The Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army in December, 1907, had issued specifications, and invited bids, for a flying machine apparently far in advance of the art. The flyer was to carry two men aggregating 350 pounds, was to remain aloft one hour continuously, and was to maintain an average speed of 40 miles an hour in a cross-country flight to and fro, covering a distance of ten miles. The contractor must instruct two officers to operate the flyer. Furthermore the machine must be capable of flying 125 miles without stopping. The requirements seemed severe, even to those well versed in aviation. Nevertheless two bids were received; one from the Wright brothers for a biplane to cost $25,000, another from Mr. A. M. Herring for a biplane costing $20,000. Both bids were accepted for the summer of 1908; but only the Wright contract was eventually carried out.
About the same time the Dayton inventors had sold their patent rights in France to a syndicate in that country. The contract specified a machine for two passengers, having a speed of 50 kilometers an hour, and a range of 125 miles. Furthermore, the inventors agreed to instruct three pupils to manage the aëroplane. The fulfillment of these two contracts occupied some months, but presented no formidable difficulties. Though neither of the brothers had ever flown an hour, and though both were comparatively unskilled as operators, they had such faith in their invention that they undertook to launch themselves publicly in untried machines, Wilbur Wright in France, Orville in America, at about the same time.
Of these two tests, the one conducted by Orville Wright at Fort Myer, near Washington, was the most successful at first. After a few brief preliminary trips, he suddenly astonished the world by phenomenal flying. On the morning of September 9, 1908, he made a voyage above the drill ground lasting 57 minutes, 31 seconds, and again in the evening another flight lasting one hour and three minutes, this time before a throng of distinguished spectators. Immediately thereafter he took aboard Lieut. Frank P. Lahm for a flight of six minutes’ duration. These records were improved day by day, and all things seemed propitious for the official tests of speed and endurance. But on September 17th, while sailing with Lieutenant Selfridge at a height of about 75 feet, a blade of the right-hand propeller struck and loosened a stay wire of the rear rudder. Instantly the wire coiled about the blade, snapping it across the middle. Thereupon the machine became difficult to manage, and plunged headlong to earth, throwing the men with their faces on the bare ground, fatally wounding Lieutenant Selfridge, and seriously injuring Mr. Wright. Lieutenant Selfridge did not recover consciousness, and died within three hours, from wounds on the forehead and concussion of the base of the brain. Mr. Wright suffered a fracture of the left thigh and of two ribs on the right side. The aëroplane was badly shattered in its framing, but the engine was practically intact. This accident terminated the tests for the season; but ere long a date was set for their resumption during the following year.
PLATE XXVI.
WRIGHT BIPLANE OF 1908.
STANDARD WRIGHT BIPLANE OF 1910.
