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1907. February 20. Wednesday [[at]] Baodeck 110
Scientific [[Aueucau]]
15 Dec 1906 
[[Auceucau]] New York
16 Dec 1906

GENESIS OF THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL AEROPLANE.
In all the history of invention there is probably no parallel to the unostentatious manner in which the Wright brothers, of Dayton, Ohio, ushered into the world their epoch-making invention of the first successful aeroplane flying machine. At a time when the various experimentalists in the field of aeronautics, were dumfounded by the failure of the deservedly-renowned Langley to make a practical flight with his government-backed $50,000 machine, it was suddenly announced that two young machinists had produced aeroplane which had made a continuous flight, with one of the inventors on board, of over twenty miles at a high speed and under perfect control.
Their success marked such an enormous stride forward in the art, was so completely unheralded, and was so brilliant that doubt as to the truth of the story was freely entertained; especially as the inventors refused to give either access to the machine or make any statement to its broad details.
The Scientific American, however, wrote to the seventeen eye witnesses who were mentioned as having seen the various flights and received letters from these reputable local residents, and published extracts therefrom, which completely set at rest all doubt as to what had been accomplished. Unfortunately, the foreign aeronautical world failed to appreciate the significance of the facts as thus made known; and when Santos Dumont made his recent short flight of a few hundred feet, with a machine built on the lines of the Wright brothers’ aeroplane, he secured in Europe the credit for having made the first successful flight.
One of the editors of the Scientific American was recently accorded the first interview given to any technical journal, in which the Messrs. Wright gave some hints as to what they had actually accomplished, and outlined the investigation which led up to their final success.
After becoming interested in the problem of aerial navigation some ten years ago, the brothers experimented during several summers with a double-surface glider, with which they became so proficient that they could make long glides from the summits of the sand dunes and describe a letter S at the bottom. They improved their machine by the addition of a vertical and a horizontal rudder and a method of twisting the planes to preserve lateral equilibrium. After reaching sufficient proficiency in controlling the machine in gliding, the brothers undertook to transform it into a power-driven machine. As no light-weight gasoline motors were to be had at that time, they were obliged to build their own motor. They decided upon a four-cylinder, water-cooled, horizontal engine, which, when completed, weighed 250 pounds and developed about 16 horse-power, although it would show 24 horse-power for the first 15 seconds.
As they were unable to find any authorities giving definite rules for designing air propellers, they were obliged to work out a theory of their own on this important subject. They designed propellers for their machine and calculated the speed at which it should travel with the horse-power at their disposal. In the first trial with a motor (in December, 1903) the machine flew at practically the speed the brothers figured it should attain; which speaks well for the truth of their theory of the action of screw propellers. In this first flight the machine wrent in a straight line a distance of 852 feet against a 25-mile wind. Having proved that the glider would fly with a motor, the brothers returned home and during the spring of the following year resumed their experiments in a meadow some eight miles from Dayton, where they built a shed to house their machine. The greater part of the spring, summer, and autumn of 1904 and 1905 was spent in experimental work with the new aeroplane. A number of obscure difficulties were encountered, and it was found that the machine acted quite differently from what it did when merely gliding without a motor. In fact, with the motor installed, the operator had to make some moves for control of equilibrium exactly opposite to thôse which were necessary when the machine was simply gliding. For starting the machine, a light steel rail some 75 feet long was laid on the ground. A small carriage having two double [[anged]] wheels was placed on this rail and supported
[[ the aeroplane]] The machine was steadied by one man


Right Section [[image]]
[[Below the image]]
Start of the balloon "Dolce far Niente," in which the Hon. Mrs. Assheton Harboard won the Aero Club Cup for the longest aerial voyage without stop.

CONQUEST OF THE AIR TO BE A FEMIMINE ACHIVEMENT
[[Right side of the image]]

Hon, Mrs, Assheton Harboard Wins Cup and Orders Her Own Balloon Made
Special Correspondence to the New York American.
LONDON, Dec. 7.—Ballooning is to be the sport of women. There are already many women who make ascents for the sake of a new experience, but there are others—and their number is constantly increasing—who have taken up aeronautics seriously.
Two Frenchwomen, Mlle. Surcout and Mlle. Cache, have made a balloon trip unaccompanied by a professional aeronaut, the Princess di Teano has achieved quite a reputation by her daring flights and there are several Englishwomen who are practical and fearless ballonists.
One of these, the Hon. Mrs. Asshetor Harboard, has not only won the cup for the longest non-step flight made by a woman, but has actually ordered a balloon of her own, which is now being built by Short, of Battersea.
More than this, the cup was offered by a woman. Miss Krabbe, and the Aero Club of the United Kingdom, through which the cup was offered, was really founded on the suggestion of two women, Iltid Nicholl and Miss Vera Butler.
Mrs. Harboard’s flight was a night voyage in Frank Butler's balloon Dolce for Niente, which covered 195 miles in twelve hours.
Speaking of the new vogue Mrs. Harboard says :
“I hope that the number of women aeronauts will shortly be largely increased. I am sure if women only knew how enjoyable ballooning is they would not hesitate to make themselves at once acquainted with its unique pleasures. It is at once lhe most soothing and exhilarating sport that one can imagine or even experience.”