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There was a difference of about 100 pounds in our weight, I could carry about 90 pounds in sand bags as ballast.

Then came the instructions. Baldwin did not think that I knew anything about the show business, abd told me I must listen to him and be guided by his advise. He told me that he did not believe [[strikethrough]] that [[/strikethrough]] Santos Dumont had made the flights with which he had been credited, that he had tried his ship at Idora Park at Oakland California and that he was unable to steer the machine. Therefore, I was to start the flight, go over the big fence and shut off the motor and make a quick landing, we would then [[? marginalia]] [[strikethrough]] tow [[/strikethrough]] the ship back to the hangar and be ready for a flight on the following day. Whatever happened I must not lose the gas.

He repeated these instructions whenever we were alone, until he finally became convinced that I would do as he wished. He did not believe it was possible to make good and give an honest performance, but instead, believed in faking a flight as the old time showmen would do if they had an airship.

Baldwin told me that he had purchased a Curtiss motorcycle from a young man in San Francisco? Had a mechanic make the necessary repairs on the motor, then mount it on a frame and connect it to the propelling mechanism. The sprocket on the motor was connected to a counter shaft by a small bicycle chain, and from this counter shaft to the propeller shaft was also a small bicycle chain. On attempting to crank the motor, these chains would sometimes break, especially with motor backfire.

The propeller was made with four ask sticks in pairs, two near the bearing and the other two at the end of the shaft.