Story of the Aeroplane

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Galbreath Charles Burleigh. Story of the Aeroplane

The Ocean of Air

Early Attempts at Aviation

Early Flying Machines

Nineteenth Century Experiments

Claims of Maxim and Ader

Langley’s Tandem Monoplane

Experiments with Gliders

Aviation at the Beginning of the Present Century

The Kite

The “Plane” Defined

Essentials of the Aeroplane

The Wright Brothers and Their Problem

Balancing the Machine

At Kitty Hawk

The First Flight

Machine Balanced by Warping of Planes

Newspaper Reports Verified

Trial Flights at Fort Meyer

Fatal Accident

Wilbur Wright Wins Fame in France

Wright Brothers Honored

United States Government Requirements Successfully Met

Recent Improvements

Future of the Aeroplane

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“The birds can fly and why can’t I?”

This query of Darius Green’s, in various forms, has suggested itself to man since the dawn of history. Born with an inspiration to look upward and aspire, the navigation of the air has appealed with peculiar force to his imagination and through the centuries has at different times led bold and adventurous spirits to attempt what the world long regarded as impossible. The heavens seemed reserved for winged insects, birds and angels. Audacious man might not venture out upon the impalpable air. Can man fly? After more than four thousand years it was left for man to answer yes, to rise from the earth on wing and thrill the world “with the audacity of his design and the miracle of its execution.” Bold enterprise! Fitting achievement to usher in a new century! A seeming miracle at first, but destined soon to excite no more curiosity than the flight of bees and birds. The solution of the problem of human flight was no miracle nor was it the swift work of genius accomplished at a magic master stroke. It was the result of intelligence and industry patiently applied for years till the barriers of difficulty gave way and man ventured out with assurance on the highways of the air.

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In 1742 the Marquis di Bacqueville at the age of sixty-two attempted to make a gliding flight from the tower of his home in Paris across the river Seine to the gardens of the Tuileries, started successfully in the presence of a great multitude, but suddenly halted over the river and fell into a boat, paying the historic penalty of a broken leg.

At this point it may be well to classify the flying devices thus far considered.

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