Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 92, Number 54, 4 March 1922 — Page 16

PAGE TWO

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM. SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1922

famous AviatorsVIriterest in Flying Aroused by Toy

.Wright Brothers, Who Made First Successful Plane- Once Lived in Richmond. , Circus days are always too far ' apart They cam as seldom, back In the years between 1880 and 1885 In Richmond as they do nowadays So,; one day two certain Richmond boys decided to have a show of their own. These boys were . brothers, Wilbur, 13 years old, and Orville, 9, and the show was to be In their barn. It was to be an ani mal show and the "animals" were from a very fine collection of stuffed animals and bird3 which belonged to Mr. Johnson, who was the father of Mrs. Grosvcnor, who now lives on North Eleventh street, In this city. What a fine thing It would be to have the show advertised in the paperj thought the boys. So, Wilbur wrote a story about It, telling about the show and the parade (for there was to be a parade, too!) and giving the line of march for the parade, which was to be along "Main and North A streets, though; North A was then called North Broadway. I But would it be printed? that 1 was the big question. There were

r : i

Drawn for the Junior Palladium from a photograph. First type of Wright Machine Operated In 1900 as kite. Ropes controlling the levers were manipulated from the ground.

no junior newspapers then and they were not at all sure that the "big paper" (as we call it now) would accept it. The boys decided to try, though, and so, taking their story, they started for the .newspaper office. Up and down the square In front of the office several times they walked, until finally they got up enough courage to drop it in the letter box and then they "beat it." All the next day they wondered if the story would be "in." They could scarcely wait till evening for the paper to come. At last it came "'and the boys searched eagerly for their story. Sure enough, there it was! My, but they were pleased. The show was given and was a big success. The crowd was so large that the people could not be accommodated In the barn, so probably they had to give a second, and perhaps, a third "performance." Great Honors Paid Aviators Rest Lightly with Them Have you guessed who these boys were? They were the Wright brothers of Dayton, the men who later planned and built and flew the first succesful airplane in the world. They lived In Richmond between the years 1SS1 and 1884 and it was then that they gave their show Mr. Orv ille Wright told this story with merry interest to the editor of the Junior Palladium a few days ago in his Dayton office as he very kindly told a little about hid and his brother, Wilbur's first interest and experiments in flying, for the Junior readers. Many great honors and signs of appreciation of their work have been given these two men by people all over the United States and by scientists and kings and queens in many foreign countries, but these seem to have meant little in comparison .with the enthusiasm and Joy they have felt In their work. Mr. Orville Wright is living j Tii wnrkine constantly in nis office and laboratory in Dayton, I

with one idea to improve aircraft,

Mr. Wilbur Wright, the older brother, died a few years ago, but the work being done in the Wright office, teems still the work of the "Wright Brothers." The brothers were so long together in their work that people, honor them both in the same thought. Mr. Wright is kindly and simple and graciou3 in his manner,- eager when speaking of his work. Achievement and honor rest lightly upon his shoulders. First Successful Airplane Not a Result of "Chance" If you junior readers think that it was by some "lucky chance" that these men made flying in the air in a heavter-than-air machine possible, you had better lose that idea right now, for a tiny reading of their earliest plans and expert ments will show you how they rea soned to the tiniest detail In agreement with the laws of science which had to do with flying, and how they figured to the smallest degree in their measurements. It is because they thought so long and so clearly that they were able to so successfully acomplish thing3 based on that thought For a long time before the Wrights began their work, planes had been thought of tried, especially in France and Germany, but they could v not be controlled they turned upside down. The Wright Brothers be lieved planes could be built to fly in the air. They thought auout an the laws of science which were con nected with flying and then they figured and figured and planned to the tiniest measurements, wnat size and shape and weight a plane should be to be able to fly in the air. When all these measurements and plans were made and tested and found to agree with the laws of science, the plane was built Was it a success? It certainly was. The problem of control or balance was solved and the dream men had dreamed for many years, "came true." t Bamboo Toy Given Wright Boys Interested Them in Flying Have you any idea how these bovs first became interested in flying? It was through a toy. ' This I3 the way it happened: One day when Orville Wright was seven vears old (Wilbur was then about 11) their father, a bishop, had been away and as daddies often do, when he came home he brought them a present. The family ' wa3 then living in Cedar Kapids, la. This present was a toy called a "flying screw" by many, thnucrh scientists called it a "heli coptere." The boys, however called it "a bat" for when wound up with a rubber band and then released, it would fly as high as the tree tops. It wa3 a delicate toy of cork and bamboo, with parasol shaped things of bamboo covered jvith tissue paper at each end which turned around rapidly in different directions. A small sketch giving some idea of what this toy was like, is shown on this page. Soon the boys made other toys like this one for themselves am; their friends. When they made bigger ones like it, they did not fly soi well and tney could not unaerstana why. But later they understood, when they learned a law of science

Discovering How to Keep Plane Right Side Up, Was Wrights'. Big Achievement.

