Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-08-19
Big AerOplane Responds Won
derfulIy in Spectacular
Flight in First Test.
HOPES TO REGAIN HEIGHT
RECORD, RECENTLY BROKEN
plane Was Built with Purpose
in View-Official Judges
at Asbury.
[speeIal from a stan correspondent.l

ASRURY PARK, Aug. 19.-Frank
Coffyn stole a march on most of the
newspaper men here at II o'clock this
morning. when he made the first flight
in the new Wright machine.
At the publicity office downtown it
was given out hat there would be
nothing doing In the flight line at the
field. But there was, and even the
publicity office did not know it until
Informed by the newspaper men.
Coffyn took the machine up for the
first flight at IL o'clock. He did not
attempt to try for altitude, and at no
time went more than 100 feet above
the ground. He was up four minutes
and when he came down said that he
was satisfied with the machine.
yes" he said, "it did jump a little
bit differently from what I expected,
but xhat is only because I was not used
to it,
Coffyn seemed to be having a lot Of
trouble in controlling the machine in
his first flight. The sky was leaden
and the clouds hung 20 close to the
aviation field that they seemed to
fringe the tops of the trees.
worked Poorly.
First the machine would dip to the
right, then it would take an upward
swoop to the left. To the few onlook-
ers who witnessed the first public flight
of the new machine it appeared as If
Coffyn was in the hands of a white
canvas plaything that was doing what
1t pleased with him
But he came down all right, and then
explained that he was letting the ma
chine do what 1t pleased, "just so !
could find out what it really will do
when I want 1t to-" he said.
Now, l will show you what l can
do with the machine" Coffyn said to
the EVENING STAR reporter, after
he had been on the ground for about
ten minutes. In that time he went
over the machine carefully and with
Duval La ~Chappelle. who is to make
altitude flights here, pulled the engine
bed forward a few inches.
And Coffyn made good in his boast.
AS he was ready to start he said: Il
won't be up more than two minutes.
/ just want to try this wind wagon
now and see how steady she is"
Machine steady.
&Ollyu lOulQ Ohlf LII OA tAC cCNoii0
flight the machine was as steady as a
bird in a dead calm. At times 1t was
fully thirty seconds, and in one in
stance Coffyn drifted down the field 100
feet in the air, without a vibration of
the big white air craft. The only thing
to be heard was the whirring of the
motors.
1t is expected that either La Chap
pelle or Coffyn will try the machine out
this afternoon in altitude stunts. The
Wrights want to get back the altitude
record taken away from Walter Brook
ms by Drexel in Scotland last week,
and have built this machine for that
especial purpose.
officials of the Aero Club of America
are IN the ground and any records
made this afternoon will be official.
Ralph tombstone is none the worse to-
day for the accident which befell him
yesterday, when he crashed seventy
feet TO the ground, narrowly missing
several automobiles and finally wreck
ing the machine completely.
The accident was in many ways SINH
lar to that which befell Walter Brook
FMS, in which the latter did not fare so
well. Following the accident to John
stone, Brookins yesterday made his
FIRST flight since he fell in his machine
and injured several people.