proved to be perfect, and the power, supporting surface, guiding and equilibrium-preserving effects of the rudder also. The weight of the model was 58 pounds, its sustaining surface 66 square feet, and the horsepower from 22 to 3.

This was the first time in history, so far as I know, that a successful flight of a mechanically sustained flying machine was made in public.

The flight was not as long as had been expected, as it was found afterwards that one of the workmen, in his zeal to insure an especially good one, had overfilled the gasoline tank, which would otherwise have enabled a flight several times as long. However, as such a flight would have given absolutely no more data than the short one did, and as the delays in getting ready for testing the large machine had already far exceeded what was expected, it was thought best not to make any more tests with the small one, as all of the data which were desired had been procured, and it was accordingly stored away and every energy immediately concentrated in getting the large machine ready for its first test, which at that time seemed only a few days away.

During all these delays it may be remarked that we necessarily resided near the house boat, and therefore in a region of malaria, from whose attacks a portion of us suffered.

I have spoken of the serious delays in the test of the small machine caused by changed atmospheric conditions, but they proved to be almost negligible compared with what was later experienced with the large one. I have also alluded to the fact that the necessarily light ribs of the large sustaining wing surfaces were covered with several coats of a special marine varnish which many tests had shown enabled the glue to withstand submersion in water for more than twenty-four hours without being affected. This water test was made with a view to guarding against the joints of the ribs being softened when the machine came down into the water, as it was planned for it to do at the close of its flight, and these submersions had apparently shown that no trouble need be anticipated from the effects of the sustaining surfaces getting wet. It is an instance of the unpredictable delays which present themselves, that when preparations had been begun for the immediate trial of the large machine, already down the river, it was found that every one of the cross ribs had been rendered almost useless by the damp, though under shelter. As it would take months to build new ones, a temporary means of repairing them was used. There were other delays too numerous to mention, but chiefly incident to working over the water, some of the principal of which were due to storms dragging the house boat from its moorings and destroying auxiliary apparatus, such as launches, boats, rafts, etc., to say nothing. of the time consumed in bringing workmen to and from the scene of

the experiments. The propellers were even found to break under the strain of the actual engines in the open, though they had not done so in the shop, and this is mentioned as another instance of the numerous causes of trying delay which it was impossible to foresee.

Finally, however, on the 3d of September, everything seemed to be in readiness for the experiments, and the large aerodrome was accordingly placed in position and all orders given and arrangements made for a test that day. After stationing the various tugs, launches, etc., at their predetermined positions so that they might render any assistance necessary to the engineer or the aerodrome, in case it came down in the water at a point distant from the house boat, and after the photographers, with special telephoto cameras, had been stationed on the shore in order that photographs with their trigonometrical data might be obtained, from which speed, distance, etc., might be later determined, and when every one was anxiously expecting the experiment, a delay occurred from one of the hardly predictable causes just mentioned in connection with the weather. An attempt was made to start the engine so that it might be running at its proper rate when the aerodrome was launched into free air after leaving the track, but the dry batteries used for sparking the engine, together with the entire lot of several dozen which were on hand as a reserve, had become useless from the dampness.

I have merely instanced some of these causes of failure when everything was apparently ready for the expected test, but only one who was on the spot and who had interest in the outcome could appreciate trials of this sort, and the delays of waiting for weather suitable for experiments.

It was found that every storm which came anywhere in the vicinity, immediately selected the river as its route of travel, and although a ten-mile wind on the land would not be an insurmountable obstacle during an experiment, yet the same wind on the river rendered it impossible to maintain the large house boat on an even keel and free from pitching and tossing long enough to make a test.

While speaking of the difficulties imposed by the weather, it should also be understood that to take the aerodrome in parts from under the shelter of the roof and assemble and mount it upon the upper works was a task requiring four or five hours, and that during this time a change in the weather was altogether likely to occur, and did repeatedly occur, sufficient to render the experiment impossible. Experience has shown, then, that the aerodrome should be sheltered by a building, in which it shall be at all times ready for immediate launching. During all the delay resulting from this and other causes-since it was never known on what day the experiment might take place-a great expense for tug boats waiting at a distance of forty miles from

the city, was incurred, and this was a part of the continuous drain on the pecuniary resources, which proved ultimately more fatal than any mishap to the apparatus itself.