that they had lost their proportions, for a toy twice as big as the first one in measurements, needed eight times instead of twice as much power to raise It After this, though, for several years they did not think anything special about flying. They did, however, always like to fly kites. Brothers Begin First Experiments in Carolina When Orville Wright was 16 years old, the family moved to Dayton. About thi3 time, the boys were reading whatever they could find, about flying. In 1896, the great German scien tist, Lllienthal, died. Lilienthal had been successful in making a plane in which, when it had been carried to the top of a hill, he could glide safely down to earth. Stories about his experiments interested the Wright brothers. What fine sport that would make, they thought. So with the idea of having fun with it, rather than with any serious thought of making it a business, they began reading and studying more about it It was in 1900 that the Wright brothers went to the seashore of North Carolina at Kitty Hawk where there wa3 plenty of wind and few people and there they built a little camp and began experiments. They built a machine which' they planned to fly as a kite, with a man on board. It was found that they needed stronger winds to make this successful, so they flew it as a kite without a man on it, working the levers through cords from the ground. After these experiments they realized that the tables of air pressures which were then being used, were all wrong, and they set out to make their own tables and measurements, basing them on fundamental laws of science and their own experiments. Someone has said of them when they decided to do this .that it was as if a sea captain, in order to cross the ocean, must work out the science of navigation from the beginning, build his own ship, invent a compass and sextant, and make out tables of latitude and longitude. A picture of this first Wright machine is shown in connection with this story. You can see the ropes by which it was operated. In 1902 the Wright .brothers built a glider based on their own figures and it performed just as they had reasoned it would. With this machine, they would go to the top- of a hill near Kittyhawk named Kill Devil Hill (not a very cheerful name, wa3 it?), get onto the nlane. lying down on it and glide down to earth, or as they called it they would "coast downhill on the air." .Testing this glider, they could fig - ure out exactly how much power was used, and so they learned from it many important things, though the longest flight in the glider was scarcely more than a minute. Finding this work fascinating they were drawn into it deeper and deeper and they began planning bigger and bigger things which they believed could be accomplished in the air. First Famous Flight in Power Machine Made 1303 By 1903 they had figured that a machine could be made with a motor and a propeller that would fly with its own power up as well as

Drawn for the Junior Palladium from a sketch. "The Bat," a soaring toy given the Wright Brothers at an early age.

down, and in that year their first

power machine was built. Severe weather postponed the first trial with it but at last all was ready for the attempt. The brothers tossed a coin to see who should make the first trial with it The lot fell to Wilbur, but he was not sue1 cessful in getting started. The plane was damaged a little in the attempt and : several days were spent in repairing it This time it was Orville's turn. It was a very cold day, Dec. 17, 1903, that the second trial was made. The machine was placed on the track and the motor started. The machine left its track easily and started to rise, jerkily to be sure 'but to rise! That time everything went well and a flight of 12 seconds was made a flight which will be always remembered. That seems a very short length of time for a flight, doesn t it yet that was the first time in history, that a machine carrying a man, had gotten itself into the air by Its own power, had sailed forward on a level course without any lessening of speed, and had landed without being wrecked. Four flights were made thdt morning, each new one longer than the one before with a few men from a nearby Life Saving station and a boy, Johnny Moore, .whose home was not so very far away, as the only outsiders to see them. Wilbur made the fourth and long-

j-ia.Yvu iur me junior iiua.uium irom ya pnoiograpn.

First fligh of the Wright Brothers' Dec, 17, 1903. Machine just after against a wind of 24 est flight that day, remaining in the air for 59 seconds, and covering a distance of 852 feet, against a wind of 25 miles an hour. Happy over it? Of course. But they had believed in their figures and thought that a machine made according to their measurements would fly. They had expected it to lfIy - Th?!r experiment after this trial became no longer play, but the most absorbing object in life. At once they went to work harder than ever, planning and testing and improving. A picture of this first power machine, drawn from a photograph taken of it on its first flight on Doc. 17, accompanies this story. I-ook at it closely and compare it with the ordinary airplane of today. All this time they were gaining RIDDLES 1. Doctor Long Xpects Doctor - miss Short to Xplain the be standing tween them, stand 2. take to takings you throw my n's, two o's, one 1, 3. Two and a d; Now, put them together and spell them to me. ?ii them -r E yAad. Eloise Collins, Fountain City, r CAN YOU GUESS? 1. Who was the first man? 2. Who was the first woman? 3. Who was the oldest man? Answers will be found in another part of the Junior Palladium. The feminine voting strength of the United States is approximately 30,000,000.

First Flight ; Made on Bitter Cold, Windy Day in Carolina on Dec. 17. 1903. y

more skill in handling their machines. Reports of their work were published in Europe, especially in France and Germany but very little belief and interest was shown In their work in America at that time. People seemed just to laugh at the idea (and that isn't strange it was such an unbelievable thing) and forget all about it . The motor of this first power machine is In Mr. Wright's labora tory today. The wings, too, of this first plane are there, but are carefully boxed up. Mr. Wright Works to Secure More Speed for Less Power Mr. Wright is now working to perfect the airplane to secure the most speed for the smallest amount of power spent. To do this he i3 testing many different sizes and shapes of planes. In his laboratory a tunnel has been built through which a current of air can be sent In this he puts different shaped wings (small models of them, rather) and measures the amount of air pressure it takes to lift them and to push them through the air. Real planes are made from these first power machine Kill Devil Hill, lifting from the track, flying miles per hour. models in right proportion, but very much larger. The ordinary flying machine today is 10,000 times as big as the model or measure of the first power machine, Mr. Wright said. We have seen during the war and in government mail service and in many other lines of activity how practical and useful and interesting a thing the airplane has become. Distances have been shortened to an immense extent or so it seems because the speed is so much greater than that of a train or vessel, and the air has been won for travel. In this splendid achievement the Wright brothers are the foremost figures and these great results have grown from an interest which was first aroused by a clever little toy. AT BETTY'S HOUSE Jennie like3 to play with little girls,. Although she's jealous of her curls. When she goes over to Betty's house, You have to be still a3 a mouse, And act like a little lady, Because they have a little baby. A. M. C. The Englishman Again. One time an American said to an Englishman: "Did you hear that snap?" "What snap?" Questioned the Englishman. "Ginger snap," replied the American. The Englishman thought he would play it upon another Englishman and he said, "Say, pard, did you hear that snap?" "What snap?" was the reply. "Sponge cake." Contributed by Helen Saxton, 6A grade, Starr school.