The Detroit times., 1910-07-07
|sTART AIRsHIP
IS NO EASY TASK
4. Care Must Be Exercised and
a[uch Labor Spent Before
Flight Is Made.l

80. 80. -, q. - -
s Du1fard take wing from the ground
/ YOU have you know how laRorious-
M md awkwardly he runs and jumps
md beats the air before he Is able
~ get into the air.
Hnt when he Is once in the air and
c<ins TO climb the stairway OF The
&<<os, turning long loops on rigia
finGs, you forget how awkwardly and
With what effort he began his flight.
KS much the same with an aero
&iane. when II is trundled from the
#ofodrome, you say I'd yourself that
~ q commonplace looking contriv-
1oce. Nothing graceful about IL. MOTH
f0E birdlike Just a four-cylinder en-.
Line set between two rectangular
frames covered with unbleached cam
1<5c. It's anything but beautiful.
1--WE men conduct the plane 10 the
>ocnorail track, one pulling at each
Hinx tip, one at each OF two detach'
.&6Ie wheels like enormous casters.
1t6 one supporting the tail" You
NY TO yourself that IL Is absurd TO
Rave q machine that must needs be
.>4ttsd from a track.
Tho plane Is placed on the rail,
which Is just board on edge. faced
With strap iron A fanged wheel on
tross-piece In front rests on tnis
track In the rear. ~.
"A man stands at the tip OF one OF
Hhe wings to keep the nicely balanced
machine from tipping to one side or
Me- other. Two other men go TO The
.ftAr, one 20 each OF the big propellers
A mechanician goes 10 the front Of the
zutchfna. worming himself In between
<&>,t piano wires, and begins TO test
<<6 motor.
Then some one else gets under The
IfaTne and makes the plane fast to the
rack by a wire that Is anchored to
|ha rail-, This wire, which can be
[1rown by a trigger. is To hold the
D'aEe while the motor is working up
MI full speed.
C3rviIIe Wright comes up and looks
|thb machine over. He tests wires and
beers into oil cups and tries TO control
Itrers. Then he crawls in between
'hB wires and pulls himself up into
NE little seat beside the motor. You
Say TO yourself that an airship Is an
awkward creature to mount.
The men at the rear reach up and
.Sr1Bp the outside blades OF the pro-
r4ilers. The man at the wing tip
rasps the end stay and braces him
eli like a Splinter preparing for a
I1ndred-yard dash. You begin TO take
build Interests in the proceedings.
The men at the prope.lers begin to
count in unison:
'One--two--three!"
Al the word three" they pull down
H the propeller blades and turn
IT1rs the motor. There is a cough
end q splutter, and the big blades be-
<A1 TO whirL The grass behind the
Achine bends before perfect gale
1k wind.
0fxille takes last look at the
FACTOR. He mods to the man at the
'inK tip. whose duty II is TO run with
'INe machine to hold II level till II
kInD momentum. ! Last he reaches
IoHn and pulls the trigger which re-
'&nee0 the wire that anchors the aero
The machine begins TO slide down
HE truck, slowly at first, but with
&8ff Increasing speed. Ten---twenty
thirty yards 1t glides, still clinging
no the rail. The runner looses his
NoId "a the plane and drops behind.
Then the forward control planes are
&I'ted inward a few inches.
A. E31cefully and sure as wild swan
'ftr rose from the water, or as eagle
<Fer took to air from his crag, the
tekopiane rises from the track and
tI'glbs the air.
And when you see II thousand feet
.|#4t. nfrrline lika n falcon an fhe
.lIey you say 10 yourself that few
<tinKs under the sun ere more beau.
Iifnl than an aeroplane in flight.