Evening star., 1928-12-16


feet.
Twenty minutes later" Orville
wrote. "the third flight started. This
one was steadier than the first one an
hour before. I was proceeding along
pretty we'll when a sudden gust from
the right lifted the machine up IL to
Is feet and turned it up sidewise IN an
alarming manner. 1t began a lively
siding off to the left. I warped up
the wings to try to recover the lateral
balance and at the same time pointed
the machine down to reach the ground
as quickly as possible. The lateral
control was more effective than l had
imagined and before I reached the
ground the right wing was lower than
the left and struck first. The time of
this fight was Is seconds and the dis
tance over the ground little over 200
feet.
Wilbur started the fourth and last
flight at just IL o'clock. The first few
hundred feet were up and down. as be-
fore, but by the time 800 feet had been
covered, the machine was under much
better control The course of the next
400 or 500 feet had but little undula-
ton. However when out about 800
feet the machine began pitching again,
and in one of its darts downward,
struck the ground The distance over
the ground was measured and found
to be $50 feet; the time of flight, SO
seconds. The frame supporting the
front rudder was badly broken. but the
main part of the machine was not in
jured at all. We estimated that the
machine could be put in condition for
fight again in day or two.
Machine Overturned.
while We were standing about dis
cussing this last flight, sudden strong
gust of wind struck the machine and
began to turn it over. Everybody made
a rush for it. Wilbur, who was at one
end, seized it in front, Mr.. Daniels
and I, who were behind, tried to stop
It by holding to the rear uprights. All
our efforts were In vain. The machine
rolled over and over. Daniels. who
had retained his grip, was carried along
with it, and was thrown about head
over heels inside of the machine. For
tunately he was not seriously injured,
though bady bruised in falling about
against the motor, chain guides, etc
The ribs in the surface of the machine
were broken, the motor injured and the
chain guides badly bent. so that all
possibility of further flights with it for
that year were at an end"
Four flights, with total time in the
air OF but little more than a minute
and half; but it opened a new era
to the human race. Wilbur and Orville
Wright were jubilant. They knew that
their engineering principles were
sound and that they had accomplished
what the engineers and scientists of all
ages had attempted and failed to real
ize. On that cold December day, Is
years ago, they looked into a future
when man would fly and would attain
finally what next to Immortality, has
seemed the one thing that people of all
time have sought and dreamed of at
tanning.
The story of the Wright brothers
success. however, is a narrative of per-
severance in the face of almost insur-
mountable obstacles. 1t is, too. a tale
of an attachment between brothers as
remarkable in character as it was IL
lumlned by the sacrifices they made
not only for their great experiment but
for each other
Orville and Wilbur Wright had been
interested in aviation since childhood
Their minds were turned to the con-
quest OF the air as early as 1878. This
experience, in relation to later events
is of interest. The brothers described
the moment in magazine article pub
lished in 1908, at the time when they
were ready to begin trials with a ma
chlne they had contracted to deliver
TO the United States Government.
Late in the Autumn of 1873" thew
wrote, our father came into the house
one evening with some object partly
concealed in his hands and, before we
could see what 1t was, he tossed it into
the air. Instead of falling to the floor
as We expected, it few across the room
TIL 1t struck the ceiling where it fiut-
tered awhile, and finally sank to the
floor. 1t was little toy, known to
scientists as 'helicoptere.' but which
we, with sublime disregard for science
at once dubbed bat It was light
frame OF cork and bamboo, covered with
paper, which formed two screws, driven
IN opposite directions by rubber bands
under torSion. A toy SO delicate lasted
only a short time in the hands of small
boys. but its memory was abiding.
Several years later we began build
ing these helicopters for ourselves
making each one larger than that pre-
cedlng. But to cur astonishment we
found that the larger the bat the less
II new. We did not know that a ma
chine having only twice the linear di-
menslonS OF another would require
eight times the power. We finally be-
came discouraged and returned to kite
flying, a sport to which we had devoted
so mach attention that we were re-
garded as experts. But as we became
older we had to give up this fascinating
sport as unbecoming to boys of our
ages.
Authorities Studied,
ut was not till the news OF the sad
death of Lilienthal reached America, in
the Summer of 1896, that we again
gave more than passing attention to
the subject of flying. We then studied
with great interest Chanute's Progress
in Flying Machines Langley's Expert
ments in Aerodynamics the Aero
nautical Annals and several pamphlets
published by the Smithsonian Institu-
ton, especially articles by Lilienthal
and extracts from Mouillard's Empire
of the Air The larger works gave us
good understanding of the nature Of
the flying problem and the difficulties
in past attempts to solve 1t, while
Mouillard and Lilienthal, the great mis-
sionaries OF the flying cause. infected