n another. The propeller
should in every case be designed to meet the particular conditions of
the machine to which it is to be applied. Our first propellers, built
entirely from calculation, gave in useful work 66 per cent. of the power
expended. This was about one-third more than had been secured by Maxim
or Langley.

The first flights with the power machine were made on December 17, 1903.
Only five persons besides ourselves were present. These were Messrs.
John T. Daniels, W. S. Dough, and A. D. Etheridge, of the Kill Devil
Life-Saving Station; Mr. W. C. Brinkley, of Manteo; and Mr. John Ward,
of Naghead. Although a general invitation had been extended to the
people living within five or six miles, not many were willing to face
the rigors of a cold December wind in order to see, as they no doubt
thought, another flying machine not fly. The first flight lasted only 12
seconds, a flight very modest compared with that of birds, but it was,
nevertheless, the first in the history of the world in which a machine
carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in free
flight, had sailed forward on a level course without reduction of speed,
and had finally landed without being wrecked. The second and third
flights were a little longer, and the fourth lasted 59 seconds, covering
a distance of 852 feet over the ground against a 20-mile wind.

After the last flight the machine was carried back to camp and set down
in what was thought to be a safe place. But a few minutes later, while
we were engaged in conversation about the flights, a sudden gust of wind
struck the machine, and started to turn it over. All made a rush to stop
it, but we were too late. Mr. Daniels, a giant in stature and strength,
was lifted off his feet, and falling inside, between the surfaces, was
shaken about like a rattle in a box as the machine rolled over and over.
He finally fell out upon the sand with nothing worse than painful
bruises, but the damage to the machine caused a discontinuance of
experiments.

In the spring of 1904, through the kindness of Mr. Torrence Huffman, of
Dayton, Ohio, we were permitted to erect a shed, and to continue
experiments, on what is known as the Huffman Prairie, at Simms Station,
eight miles east of Dayton. The new machine was heavier and stronger,
but similar to the one flown at Kill Devil Hill. When it was ready for
its first trial every newspaper in Dayton was notified, and about a
dozen representati