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[[strikethrough]] 144 [[/strikethrough]] 146
per hour. This [[strikethrough]] power [[/strikethrough]] speed, with only a 5 horse power motor gave the airship an average of five miles per horse power per hour. I believe that this is a record that has never been equaled by any type of aircraft. We exhibited that season at Detroit, Grand Rapids. Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Los Angeles. 
 
CURTISS BECOMES A COMPETITOR
Glen H. Curtiss had constructed [[strikethrough]] built [[/strikethrough]] several aeroplanes at Hammondsport. His early work was sponsored by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Curtiss had won the Scientific American Trophy for flying publically a distance of a mile for the first time in American history. He then built a flying machine which he called the "Golden Flyer". He exhibited this at Morris Park, New York and made one straight flight. He sold the machine to the Aeronautical Society which engaged Charles F. Willard to fly it. Charlie taught himself to fly with this machine at Mineola, Long Island; meantime, the Society was making every effort to secure exhibition contracts for him. Curtiss made another flying machine with an eight cylinder motor. This was the aeroplane with which he wond the Gordon Bennett Trophy at Rheims, France.

The Wrights had delivered their machine to the Army and were teaching officers of the Army Signal Corps to fly at the flying field at College Park, Maryland. As newspapers printed accounts of all the flights the public became very curious and wanted to see a demonstration of these new machines. Had we been able to secure and to fly an aeroplane the potential profits would have staggered any auditor. No one knew this better than I as I had been offered three times my top price if I could secure a flying machine for exhibition purposes.

Transcription Notes:
reopened for editing: -corrected misspelled word 'on' to 'one' -corrected misspelled word 'amchine' to 'machine' -added space to correct 'verycurious' to 'very curious'