“It seems to me it’s quite a lot no matter how you say it,” remarked Tom, “but with an aeroplane, it certainly pays to have everything right.”
“You can bet it does,” said Phil, emphatically. “When you’re a thousand or two feet up, it gives you a mighty comfortable feeling to know that everything is in fine condition.”
“And a mighty uncomfortable one if you think it isn’t,” supplemented Tom, with a laugh.
“I’ll say so!” agreed Phil. “But now that we’ve done so much work, let’s take a trial flight. If we find everything O. K., we can start for Texas early tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”
“Great! Fine!” exclaimed his friends.
“All right, then; hop in,” said Phil. “You spin her over, Dick, will you?”
“Sure thing,” acquiesced Dick. “Just say the word when you’re ready.”
Phil climbed into the pilot’s seat, and Tom clambered in beside him. Dick gave the big propeller a whirl, and the motor started with a roar. Phil quickly throttled it down, and Dick cast off the holding ropes and clambered to his seat.
“The old motor sounds pretty sweet,” he yelled.
Phil nodded his head, and after opening and closing the throttle a few times to warm up the engine and test its response, he “gave it the gas” and the plane glided forward over the green turf.