THE AIR MACHINES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 92, 18 April 1913, Page 8

THE AIR MACHINES.

BLERIOT MONOPLANE READY. ACCIDENT AT AVONDALE. The final adjustments have now been made to prepare the Bleriot monoplane at tlit Domain cricket ground for its exhH)ition flight to-morrow afternoon. W.zard Stone (the American aviator) and his mechanical staff express tbe opinion that the machine is in perfect trim, also that the engine has becii so tuned up as to render it capable of producing a maximum -amount of power. Mr Stone told a " Star" reporter to-day that he is completely confident of securing a good rise and providing a flight that will be a fitting send-off to the airship movement iv this Dominion. He also remarked that he was looking forward to being the first man to master the air in Now Zealand. After the exhibition flight here it is proposed to take the monoplane to Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. To-morrow's flight will be made at 3.15 p.m., and, as an additional attraction Mr. Percy Cornwall is give exhibitions in his 100 h.p. Mercedes racing car. A few cnthusisasts gathered at Avondale last evening in anticipation of an attempted flight by the locally-imported Farman biplane. The conditions were ideal from the airman's point of view, and the machine was in splendid trim. Since the short preliminary flights were made a few dSys ago, some slight adjustments had been effected to ensure the perfect balancing of the machine, and Messrs. Sanford and Miller, the young engineers in charge, were confident that success was at last within reach. Unfortunately, however, a small dog interfered with the Tcstilt, and the attempt has accordingly beeii postponed for a few days. The engine had been started, and the whirr of the big wooden propeller was all that indicated its presence, for it revolved at such a great rate that it was impossible to see it, when the dog, who had been Tunning about unnoticed,-suddenly ran in under the machine, and across" the course of tho propellor, being killed instantaneously, and hurled across the paddock as though shot from a catapult. Tho blades of the propeller were complctly shattered. Some slight damage was also suffered by the framework, but it is expected that this can be remedied within a few days.