STORY OF THE WRIGHTS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9477, 21 June 1909, Page 2

STORY OF THE WRIGHTS.

, A HAED STEUaaLK. In the London Times of May 3rd a correspondent gives the following' aooount of the work of Messrs Wilbur and Orville Wright, the successful aeronauts The life story of the Wrights is a simple narrative of intense interest, in which the force of character of these two men is revealed in a remarkable light. Born in 1867 and 1871 respectively, Wilbur and Orville Wright had a hard straggle to make their way in life. Their bent was towards engineering, and had they not something more in their characters they would have made clever engineers of a itype too wellknown in America to be very remarkable. As it was the Wrights drifted eventually into bicycle making and dealing, an industry which at one time was lucrative in the United States. Lilienthal’s death at Berlin in 1896 when attempting to soar in the air on his gliding machine had aroused much interest in the United States, as the earlier feats of the famous German had shown that glides of several hundred yards could ibe accomplished on machines with fixed wings. Obanuto, Herring, Langley, and other men in America took np the idea, and soon hastened on development. Almost by accident the Wrights were drawn into thegmatter, and with the ambition of young men they dreamed of carrying the work further^than the other researchers, and of overcoming that fatal instability which had brought disaster to so many other experimenters, The double-deck aeroplane as we know it to-day had already made its appearanob, due probably to the invention of an Englishman, Wenham, who has never been honoured even in his own country for tbe remarkable work he accomplished. It had been the intention of Lilienthal to affix a small petrol motorpo his gliding machine; and the same idea was entertained by Percy Pilcher, another young English engineer, who losthis_life lo a daring attempt at flight. Thus,* When the Wrights, about 1900, came to take a practical interest in flying machines, they had before them both the suggestion of the double-decker gliding machine and tbe application thereto of the petrol motor. They, attacked the problem in its earliest stage, however, and showed a forethougbt and shrewdness which in no small degree brought them through the danger period that had cost so many other men their lives. At that time it was the practice of aviators to leap off some height with their gliding machine, hoping to come to the earth by a long, gradual glide. But so imperfect was the balance of these machines that, if any aerial disturbance arose, the glider wasgalmoat certain to topple over. and drop to the earth with great force. The operator stood upright in the early machines, but the Wrights hit upon the bold expedient of lying prone in order to secure greater stability and reduce head resistance ; and for their practiceground they selected the coast of North Carolina, where a remarkably steady wind blows and where convenient sandhills are to be found for jumping-off points. The strong, steady breeze afforded them great assistance, as it gave the machine a reliable sustaining power without those irregular gusts which had been disastrous to most other aviators. Thus, with scarcely a mishap, they were able to carry out glides of remarkable length, and they gained invaluable experience In Jthe handling of the machine in the air. Their longest glide was 622 ft., made in October, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. /

The machine waa now practical enough to have a petrol motor fitted on it, and in the following year this work waa begun. Again, with characteristic independence, the Wrights set about making a motor of their own, a feat of no mean engineering skill atf that period, when America was, far behind Europe in motor engineering. The engine was fitted by December, 1903, and in that~year they made flights ranging in duration from 13 to 59 seconds. On the last occasion they covered over 260 yards; and these we may take to be the first authentic and successful flights of a motor* propelled aeroplane, though they are not yet officially recognised. Over a hundred short flights were secretly {made in 1904, many new points cropping up for correction when circular flight was attempted. Further improvements were made in 1905, and a remarkable series of trials in a field near Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a distance of 24 1-5 miles being flown on October 6th, 1905—a record which has as yet been beaten by only one other aviator in the world. Most of the flights had been made in secret, but they were carefully checked and timed by one of the brothers, and we can accept them without hfcsitation. The later per-

formanoes near Dayton attracted so ' much attention, however, that the Wrights ceased demonstrations for some "time. Details of the flights made in 1905 were published in a few papers in this country; and as I had followed the career of the Wrights very closely for years previous, and had been in correspondence with them, I made some effort in this country to arouse attention, but without success, Mr Patrick Alexander and a few other enthusiasts also worked hard to establish the claims of the Wrights, bat very little credence was given to tbe reports. Satisfied that they had now evolved a practicable machine, the Wrights endeavoured to discover ga purchaser of their patents and secrets, but they found the task even more difficult than building a successful machine. They were met with incredulity on every side, their claims were laughed at, and the idea of making a machine fly through tbe air for miles was frankly stated to be impossible by many engineers and experts. It was perhaps a mistake of the Wrights to abstain from making public trials, but they had hoped to find a purchaser in some military Power without showing their machine to the. world. It was a vain hope. These were perhaps the bitterest years in the careers of the Wrights, and they were reduced to dire straits. In 1905 some interest was aroused in Europe,where the Voisin Brothers, Archdeacon, Ferher, and others in France had been experi-

menting without any signal success. Santos Dumont had made a short flight in September, 1906, and this was regarded as the first time a sneoeseful free flight had been made by an aeroplane. His feat stirred others

to emulation; and In JOotober, 1907, Farman created a sensation by flying over 800 yards It was not, however, until early in 1908 that Farman and Delagrange startled the world with the undeniable proof that machines could be made to fly through the air. By April distances up to seven miles had been travelled. The subject watf taken up "with wild enthusiasm in France, the Wrights were boldly challenged to come from their seclusion, and it looked as if French aviators stood without a rival in the world.

Driven almost to despair the Wrights . finally decided upon the great move of their lives—the giving proof in public that |they could fly. Wilbur went to Europe whilst Orville remained in America In order to prove simultaneously in two continents the truth of their assertions.

Wilbur Wright reached France in July, 1908, at a time when Farman, Delagrange, and other French aviators were the heroes of the day. Alone, without friends or believers, the American grimly set up his little shed, produced his crude-looking machine, and prepared it for trial. Luck was against him. For many days his engine, possibly for climatic reasons, did not work well, and the French critics gibed at him unmercifully. At length he made a few short flights. They were inferior to the French records, and Wright was made the butt for farther sneers.

Earlyfin September Orville made his first great flight before the array authorities in the United States, and by travelling for 57 minutes he beat ail records. But the French critics would not "accept the American records; and on September 17th, when the unfortunate disaster occurred in which Lieutenant Selfridge was killed and Orville Wright was lamed for life, Wilbur had to face a storm of adverse criticism in France.

However, on September 21st ho made the record flight of 56 miles, thus at once outclassing all the other performances. He took up passengers, he made fresh records, and then triumph came quickly It is ail fresh history how he won his cause in France, how he went to Pan, and trained pupils who have already beaten almost all the other aviators; how Kings came to visit him, and Cabinet Ministers [fly with hinh Never was {triumph more deserved, seldom has it been so complete.

The Wrights have still detractors and critics. Their machines are by no means perfect; their plans are certainly not the last word in flying machine construction ; but we must give them full credit for being the first men 'successfully to build and fly practical aeroplanes. They have given their lives to the work, they haveladvanced the practical side of aviation more than all others, and they stand out as men of genius whose names will go down to posterity. The character of the two men is in itself a study worthy of attention, that of the gnm, taciturn, determined elder brother being in strange [contrast, and yet quite complementary to the younger man, who is cast in a softer mould, and is perhaps more of the scientist, yet with all the daring ,and courage of the elder. All their work has been in common, and they form an extrordinary alliance of character and genius.