pressure to between eight and nine atmospheres, and
immediately the speed increased considerably, and the vibrations of
the wheels were no longer sensible; we were at that moment at the point
marked G in the sketch; the "Avion" then found itself freely supported
by its wings; under the impulse of the wind it continually tended to go
outside the (prepared) area to the right, in spite of the action of
the rudder. On reaching the point V it found itself in a very critical
position; the wind blew strongly and across the direction of the white
line which it ought to follow; the machine then, although still going
forward, drifted quickly out of the area; we immediately put over the
rudder to the left as far as it would go; at the same time increasing
the pressure still more, in order to try to regain the course. The
"Avion" obeyed, recovered a little, and remained for some seconds headed
towards its intended course, but it could not struggle against the wind;
instead of going back, on the contrary it drifted farther and farther
away. And ill-luck had it that the drift took the direction towards
part of the School of Musketry, which was guarded by posts and
barriers. Frightened at the prospect of breaking ourselves against these
obstacles, surprised at seeing the earth getting farther away from under
the "Avion," and very much impressed by seeing it rushing sideways at
a sickening speed, instinctively we stopped everything. What passed
through our thoughts at this moment which threatened a tragic turn would
be difficult to set down. All at once came a great shock, splintering, a
heavy concussion: we had landed.'

Thus speaks the inventor; the cold official mind gives out a different
account, crediting the 'Avion' with merely a few hops, and to-day, among
those who consider the problem at all, there is a little group which
persists in asserting that to Ader belongs the credit of the first
power-driven flight, while a larger group is equally persistent in
stating that, save for a few ineffectual hops, all three wheels of the
machine never left the ground. It is past question that the 'Avion' was
capable of power-driven flight; whether it achieved it or no remains an
unsettled problem.

Ader's work is negative proof of the value of such experiments as
Lilienthal, Pilcher, Chanute, and Montgomery conducted; these four set
to work to master the eccentricities of the air before attempting to
use it as a supporting medium for contin