His shaking was uncalled for, however, for the intrepid manager succeeded in righting up his craft, and she made one of her very best flights. The attendant at one time, when the rope came off that started it, said he was shaking from head to foot as if he had a fit of ague. The younger brother bade me move to one side for fear it might come down suddenly but I tell you, friends, the sensation that one feels in such a crisis is something hard to describe. Well, now, imagine this white locomotive, with wings that spread 20 feet each way, coming right toward you with a tremendous flap of its propellers, and you will have something like what I saw. Imagine a locomotive that has left its track, and is climbing up in the air right toward you-a locomotive without any wheels, we will say, but with white wings instead, we will further say-a locomotive made of aluminum. I was right in front it and I said then, and I believe still, it was one of the grandest sights, if not the grandest sight, of my life. When it first turned that circle, and came near the starting-point. The machine is held until ready to start by a sort of trap to be sprung when all is ready then with a tremendous flapping and snapping of the four-cylinder engine, the huge machine springs aloft. The engine is started and got up to speed. This position offers less resistance to the wind.
The operator takes his place lying flat on his face. Since they can come around to the starting-point, however, they can start with the wind even behind them and with a strong wind behind it is an easy matter to make even more than a mile a minute. It was also, in the early experiments, found advisable to run against the wind, because they could then have a greater time to practice in the air and not get so far away from the building where it was stored. They did this by running along a single-rail track perhaps 200 feet long. At first there was considerable trouble about getting the machine up in the air and the engine well up to speed.