ic attachment to the tail. This machine
proved a success, it being safe and manageable. Over 700 glides were
made with it at angles of descent of 8 to 10 degrees, or one in six to
one in seven.

First Proposed by Wenham.

The elastic tail attachment and the trussing of the connecting frame of
the superposed wings were the only novelties in this machine, for the
superposing of the surfaces had first been proposed by Wenham, but in
accordance with the popular perception, which bestows all the credit
upon the man who adds the last touch making for success to the labors
of his predecessors, the machine has since been known by many persons as
the "Chanute type" of gliders, much to my personal gratification.

It has since been improved in many ways. Wright Brothers, disregarding
the fashion which prevails among birds, have placed the tail in front
of their apparatus and called it a front rudder, besides placing the
operator in horizontal position instead of upright, as I did; and also
providing a method of warping the wings to preserve equilibrium. Farman
and Delagrange, under the very able guidance and constructive work of
Voisin brothers, then substituted many details, including a box tail for
the dart-like tail which I used. This may have increased the resistance,
but it adds to the steadiness. Now the tendency in France seems to be to
go back to the monoplane.

Monoplane Idea Wrong.

The advocates of the single supporting surface are probably mistaken. It
is true that a single surface shows a greater lift per square foot than
superposed surfaces for a given speed, but the increased weight due to
leverage more than counterbalances this advantage by requiring heavy
spars and some guys. I believe that the future aeroplane dynamic flier
will consist of superposed surfaces, and, now that it has been found
that by imbedding suitably shaped spars in the cloth the head resistance
may be much diminished, I see few objections to superposing three, four
or even five surfaces properly trussed, and thus obtaining a compact,
handy, manageable and comparatively light apparatus. [2]

CHAPTER II. THEORY, DEVELOPMENT, AND USE.

While every craft that navigates the air is an airship, all airships are
not flying machines. The balloon, for instance, is an airship, but it is
not what is known among aviators as a flying machine. This latter term
is properly used only in referring to heavier-than-air machines which
have no gas-bag