Evening star., 1928-12-16

many wires of a cratelike
glider fitted with a puny l2-horSe-
power motor and, lying fiat on his
stomach across the lower wing
made the first airplane flight. He
flew only 100 feet in IL seconds
and none of the chilly, wind
bitten group of six men and a boy
who witnessed the event realized
at the time that he had seen the
opening of new era in human
progress.
Tomorrow the aviation leaders
of the entire world will gather OH
the sandy slopes of Kill Devil Hill,
near Kitty Hawk, N. c., the scene
Of that epochal flight, to pay
tribute to Orville and Wilbur
Wright, whose final success after
years of struggle and disappoint-
ment forms one of the bright
pages in the annals of the Nation.
Since that day aviation has
progressed with amazing rapidity
and no year has witnessed such
growth as the one now closing
the silver anniversary year of the
first fight. On December II, 1908,
the first airplane wabbled along a
few feet above the ground. Today
airplaneS have made records of
36,4l8 feet altitude, IS hours and
25 minutes duration, 4,466 non
stop airline distance and 278 miles
per hour maximum speed. This
within only 25 years. and the true
development of aviation merely
beginning!
g Other Pioneers Follow Wright.
Following the first flight came
the period of primary develop
ment of the airplane and the air
plane engine, lasting until the
outbreak of the World War. There
were flights of increasing speed
and longer duration. Into the
field with the Wrights came such
pioneers as Glenn CurtiSs, who
was the first to fly from and light
on the water; Bleriot, Santos
Dumont and Farman.
On May ID, 1908, the first pas
Senger flight was made when
Wilbur Wright took up with him
Charles FurnaS, an enploye at the
little Wright factory. Up to this
time no airplane ever had re-
manned in the air longer than
seven minutes at one time. The
first fight of more than one hour
duration was made by Orville
Wright on September 9, 1908.
The United States Army pur-
chased it's first military airplane
in July, 1909, from the Wrights.
This plane. before being accepted
by the Government, met the off,
cial requirements in a 10-mile
crosS-country flight from Fort
Myer. Va, with Lieut.. Benjamin
D. Foulois, now brigadier gen.
eral in the Army Air Corps, as
passenger. The average speed
was 42.583 miles per hour.
The world saw it's first am
phibian plane in the Autumn Of
that year when Wilbur Wright
made a notable flight over New
York harbor and the Hudson
River as a part of the Hudson
Fulton celebration. He few with
a canoe tied between the landing
skids. 1t is. perhaps. Just as well
he was not forced to use his
makeshift device.
Learned to Fly by Instinct.
Prior to the World War the fly
ing game" was in the hands of
the professional flyer, recruited
largely from the ranks of the bal
loon men. This period brought
into the public eye such pioneers
as, Lincoln Beachey, Arch HoXsey,
Art Smith. Claude Graham White,
Eugene Ely, Harriet Quimby,
Walter Brookins, Capt. Thomas
Baldwin, Sure Shot" Kearney
and Jack Moisant. They called
themselves bird men" and they
taught themselves the art of fly
ing by pure instinct It was day
of reckless daring and no mon
went to see an airplane flight
without the expectation of wit
Messing crash. Many were not
disappointed.
The World War laid the founda-
ton for modern aeronautics
Prior to the war there had been
little demand for airplane flights
except to satisfy public crav-
ing for excitement, vicariousiy
achieved. No one had the temer-
ity to dream of commercial avi-
alton. The war stimulated avia-
ton engineers to feverish activ-
ity.- They turned out vastly i'm
proved designs: the governments
distributed money with lavish
generosity hither and yon and
people did not stretch their neciks
with such spontaneous abandon
when the roar of an airplane mo-
tor was heard overhead. The
man who had not seen an 0ir-
plane Wss provincial. The
war DEVELOPMENT, perhaps. was
not on a sound engineering foun-
dation because of the breath,ess
haste with which everybody Went
about the Job, but it served to
point the way toward develop
ment of today's exact science Of
aeronautics.
The close of the war found the
governments with vast quantities
of airplanes. motors and material
on their hands and left the mueh =
room airplane factories without 4
market. More than half of them
failed. Out of the chnos. contro-
versies, investigations and recrin,i-
nations of the postwar rerio1
emerged the germ of coron1erciol
aeronautics. The past 10 venrS
have witnessed the o~nwtl1 Of this
germ into lustr oiant. who todov
only is beginning to find his
strength.
Air Mail Service Starts.
Commercial aviation received
it's first real impetus during the