“Never fear,” answered Bud. “I had hopes for a minute, but they were like all my other chances.” And he whistled. “You’re it and I’m nit. Come on, let’s forget our troubles.”
As he smiled and held out his hand again, Lafe had not the heart to refuse it.
“Now,” went on Bud enthusiastically as the two lads limply clasped hands, “we’re on the job. What’s doin’?”
Within a few minutes, the rivalry was forgotten, at least temporarily. The only headway made so far was in the mounting or setting up of a few sections of the frame. More than half of the work was yet to be done; the front and rear rudders were to be attached and levers adjusted; the vulcanized silk covering of the two planes had to be put in place and stretched; the landing skids bolted on; the engine, gasoline tank, and water cooler put in place and tested; the batteries wired; the propellers and shafts located; the chain gears and guards attached, and, possibly most important, the starting rail and weight derrick constructed. And it was then nine o’clock.
“Let’s get started right,” suggested Bud, “now that you have everything unpacked. Before we go any further let’s see where we stand.”
As a result of a nearly thirty-minute conference, these were the conclusions: A mechanic must be found at once, if possible, to adjust the engine, oil it and get it running; a carpenter must also be secured to start to work by midnight on the starting track; these things arranged for, the two amateurs agreed that, together, they could have the aeroplane itself so far set up by daylight as to give assurance to the fair directors that the day’s program could be carried out.
“And then,” suggested Lafe, “I suppose T. Glenn Dare will sail in on the noon train and steal our thunder.”
“He can’t steal mine,” laughed Bud. “I’ll have been through this thing by that time from top to bottom. That’s all I want—that, I can get,” he added with another laugh.
The first stumbling block was the launching device. This essential part of any aeroplane flight is usually a single wooden rail about eight inches high, faced with strap iron. As it is necessary with most modern aeroplanes to make a run before sufficient sustention is secured to force the machine into the air, it is evident that this starting impulse must be secured through an outside force.
The specifications forwarded with the airship purchased by the fair authorities, called for the long wooden rail. On this the aeroplane was to be balanced on a small two-wheeled truck. At the rear end of the rail, the plans called for a small derrick, pyramidal in form, constructed of four timbers each twenty-five feet long and two inches square braced by horizontal frames and wire stays.