New-York tribune., 1911-01-22
Ten Times as Many Airmen Killed Last lear as III 0''
but Total Distance Flown in l9lO was twenty lines
as Great as in Previous Twelve Months

, their dispirting train of fatalities, result
inc rapidly in great advancement In 'he
art of high speed. construction and desie"'
Thus far i'm the flying game only one
system Of control has been used success
fully. Every machine that is flying SUI
cessfully uses the Wright brothers methoH
of control Not a single man has come
forward with another method 10 MAINTAIN
equilibrium than that discovered by the
Wriehts. There isn't a machine that has
got eff the ground successfully by another
system except the old box kite arrange
ment of Noisin, taken up by Delagrahge
Farnan and other French eXperimenters
and soon abandoned, the Noisin apparatus
not holding a single record. And the man
ufacture of the Voisin machine has now
heen discontinued. The authority FOR the
above statement is the sworn testimony OF
Wilbur Wright.
Have the accidents by flying machines
been caused through faulty construction
Perhaps there should be certain degree
of hopefulness in the minds Of critics OF
aviation that a new and perhaps pette'
system of control may result from the al
/ legged necessity for improvement lheIe
is bound to he much learned in the reaIni
or neteorologv. Holes in the air VIII be
defined and understood. Boiling air VIII
be subdued or inteligenuy evaded Noth-
! ing can stop the advancement OF the SCI
| ence Of aviation. In ten years there VIII
/ he more machines in the air than automo-
/ biles i'm the streets. A man went To Nor
/ ris Park a year ago last spring. lie saw
flying" machines built to strange iorlhu-
/ lp. They were built to fly, but renamed
/ on the lawn. The man paid % cents au-
mission and left the field In disgust lie
said nothing would ever come OF all inc
/ aeronautic twaddle. He was well known
. lawyer
The next fall the same individual hap
pened to he a passenger on Hudson RIVER
/ forryboat 1t was one Of those rare oc-
, toher davs. with fair winds, blue SKY ana
/ a rIeasing nip in the air. Wilbur wright
few over the scolfers ferryboat on MS
way TO Grants Tomb from Governors ISL
and The aeronautic scoffer saw great
light that instant. The passing beauty ol
the white wings above the warshlps OF
all nations, the sparkling Hudson the
screaming tugs converted him perma-
nently.
After the death of Johnstone, Moisant
and Hoxsey an intelligent man of affairs
said: MARK my words-in year from
now there won't be one Of them flying
The whole idea is ridiculous 1t ought 10
he stopped by law" lie acknowledged
that he had never seen Curtiss fly down
tho Hudson from Albany or Hamilton
keen TO railroad schedule from New York
70 pbHadeIphia. He had not heard of the
eight hours plus flight Of Henry Farman'
=
will not stop the development moment
J. c. Turpin, the Wright aviator sald
the other day that sad as were the deaths
of his team mates. Johnstone and HoXsey'
he knew in his heart the fatalities were
not caused through any fault IN the ma
chine ,,,
Hundreds Of times" said Mr.. Turpn' j
have heard both Wilbur and Orville Wright
tell Johnstone and IIoXsey that If they dld
not stop flying the way they persisted IN
doing AT the Belmont Park meet either the
Wrghts would have TO make them stop or
they would he stopped by death
'Tlo main thing for an aviator 70 guard
against is the love Of the applause OF the
crowd. il is an insidious thing. If man
gives way to it at all he is marked
aviator. Johnstone and HOXsey were mar
yeIous ilycrs, great in their courage ana
skill. But the weakness Of each was the
lure each felt to play to the grandstand.
ALWAYS they played TO the grandstand.
They took risks that were plainly against
1.-THE instructions OF the Wright Company.
Personally / mean TO keep hold of my de-
termination to forget there is a grandstand
and av my machine, freed from any thirst
for applause Under such circumstances |
fear no consequences. ! know my machine.
know what it will stand. 1t will do any
thing .hat can be done 10y heavcr-than-
air apparatus
While It may be logical to suppose more
safe method Of control for flying machines
will ultimately be discovered, by the
Wrigbts or some one else, nothing that has
come to light concerning the three fatalities
mentioned indicates that faulty cons'ruc-
ton was to blame. In the case OF Moisant,
who operated a racing Bleriot. notoriously
confined to the Wright warping system of
control. four French aviatOrs-Garros, Bar
rier. Simon and Audcmars, members of the
Moisant Flying Circus-have inspected the