No. 2, a much more expensive aeroplane, was a combination of Montgomery’s bird wing, curved planes, set tandem, and the Wright brothers steering rudders. The large fan-tail rudder used on the Montgomery glider had been discarded in favor of the more recent fore and aft rudders used by the Wrights and Curtiss. Instead of the usual single motor, this machine carried two gyroscopic motors, one for each propeller.
Tom, whose real knowledge of aeroplanes extended but little beyond what the exuberant Bob had told him in the last few days, after a long examination of this car, looked at Bob with inquiring eyes. But Bob shook his head.
“We’d better stick to the simpler machine,” said Bob, although it was plain that he had reached the conclusion regretfully.
“I have some notion about the control of a simple engine. And I know something about manipulating parallel planes. Besides, it’s cheaper, and it’ll go fast enough for us.”
The next afternoon, Mr. Osborne, the engineer, reported back to his superior. He sat down with a sigh, shaking his head:
“I don’t know what we’re comin’ to, in this country,” he said, wiping his greasy face.
“Boys a frost?” commented President Atkinson.
“Frost?” exclaimed the expert. “That boy Balfour is a natural born mechanic. And he has a book knowledge of aeroplanes that includes nearly everything I can tell him. And that southern kid—what the other one may lack in nerve, he has. The Balfour boy made a flight alone yesterday, and this morning, he took the other kid up.”