
The opening day Of the midwest aviation
meet was a success, but not as much Of a
success as flights to come will be, because
Tor several hours high winds hindered ana
even imperiled the aviators. Curtiss' spec-
tacular flights yesterday were not accom-.
plished until betwc~a $3.50 and l. D. m. Z.
Aside from the excitement of seeing Cur,
uss 200 feet high cutting the corners. the
spectators got two sharp thrills. ]. G.
Mars furnished one Of these and Curtlss
the other Both men came as near nasty
falls as it is possible to come and not hit
the ground. E
Curtiss' occurred early In the afternoon
At 3 p. m. the first aeroplane hauled out ne
the tents went for a little tryout with
Mars in the seat. Then Curtiss also jumped
the length Of the field. Following another
tlght OF few hundred feet by Mars. The
aVlators waited around little, praying for
the WINDS to go down. At this time an
otherWlse patient crowd showed signs OF
becoming restive and Curtiss overheard i'm
patient remarks from the sldelines.
Curtiss Takes the Air.
lie took his place in the aero-plans aa-
slstants behind, cranked UP the pronallar
ana Curtiss was off. The machine ran
about fifty feet down the field and then
hrted into the air, Curtiss flew straight
toward the farther end the aeropianA
nnouhteo hlsher and higher. Out he went
peyohu the canvas walls and was then seen
10 De attempting to turn. gust Of wInd
caught him on one side and half turned tha
ms apa ~.
dropped a sheer distance of fifty feet or
SO. The aeroplane tourned onto an evan
keef~ but Curtlss was now too near tha
ground to attempt a turn, so he sought 4
suitable place to land and dropped into
II. c. Kehren's wheat field nearil a rnila
away from where he had started. N
The sudden tilt of the machine which ha
ma ended by his drop was as far over \.
an aeroplane can turn without falling aTt
was good deal more of a bend than I care
for he said. later.
In this wheat field Curtiss was foroad 20
rest for nearly an hour because n uas
hlgh on ridge over which the wind was
blowing at an impossible speed. When thu
iirst lull came he sailed back with ease
into the aviation grounds.
Meantime Ely, who started vesterdas Ia
place of McCurdy, was making ,umn
other low powered car which Mars ran
showed themselves not nearly SO effective
as Curtiss which is sixty y-horsepower 10
their twenty-four
Mnrs Tries for Record.
Mars had a little while before triad -
lower his record of 1O5 feet for distance .n
leaving the ground from the starting point
one Tight was not successful against thu
record, about l50 feet being necessary ana
on a second flight tall weed, of which
the grounds are full, struck the pronelleP
OF the aeroplane before 1t left the ground
and stripped off the edge of the blade.
For an hour or more Ely and Curtisa
took short flights across the field. while
they waited for the breeze to weaken
Finally the wind did go down somewhat.
But by this time a good many people had
gone home for o'clock had been reached
Today the meet will not be started until
y. m and even If the wind is blowing
as nara as yesterday, the wait ior il 10 die
down as It generally does at sunset or
thereabouts. will not be 80 long
Curtiss' flight around the field thras
times was well worth waiting for. Ho
gained considerable altitude on his frat
sweep up the course and rose even on the
turn The machine was flying along
without undulations or inclinations from
the horizontal axis so that It was plain
the air currents and gusts were not now
polhering the aviator. A great cheer
went up as Curtiss came back again
toward the stand. He was now flying
about $50 feet above the heads OF the
crowd and as he went higher he swept
larger circle going out of the field
above the lines of people inside the fence
The cheering increased as he mad eeach
turn and rose to a mighty roar. When
coming back on the second lap he turned
high above everyone's head, seemingly In
not more than the length of the aero.
plane.
Curtiss Circles the Field.
The aviator swooped twice around the
field before he gracefully descended. A
little later Curtiss went up again and
circled the field twice.
Between these two flights Mars had
come out with a desperate intention OF
getting high up in he air. lie started his
machine at the far end and flew down
toward the stand, hut did not get a great
elevation. Nevertheless ne tried to make a
turn and when not far from the end nut
his steering wheel hard over. The ma.
chine listed suddenly and seemed to be
flying on end. The aviator was not more
than forty feet ABOVE the ground at the
time. Mars, seeing that he was periousiy
near, bad fall, ease off the rudder and
the areoplane righted itself More people
saw this than the similar fitting OF Cur-
tiss' machine because the aviator WAS
much nearer at hand.