Following the 3d of September, and after procuring new batteries, short preliminary tests inside the boat were made in order to make sure that there would be no difficulty in the running of the engine the next time a fair opportunity arrived for making a test of the machine in free flight. Something of the same troubles which had

been met with in the disarrangement of the adjustments of the small engine was experienced in the large one, although they occurred in such a different way that they were not detected until they had caused damage in the tests, and these disarrangements were responsible for broken propellers, twisted shafts, crushed bearings, distorted framework, etc., which were not finally overcome until the first of October. After again getting everything in apparent readiness, there then ensued a period of waiting on the weather until the seventh of October (1903), when it became sufficiently quiet for a test, which I was now beginning to fear could not be made before the following season. this, the first test, the engineer took his seat, the engine started with. ease and was working without vibration at its full power of over fifty horse, and the word being given to launch the machine, the car was released and the aerodrome sped along the track. Just as the machine left the track, those who were watching it, among whom

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were two representatives of the Board of Ordnance, noticed that the machine was jerked violently down at the front (being caught, as it subsequently appeared, by the falling ways), and under the full power of its engine was pulled into the water, carrying with it its engineer. When the aerodrome rose to the surface it was found that, while the front sustaining surfaces had been broken by their impact with the water, yet the rear ones were comparatively uninjured. As soon as a full examination of the launching mechanism had been made, it was found that the front portion of the machine had caught on the launching car, and that the guy post, to which were fastened the guy wires which are the main strength of the front surfaces, had been bent to a fatal extent.

The machine, then, had never been free in the air, but had been pulled down as stated.

The disaster just briefly described had indefinitely postponed the test, but this was not all. As has been said before, the weather had become very cold, and the so-called equinoctial storms being near, it was decided to remove the house boat at the earliest time possible, but before it could be done a storm came up and swept away all the launches, boats, rafts, etc., and in doing so completely demolished the greater part of them, so that when the house boat was finally removed to Washington, on the fifteenth of October, these appurtenances had to be replaced. It is necessary to remember that these long series of delays worked other than mere scientific difficulties, for a more important and more vital one was the exhaustion of the financial means for the work.

Immediately upon getting the boat to Washington the labor of constructing new sustaining surfaces was begun, and they were completed about the close of November. It was proposed to make a second attempt near the city, though in the meantime the ice had formed in the river. However, on the eighth of December, 1903, the atmosphere became very quiet shortly before noon and an immediate attempt was made at Arsenal Point, quite near Washington, though the site was unfavorable. Shortly after arriving at the selected point everything

2 Major Macomb, of the Board of Ordnance, states in his report to the board, that "the trial was unsuccessful because the front guy post caught in its support on the launching car and was not released in time to give free flight, as was intended, but, on the contrary, caused the front of the machine to be dragged downward, bending the guy post and making the machine plunge into the water about 50 yards in front of the house boat."

This instantaneous photograph, taken from the boat itself and hitherto unpublished, shows the aerodrome in motion before it had actually cleared the house boat. On the left is seen a portion of a beam, being a part of the falling ways in which the front wing was caught, while the front wing itself is seen twisted, showing that the accident was in progress before the aerodrome was f-ce to fly.

was in readiness for the test. In the meantime the wind had arisen and darkness was fast approaching, but as the funds for continuing the work were exhausted, rendering it impossible to wait until spring for more suitable weather for making a test, it was decided to go on with it if possible This time there were on hand to witness the test the writer, members of the Board of Ordnance, and a few other guests, to say nothing of the hundreds of spectators who were waiting on the various wharves and shores. It was found impossible to moor the boat without a delay which would mean that no test could be made on account of darkness, so that it was held as well as possible by a tug, and kept with the aerodrome pointing directly into the wind, though the tide, which was running very strong, and the wind, which was blowing ten miles an hour, were together causing much difficulty. The engine being started and working most satisfactorily, the order was given by the engineer to release the machine, but just as it was leaving the track another disaster, again due to the launching ways, occurred. This time the rear of the machine, in some way still unexplained, was caught by a portion of the launching car, which caused the rear sustaining surfaces to break, leaving the rear entirely without support, and it came down almost vertically into the water. Darkness had come before the engineer, who had been in extreme danger, could aid in the recovery of the aerodrome, the boat and machine had drifted. apart, and one of the tugs, in its zeal to render assistance, had fastened a rope to the frame of the machine in the reverse position from what it should have been attached and had broken the frame entirely in two. While the injury which had thus been caused seemed almost irreparable to one not acquainted with the work, yet it was found upon close examination that only a small amount of labor would be necessary in order to repair the frame, the engine itself being entirely uninjured. Had this accident occurred at an earlier period, when there were funds available for continuing the experiments, it would not have been so serious, for many accidents in shop tests had occurred which, while unknown to the general public, had yet caused greater damage and required more time for repair than in the present case. But the funds for continuing the work were exhausted, and it being found impossible to immediately secure others for continuing it, it was found. necessary to discontinue the experiments for the present, though I decided to use, from a private fund, the small amount of money

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* Major Macomb again states in his official report to the board: "The launching car was released at 4:45 P.M. . . . The car was set in motion and the propellers revolved rapidly, the engine working perfectly, but there was something wrong with the launching. The rear guy post seemed to drag, bringing the rudder down on the launching ways, and a crashing, rending sound, followed by the collapse of the rear wings, showed that the machine had been wrecked in the launching; just how it was impossible to see.”