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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0156.PDF
MARCH 20, 1909, rise to so utterly misleading a report is the evidences of age and use that the machine bears. Truth to tell, it is a wonderfully handy piece of mechanism, for quite apart from the use that has been made of it, there is no brittle thing that can be hurt by handling, as the French machines evidently are, to judge by the black looks you receive if you lay a finger on them. No one minds in the least if you lend a hand in manoeuvring the Wright machine on to the starting-rail; nor does anybody instruct you to catch hold of it here and not to touch it there. The much discussed starting apparatus, that has been dispensed with on more than one occasion, though never publicly, is a light version of the ancient Roman instru- ment for hurling missiles. Should need arise, a couple of men can move it from one part of the ground to another. The 75-foot rail is the only part that needs to be changed. It is laid in one or other of three directions, according to the wind, the work of changing it over occupying about twelve minutes, so that it is a common thing to hear Wilbur Wright instruct his mechanic to have the rail changed to another direction field, being left under the planes during the 'preli- minary proceedings- that the aeroplane may remain> stable. If it chances to be your first visit to Pau, you may doubt if Mr. Wright will ever go up, so long do the preparations usually take him. The brothers and their assistants never seem to be working against time. But if you had been to Pont Long you would be well aware that there is only one signal which Mr. Wright gives, and which invariably means that a flight is about to com- mence. Until the starting-weights begin to be raised off the ground you never know whether he will order the machine back to the shed without making a flight. But the moment his willing helpers begin pulling at the rope,, you may rest assured that within the next ten minutes the machine will be rushing along the starting-rail. Oil-can in hand, with pockets bulging with " waste 'y and twine, a screw-driver, a wrench, and other less indispensable tools, Wilbur Wright, clad in a suit the trousers of which have plainly long been strangers to the press, and having a motor cyclist's type of leather coat over his jacket, usually begins proceedings by giving a " Flight" Copyright Photo. * THE MOST TICKLISH PART OF THE BUSINESS.—Here is portrayed the final art of preparation, for thestarting weight has just been hoisted, and Wilbur is about to climb out from under the machine, having fixed the rope catch. Once, in America, the catch went off unawares, and Orville had a narrow escape, his wracked shoulderbeing troublesome for months. immediately he has launched the aeroplane in flight, so that everything may be in readiness by the time he has given one pupil a lesson. The rail itself is a very flat piece of iron, laid on a piece of wood, that is admirably illustrated in the photograph published on page 128 (March 6th). The woodwork raises the rail to approxi- mately nine inches off the ground. Only two ball-bearing wheels, made solid and of about three inches in diameter, are employed. They are set one in front of the other, bicycle fashion, and spaced about a foot apart; very slight flanges are furnished to keep the wheels on the rail. The starting bogie consists of a beam just long enough to reach from one runner of the aeroplane to the other, and affixed midway, in swivel fashion, to the support on which the wheels are mounted, so that when on the rail the aeroplane can be turned round with the utmost ease. The placing of the machine on the starting bogie occupies scarcely more than a minute, one of the single- wheel trolleys on which the machine is drawn about the rapid glance over the whole machine. Then he will climb over the slack tangentially-set wires and stand ir> front of the machine, brother Orville joining him. " Right," he will say to the mechanics,' one of whom stands behind each screw. " One, two, three," is the signal, at which they put pressure on the handiest blade, thereby turning the engine over, two or three attempts- being usually needed to start the motor. The men have to be alert to get their hands clear of the propellers the instant they begin to turn, at which moment some onlookers have usually to be warned to move out of the line of the revolving blades, which are so broad at the extremities that being six feet in diameter, and turning at not more than 450 revs, a min., can be just detected if one fixes the gaze on a given spot above the upper plane. To obviate the likelihood of the blades ever striking the ground, they have been raised slightly above their former position, so that they extend above the upper plane and do not reach down to the lower one. When first tried in the new position, it was found there was an inclination to rS8
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