A MAN WHO FLIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13942, 30 June 1909, Page 3

A MAN WHO FLIES.

AEROPLA>iIS\ INTERVIEWED

Those who pictuV; an aeroplane as a silent, stealthy, sweeping tiling, gliding noiselessly through the air, have no idea of what ~n leroylane is like. "It's about ihe ibisiest thing on earth," said Mr De "Fries to a Melbourne "Argus" representative. Mr De Fries has come oit under agreement to Messrs J. and ». Tait, to give public exhibitions of flyng. He went on: —" There is a 30 h<rse-power engine. It has no .silencer, and no exhaust, and it makes a deadening noise. The propellers—two grelt whirling fans—are driven 'hy chain belts from the engine, and they just abmt double the noise when they start. You can hear an aeroplane coming haf a mile away. There is no such tiing as silence about it. There su« vibration after you start, though wlile.. the engine is being tuned up, and tie ma-« chine is standing on the skids, every particle of it -attles and jumps. The aeroplane has to be held down. <r it would' jump off the rail

"I use one of Wilbur Wrigit's aeroplanes. It is 3bout 60ft from ip to tip of the wings. It is startid along a rail by means of a powerfil spring and a weight of 15 cwt. whici is so arranged that as it drops it pullt the aeroplane aloug a rail. The propellers are going 500 revolutions a minute, the engine is roaring away, and, if you are skilful and,lucky, at the end of about 'OO yards of rail the machine gracefully soars into the air at a speed of about 30 miles an hour. You have to travel at 30 miles an hour. The engine has only one speed. When you want to stop you pull a string, and the engine stops. Then you drop to tiie ground, Jown a gradient of about 10 degrees, and, if you are still iucky. you laud en toth skids, and pull up without breaking anything. Generally you break something. I am revealing no secret when 1 tell you that we have set- aside -.i very large sum |jcr week for repairs. We will keep the boatbuilders. Susy. Aeroplane repairing is like boatbuilders' work.

'What does it '[eel like to fly? It is the finest sensation there is. It is better than motor car racing—a lot better. It is also a little more dangerous. It is a single man's game. If I were married I'd never go up in an aeroplane again—unless I was unhappily married. I ustd xo be an enthusiastic motor -acer. I have raced three times in the Diep]>e circuit, and I overturned going at 70 miles an hour once, and had a cliafi'eur killid. In an aeroplane you are only going 30 miles an hour, but there is more risk of accident. In a motor you always have a chance to strike a soft sjxit, or fall on your '•hanffeur. When the smash comes in :<n af-nolanc you've got to drop 40ft or 50ft probably, and then you hit the grouiiti at 30 miles an hour.

"It is like motor racing in this. too, that the night be fire, when you get into bed, you start t> worry, nnd ask yourself why yi>u ;;r" such a fool as to risk your ;icck. Then you get to sleep, and in *he morning you are nervous and strung-up. Just before you start you feel in a real funk. Everybody is the ■ame. But once the actual start takes place all thac is forgotten. You delight it the sensation of danger and risk. Of course, in an aeroplane— especially if you have had a few accidents during the last few days—you are hoping ali the time that you'll get back to earth safclv

"I learnt at Uie aerial school at Cannes, in France. Conite de Lambert taught me. I bought an aeroplane from the company which is making Wilbur "Wright's machines. ~sl. Clemenccau. son of tlr* French Premier, is the managing director of the company. Prince Jindiiwill is one of the directors, and when my machine i-ame down to Cannes five of the directors a and their wives came with it with their motor ears, Jnd watched its first flight. Xone of them has ever have wives. I was five weeks learning, been up in an aeropline. Tbfv all "During that time I spent four or five hours in the air. You can't fly every day. Of course soma people learn more quickly than others, as they do to ride a bicycle or drrc a motor. It

Jias to become instinctive. The best time to fly is about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, after the sun has gone down W'lule the sun is up there are eddies of air, and these are dangerous. If an aeroplane tilts with you it conies down witn a run. You can't fall out, but the wliolo xhing falls to the earth. It is only kept up by its resistance to the air, and, ns .soon as the wings get sideways on, there is uoing to be a smash. The wings are provided with chains for bending them in a parabolic curve at vhe tips to escape the eifect of eddies. If you watch an albatross flying you will see it do the same thing. The whole business is a question of skill in managing +hc aeroplane. You must know intuitively what is the right thing to do, and do it. You can't sit still and look up what to do in a book of directions.

"The best place to fly is in an open space with trees round it. It is probable, that I shall fly on the racecourses. 1 am rushing round Australia now selecting sites. I will not fly in public till well in the spring. It is no use Hying one day, when the weather may keep you from going up again for a fortnight. ' 'People will get terribly keen on coining up as passengers. You can announce that I will be pleased to take up with me any one who wants to come. I can take only one at a time, wf course. I shall also be glad to teach anyone who wants to buy an aeroplane how to nso it and work it. It is an entrancing game, and there are sure to bo a number of Australians who will want aeroplanes of their own. A Wilbur Wright machine costs about £IBOO to £2OOO.