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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0180.PDF
MARCH 27, 1909. humanity that is prone to complain that the world is out of joint. Might I ask them to devote ten minutes of their valuable time to endeavouring to put themselves into the position of the mere commonplace men and women to whom they unfold their ideas from time to time, chiefly with the aim of endeavouring to procure capital wherewith to proceed on their line of investigation. Now men make money chiefly by the possession of that quality which men call a practical mind. Those who, possessing means, do not have practical minds, usually get severed from their money sooner or later. Now a practical man is apt to set more store by the evidence of his eyes and other guess proofs than by any mere statement of claims. Therefore what chance has a claimant of impressing such a man favourably when he starts proceedings by telling him that he has evolved not a machine that works thus and thus, and that the results should be this and that, but that he has designed " the most promising aeroplane so far produced, and out and away better than Wright's." Why not give Wright a rest ? The more you talk against him the more you advertise his excellence for the very good reason that he is a miser in the use of words, a man who rarely makes a claim, a performer who always demonstrates every point with a full scale machine before he advances a single claim, and one who will not criticise the products of his rivals. Is not his world-wide success sufficient to satisfy your own ambitions ? If it is, imitate his conduct. And remember that if you have evolved a machine of original design with which flights can be made, you have something for which the world has a use; and the practical men with whom you want to get in touch will not in the least care whether it is better than Voisin's, Pelterie's, Wrights', or Bleriot's, because they have sufficient common sense to know that, whatever stage your invention has arrived at, it is a mere starting point, and that the logical inevitable processes of com- mercial development will bring it to a degree of practical perfection if the idea behind it is a right one. My advice to men with ideas to market is: " Be practical, not cussed; because you may rest assured that if anything is out of joint it is yourself, not the world. Try and see yourselves as others see you and you will stand a much better chance of getting on." These remarks have been conceived in a spirit of helpfulness. I plead for what should become one of the grandest industries, if not the grandest the world has ever known. The Press will, doubtless, prove a great medium for fostering the growth of the move- ment, but I have grave misgivings that in very many cases a large section of the daily prints will un- wittingly prove more enemies than friends to aerial locomotion, because whenever a success is achieved there is a regrettable tendency to exaggerate it, possibly with the laudable aim of drawing attention to it. But the thing has its reverse side, for when a mishap occurs, as occur they must, because man can only learn through repeated experiment, it is announced by bold type and sensational phrase. I do not believe the types of persons I have been discussing have the least notion of the impressions they create. That is why I am trying to befriend them by showing them to them- selves as another sees them. In conclusion, I do not mean that everybody en- countered at the Show in connection with various phases of the movement displayed the faults of character I have striven to correct. On the contrary, the types of which I complain were, fortunately, in a minority. Be that as it may, however, the classes were in evidence; and it were well for the health of the movement that they should modify their methods until they resemble those of rational business folk. WRIGHT'S FLYER.—Showing the motor, tank, radiator, &c. Particularly noticeable are the transmission chains,running through the tubing, to the propellers, that on the left being crossed in order that the propellers may revolve in opposite directions to neutralise their disturbing influence on the balance of the machine. 182
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