A Machine that Flies by The Watchmen and Southron Lyrics
A MACHINE
_
THAT FLIES.
The Wright Brothers Declare that
They Have Solved the Problem
of Navigating the Air.
"Dayton, O., Jar. 6.-The Wright
-brothers, inventors ot' the flying'
machine which has attracted such
widespread attention, have prepared
the following, which they say is the
first correct statement cf the successful
trials made by them:
"On the morning of Dec. 17, between
10.30 and noon, four flights were made,
two by Orville Wright and two by Wil¬
bur Wright. The starts were ail made
from a point on the level and about
200 feet west of our camp, which is
situated a quarter of a mile north of
Kill Devil Sand, in Dare county, N.
C. The wind at the time of the flight
had a velocity of 27 miles an hour at
10 o'clock and 24 miles an hour at
noon as recorded by the anemometer
at the Kitty Hawk weather bureau
station. This anemometer is 30 feet
from the ground. Our own measure¬
ments, made with an anemometer at a
height of fbur feet from the ground,
showed a velocity of about 22 miles
when the first flight was made and
22f^ when the last flight was made.
The flight was made directly against
the wind. Each time the machine
started from the level ground by its
own power with no ssistance from
gravity or other source whatever.
After a run of about 40 feet along the
monorail track which held the ma¬
chine eight inches from the groundd,
it rose from the track and under th&
direction of the operator climbed up«
ward on an inclined course until a
height of eight or ten feet from the
ground was reached, after which the
course was kept as near horizontal as
the wind gusts and the limited skill
of the operator would permit. Into
the teeth of a 25-mile gale the 'flyer'
made its way forward with a speed of
10 miles an hour over the ground and
30 to 35 miles an hour through the air.
It had previusiy been decided that for
reasons of personal safety these first
trials should be made as close to the
ground as possible. The height chosen
was scarcely sufficient for manoeuvering
in so gusty a wind and with no
previous acquaintance with the con¬
duct of the machine and its controll¬
ing mechanism. Consequently the first
flight was short. The succeeding
flights rapidly increased in length and
at the fourth trial a flight of 59 sec¬
onds was made in which the machine
flew a little more than half a mile
through the air and a distance of more
than 852 feet over the ground. The
landing was due to a slight error oí
judgment on the part of the operator.
After passing over a little hummock
of sand in attempting to bring the
machine down to the desired height
the operator turned the rudder too far
and the machine turned downward
more quickly than had been expected.
The reverse movement of the rudder
was a fraction of a second too late to
prevent the machine from touching
the ground and thus ending the flight.
The whole occurrence occupied little
if any more than one second of time.
"Only those who are acquainted
with practical aeronautics can appre¬
ciate the difficulties in attempting the
first trials of a flying machine in a 25-
mile gale. As winter had already set
in, we would have postponed our
trials to a more favorable season, but
for the fact that we were determined
before returning home to as¬
certain whether the machine
possessed sufficient power to
withstand the shock of landing and of
sufficient capacity of control to make
a flight safe in boisterous winds as
well as in calm air. When the points
had been defiaately established we at
once packed our goods and returned
home, knowing that the age of the fly¬
ing machine had come at last.
"From the beginning we have em¬
ployed entirely new principles of con¬
trol and as all the experiments have
been conducted at our own expense
without assistance from any individ¬
ual or institution, we do now feel
ready at present to give cut any pic¬
ture or detailed description of the ma¬
chine. "
_
THAT FLIES.
The Wright Brothers Declare that
They Have Solved the Problem
of Navigating the Air.
"Dayton, O., Jar. 6.-The Wright
-brothers, inventors ot' the flying'
machine which has attracted such
widespread attention, have prepared
the following, which they say is the
first correct statement cf the successful
trials made by them:
"On the morning of Dec. 17, between
10.30 and noon, four flights were made,
two by Orville Wright and two by Wil¬
bur Wright. The starts were ail made
from a point on the level and about
200 feet west of our camp, which is
situated a quarter of a mile north of
Kill Devil Sand, in Dare county, N.
C. The wind at the time of the flight
had a velocity of 27 miles an hour at
10 o'clock and 24 miles an hour at
noon as recorded by the anemometer
at the Kitty Hawk weather bureau
station. This anemometer is 30 feet
from the ground. Our own measure¬
ments, made with an anemometer at a
height of fbur feet from the ground,
showed a velocity of about 22 miles
when the first flight was made and
22f^ when the last flight was made.
The flight was made directly against
the wind. Each time the machine
started from the level ground by its
own power with no ssistance from
gravity or other source whatever.
After a run of about 40 feet along the
monorail track which held the ma¬
chine eight inches from the groundd,
it rose from the track and under th&
direction of the operator climbed up«
ward on an inclined course until a
height of eight or ten feet from the
ground was reached, after which the
course was kept as near horizontal as
the wind gusts and the limited skill
of the operator would permit. Into
the teeth of a 25-mile gale the 'flyer'
made its way forward with a speed of
10 miles an hour over the ground and
30 to 35 miles an hour through the air.
It had previusiy been decided that for
reasons of personal safety these first
trials should be made as close to the
ground as possible. The height chosen
was scarcely sufficient for manoeuvering
in so gusty a wind and with no
previous acquaintance with the con¬
duct of the machine and its controll¬
ing mechanism. Consequently the first
flight was short. The succeeding
flights rapidly increased in length and
at the fourth trial a flight of 59 sec¬
onds was made in which the machine
flew a little more than half a mile
through the air and a distance of more
than 852 feet over the ground. The
landing was due to a slight error oí
judgment on the part of the operator.
After passing over a little hummock
of sand in attempting to bring the
machine down to the desired height
the operator turned the rudder too far
and the machine turned downward
more quickly than had been expected.
The reverse movement of the rudder
was a fraction of a second too late to
prevent the machine from touching
the ground and thus ending the flight.
The whole occurrence occupied little
if any more than one second of time.
"Only those who are acquainted
with practical aeronautics can appre¬
ciate the difficulties in attempting the
first trials of a flying machine in a 25-
mile gale. As winter had already set
in, we would have postponed our
trials to a more favorable season, but
for the fact that we were determined
before returning home to as¬
certain whether the machine
possessed sufficient power to
withstand the shock of landing and of
sufficient capacity of control to make
a flight safe in boisterous winds as
well as in calm air. When the points
had been defiaately established we at
once packed our goods and returned
home, knowing that the age of the fly¬
ing machine had come at last.
"From the beginning we have em¬
ployed entirely new principles of con¬
trol and as all the experiments have
been conducted at our own expense
without assistance from any individ¬
ual or institution, we do now feel
ready at present to give cut any pic¬
ture or detailed description of the ma¬
chine. "