East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-04-04
LOCAL AERONAUTS
STILL ON EARTH
AMATEUR BIRDMEN
ATTEMPT TO SOAR
High School Aviation Enthusiasts Try
Out Their Glider-Several Flights
Made, But Finish is Disastrous TO
Machine.

pert LeDlon was Tying TO MS death
in sunny Spain, scarcely a mile out
of Pendleton there was being. enact
ed an aerial drama which in point
of interest and the element of thrill
was far superior to these feats, but
unfortunately unwitnessed except by
the participants.
1t was about a month ago that E.
w. Brown of the high school in
struction force and several of his
student followers became i%noculated
with the aviation germ which immedi-
ately produced in their veins an I'M
comfortable fever for flying. For a
while the only manifestation of their
strange malady was an occasional
flight of fancy, but as the microbe
became more active, more violent In
dications became noticeable. A far
away look crept into their eyes, and
their gaze was ever directed upward
and away from the earth that their
feet fain would spurn. In their hearts
was a great longing to rise above their
plodding brethren.
But it was not until the tertiary
stage of their ailment that evidences
of a realization of their desires be-
gan to be apparent. Action took the
place of idle dreams. Realizing their
deficiency in angelic properties and
| dispairing of yer sprouting feathered
wings, they set about to overcome the
handicap of nature. Greedily they
devoured all of the current literature
on the science of soaring, and eager
ly perused the accounts of all
aviation meets. Their minds became
storage batteries for ideas on this sub
to start the creative machinery in their
brains.
They Build a Glider.
AS their limited eXchequer would
not permit the construction of a fully
equipped aeroplane of the Wright
Brothers. type, they confined their
efforts to the building of a glider
which might be called an aeroplane
minus the motor power. When
pushed from some prominence n of
these machines, supporting a human
form, glides off gently in the breez-
es, settling gradually down to terra
firma. That is, the ideal theoretical
glider acts in this fashion, but in
practice 1t is sometimes perverse and
behaves not according to design or in
tention. It was upon one of this
species of aircraft that these deciples
of Curtiss and Paulhan spent much
time and effort until the resultant
product of their labors was a model
of perfection.
Saturday the pride of their hearts
was completed and the ardor of their
enthusiasm. could not be restrained.
Despite adverse weather conditions,
these amateur aeronauts sailed forth,
carrying their light burden along
back streets to avoid would be spec
tators. Over the hills south of town
they went, and selected the top of a
gully as a most favorable spot from
which to launch their invention.
The Initial Flight.
The lot fell to Cecil Cole, to make
the initial trip in the glider and silent
ly and courageously he fixed himself
in position. The final shove was CIV
en- and the great bird rose beautifully
to a height of ten feet. All altitude
records might have been broken had
not the embryonic aviator found the
parting from terra firma too painful
~ tIloult. IL iCGtulh6 III "
which he had been attached so long
proved to have too great an affinity
for him, and his heavenward jour
ney was cut short at his own volition.
He jumped from his airy steed and
left it to its fate. Fortunately that
fate was nothing worse than a pair
of broken ribs.
Lyman Rice was elected as the next
emulator of the birds, and his ex.
hibition flight was entirely success
full and filled the hearts of all with
joy. Brown, himself, in whose fertile
brain was the inception of the plan to
conquer the air, purposed to take the
next trip. His performance was a
duplication of Rice's feat, except that
his first success filled him with a
desire to capture all records. He ad-
justed himself again in position and
the machine leaped upward. Because
of cross currents of wind, a rope was
attached to the end of each plane,
which, in the hands Of two helpers,
guided the ship n at the same time
prevented it from turning turtle. I'm
fortunately an unusually strong blast
from the bellows Of old Aeolus at this
HOHleHL SHOI the craft upward with
such force that young Rice, who was
at the end of one of the ropes, was
lifted from the ground. Not desiring
to journey through the air swinging
from the end Of a rope, he loosened
his hold, and the elimination Of the
experiment was at hand and the quick
finish record broken. Relieved Of the
weight on n end, the glider turned
in the air like a wounded bird and
came back to earth with a crash that
destroyed in a secon the handiwork
OF long days and nights. And Brown.
Quietly he lay amidst the wreckage
Of his fallen hopes and one plane rest
ed on his neck. The wind from his
body had Joined the atmosphere about
him. When his companions had extri.
Gated him from his position, and had
pumped the life giving air back into
his lungs, an examination revealed
the fact hat beyond the shock and
a few bruises, the pedagogical bird
man was in nc wise hors de combat.
Sadly the remains Of the ruined
glider were carried to town and the
work OF repair begun. They have nc
intention Of allowing a first defeat
to check their ambition. AS Brown
: put IT last night, THE element OF
danger only lends zest to the trials he