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ing and accommodate those who wish
to take a trip through the air.

The Wright biplane, a new machine, 
which had never been run before being
brought to Detroit, is a beautiful
model. A shiny four-cylinder, 30-horse
power engine, capable of driving
the bird-like machine through the
aid at a speed of a mile a minute,
occupies a position in the center, just
to the right of the passengers' seat,
in practically the same position as
the motor seen in Detroit a year ago
in the machines driven by Hoxey and
Johnstone, who later lost their lives.

But the machine in which the members
of the Aero club took their maiden
flights yesterday and will take
them today is a much different one
from the more or less crude affairs
seen before by Detroit's. "The new
commercial model." is what the
Wright Brothers call it and it looks
as though it were made to suit the 
taste of the most fastidious pruchaser.
Also its simplicity as compared
with the earlier models appeals
to the amateur aviators. There are
nickel-plated foot controls for gasoline
feed and shiny wood and nickel
levers for warping the wings and
shaping a course in the air. The machine
gives sime evidence of having
the value of the seevral thousand dollars
for which it sells.

Seven Fly in Morning.

In the morning flights yesterday
seven people, including two women,
took trips. Mrs. Russell A. Alger was
the first Michigan woman to attempt
a trip and her sister-in-law, Mrs.
Fred M. Alger, was second. Miss
Loomis is so well pleased with her
flight of the afternoon that she is
content to take third place.

Russell A. Alger, as president of the
Aero Club of Michigan and the first
person to make application for a
flight, was to have been accorded the
honor of taking the first flight. However,
his brother, Capt. Fred M. Alger,
dared him to flip a coin and
then won the right for the first flight
from him. "After a preliminary flight
by Aviator Coffyn the men and women
were taken up for trips lasting
from 5 to 11 minutes each, Capt. Fred 
M. Alger took the "altitude record"
for the morning flights with a flight
at 600 feet above the ground.

It was 6 o'clock when much of
the breeze of the day had died down
that Aviator Coffyn announced that
the conditions were right for a
flight. He took the machine to the
north end of the golf links and, after
turning up his motor and examining
every part carefully s tarted away
from the earth like a huge swallow.

On attaining a height of 300 feet,
Coffyn began a series of tests to
assure himself that everything was
shipshape. He rose, dipped, flew to
right and left, warping the wings
of the machine again and again,
and trying out every lever and pedal.
Then, when things were running 
smoothly and he was several
hundred feet in the air, he ban
a few of the difficult movements
that have made the Wright aviators
famous.

Wheeling the biplane suddenly afted
a long southeast flight high
above the links, Coffyn began the
famous spiral dip, the movement that 
was being attempted by Arch Hoxsey,
at Los Angeles, when the latter
struck a "pocket" where the air
pressure was not what he expected
and was hurled to his death.


Thousands Thrilled.

While not as daring as was Hoxsey
when that young man thrilled
thousands of Detroit's during the
exhibition of flying during the Elks
convention here last July, Coffyn
brought cheers from the small crowd
of people who were out to watch
the flights yesterday. Around and
around in an ever diminishing circle
the machine swept always headed toward
the ground on a long incline
It was one of the most graceful
movements of the day.
 
When within a few foet of the
ground Coffyn suddenly righted the
machine and sped away across the
links at high speed. So close was
he to the ground that the flight
across the grounds became a veritable
hurlle race, as the big bird-like
machine rose from the golf bunkers.

The first passenger of the afternoon
was William E. Metzger, automobile
manufacturer and aviation
enthusiast. Tossing his hat to a
friend, Mr. Metzger climbed through
the network of tries in the front of
the passenger's seat, settled himself
firmly and announced that he was
ready. The trip was an ideal one,
extending for a mile or more to the
north of the grounds and south almost
to the lake.

"The best sport I know of," cried
Metzer, after alighting.

E. W. Lewis took the second flight,
circling above the field and reaching
a considerable altitude. R. D. Chapin,
the third passenger, was not
content with the near ground flying
and urged Aviator Coffyn to climb.
They reached an altitude of considerably
over 600 feet.

Miss Loomis Enjoys Flight.

Miss Loomis was the fourth passenger.
There was not a trace of fear
or nervousness in her walk to the
machine, only an eagerness to take
her turn at flying. She was dressed
in white, with a small red hat pinned
firmly on her head, and the right ear,
which during the flight is within a
few inches of the roaring motor,
stuffed with coton.

Once in her seat, Miss Loomis
placed a tape about the bottom of
her skirts, took a firm hold on a
convenient brace brace, smiled at her
friends, and with a nod to her mother,
who sat a little distance away in
a motor car, was off. The machine
pumped once or twice and then skimmed 
lightly as a bird across the
ground for 100 yards, barely touching
the turf. Then Coffyn pulled a lever,
pressed his foot on the pedal which
greatly increased the speed of the engine,
and the machine floated up from 
the earth at a gentle incline.

Miss Loomis 'trip lasted six minutes
and included a number of fancy
dips and curves. F. H. Clark was
the last passenger of the evening, and
it aws after sunset when he alighted.

There will be another flight, with
eight to ten passengers, beginning at
6:3 0this morning, weather permitting.
Many of those who have already
been afloat say they will go
again before the exhibition is over.


[[image]]
At the left is William E. Metzger
clares flying is the best sport he kno