Test of the Machine.

Progress, Volume III, Issue 9, 1 July 1908, Page 309

Test of the Machine.

In the only test made the machine rose off the ice, and flew a short distance, the first time of asking. That was a marked success ; much inferior of course to the flights of Farman and Delagrange. These it might have equalled but for an accident. It was, however, an accident of a crucial character, throwing a flood of light on the uncertainties of the new mode of aviation. The cause was the buckling of the horizontal tail, due, as above described, to the upward pressure. This had been provided for, but it is clear that the data were not sufficient for calculation ; the moial is, that more information must be accumulated by practical experiment. The machine flew 318 feet, at a height of 15 feet ; then the tail buckled, and

the machine came down like a winged bird. The following is a brief account oi the trial that began so brilliantly and ended in disaster. "Owing to the warm weather and the melting of the ice on Lake Keuka, near Hammondsport, N. V., where the test was held, it was feared that it would be impossible to try the machine. Fortunately, however, a slight cold snap gave the experimenters a chance to make the trial , and on the 12th instant, upon its first test, the aeroplane flew a distance of 318 feet 11 inches, and apparently showed good stability. After running 200 feet the machine rose to a height of 15 feet, and the trial could ha\e been continued and made much longer had the horizontal tail not been damaged. The chief point to be noted is, that no difficulty was experienced in getting up in the air with

this machine, and in all probability in the near future it will be possible to make much more extended flights." The inference has been drawn that much may be expected in the near future, from this active experimenting association which has flown a machine at the first time of asking ; and it is a very fair inference indeed. Comparison with the experience of Sir Hiram Maxim in 1895, and of Santos Dumont 11 years later, and of others during the interval, in which there was no getting off the ground, shows that the association has made a very good start.