"Official flight."
Everyone's attention is attracted by the announcement. Hundreds of boys crowd to the lines. The starter is doubtless known to all, as well as his record and standing in the various competitions. Hundreds of critical eyes are upon the model. It is a thrilling moment. The propellers are released, and the aeroplane starts forward under its own power.
Some leap into the air, others take the full twenty feet permitted them in getting off the ground. There are surprisingly few failures. The length of the take-off, the angle at which it rises, the altitude in the first rise, are critically observed by the young experts.
To the whir of the propellers, which form two blurred circles in the air, the model quickly climbs upward, rights itself and speeds away on its long flight. The young aviator's skill is revealed to every eye by the angle of the ascent, the altitude and the ability to gain equilibrium aloft. The more you know about aviation, the more absorbing is your interest in a flight.
A good rise is usually observed in silence. By the time the model has reached the middle of the armory, more than one hundred feet from the starting line, enthusiasm is aroused. When two-thirds the distance has been covered, the applause begins. Let the model continue without swerving to the farthest corner, and a perfectly spontaneous cheer sweeps the crowd. It is a well-deserved reward of hours of patient effort.
The official measurers take the floor on the run, dragging their tape after them. The crowd overruns the floor to gain a closer view of the model, and the young aviator receives congratulations. The distance is announced at once, and there are more cheers. There is never a dull moment at the meets. One or more machines are almost always aloft. It is as thrilling as a three-ringed circus.
CHAPTER III PARLOR AVIATION
A model glider, or aeroplane without a motor, will be found perhaps as entertaining a toy as the power-driven machine. It is much simpler, of course, to build and adjust a successful glider even than the most elementary model aeroplane. With the problem of the motor and propeller removed, the cost of construction besides is reduced to practically nothing. Here is excellent entertainment for those who have not the time or patience for model building. A graceful glide of successive waving lines makes a beautiful spectacle. Incidentally it is a good plan to work out the designs of large models in this way.
Fascinating little paper models, reproducing the famous man-carrying machines, the Wright, Bleriot, and others, may be put together in a few minutes. With a little adjustment, they may be made to fly from fifty to one hundred times their length. A paper Bleriot biplane six inches in length, for instance, may be made to sail for from twenty-five to fifty feet, and so on. This will be the actual horizontal distance traversed; the actual distance measured in long, undulating curves may be considerably more. Such flights do not consist merely of a long diagonal to earth, but of several surprising upward sweeps, well worth the trouble of construction. It is interesting to note the remarkable stability of their gliders.
