Chapter 10
A MACHINE THAT FLYS by The Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia. A MACHINE THAT FLYS. A big box kite, driven by six propellers, soars the air at Kitty Hawk, Norfolk, Virginia, December 18. A successful trial of a flying machine was made yesterday near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,
by Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio. The machine flew for three miles in the face of a wind blowing at the registered velocity of 21 miles an hour, and then gracefully descended to earth at the spot selected by the man in the navigator's car as a suitable landing place. The machine has no balloon attachment, but gets its force from propellers worked by a
small engine. Preparatory to its flight, the machine was placed upon a platform near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This platform was built on a high, sand hill, and when all was in readiness, the fastenings to the machine were released, and it started down an incline.
The navigator, Wilbur Wright, then started a small gasoline engine which worked the propellers. When the end of the incline was reached, the machine gradually arose until it obtained an altitude of 60 feet. In the face of the strong wind blowing it, maintained an even speed of 8 miles an hour. The idea of the box kite has been adhered to in the basic formation of the flying machine.
A huge framework of light timbers, 33 feet wide, 5 feet deep, and 5 feet across the top, forms the machine proper. This is covered with a tough but light canvas. In the center, and suspended just below the bottom plan, is the small gasoline engine which furnishes the motive power for the propelling and elevating power for the propelling
and elevating wheels. There are six blade propellers, one arranged just below the center of the frame, so gauged as to exert an upward force when in motion, and the other extends horizontally to the rear from the center of the car, furnishing the forward impetus. Protruding from the center of the car is a huge fan-shaped rudder of canvas, stretched
upon a frame of wood. This rudder is controlled by the navigator and may be moved to each side, raised or lowered. No test today. Special to the Times-Dispatch, Norfolk, Virginia, December 18. No test was made today of the flying machine invented by Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton
to spend the holidays, and will at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Thursday. The Wright brothers will leave tomorrow for Dayton to spend the holidays and will return to Kitty Hawk after New Year's to perfect their invention. End of A Machine That Flies, by the Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia.
