a velocity of 10 to 12 meters per second (22 to
27 miles an hour). We thought it would die down before long, and so
remained indoors the early part of the morning. But when ten o'clock
arrived, and the wind was as brisk as ever, we decided that we had
better get the machine out and attempt a flight. We hung out the signal
for the men of the life saving station. We thought that by facing the
flyer into a strong wind, there ought to be no trouble in launching it
from the level ground about camp. We realized the difficulties of flying
in so high a wind, but estimated that the added dangers in flight would
be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing.

We laid the track on a smooth stretch of ground about one hundred feet
north of the new building. The biting cold wind made work difficult, and
we had to warm up frequently in our living room, where we had a good
fire in an improvised stove made of a large carbide can. By the time all
was ready, J. T. Daniels, W. S. Dough and A. D. Etheridge, members of
the Kill Devil Life Saving Station; W. C. Brinkley, of Manteo, and
Johnny Moore, a boy from Nag's Head, had arrived.

We had a "Richards" hand anemometer with which we measured the velocity
of the wind. Measurements made just before starting the first flight
showed velocities of 11 to 12 meters per second, or 24 to 27 miles per
hour. Measurements made just before the last flight gave between 9 and
10 meters per second. One made just after showed a little over 8 meters.
The records of the Government Weather Bureau at Kitty Hawk gave the
velocity of the wind between the hours of 10:30 and 12 o'clock, the time
during which the four flights were made, as averaging 27 miles at the
time of the first flight and 24 miles at the time of the last.

* * * * *

Wilbur, having used his turn in the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th,
the right to the first trial now belonged to me. After running the motor
a few minutes to heat it up, I released the wire that held the machine
to the track, and the machine started forward into the wind. Wilbur ran
at the side of the machine, holding the wing to balance it on the track.
Unlike the start on the 14th, made in a calm, the machine, facing a
27-mile wind, started very slowly. Wilbur was able to stay with it till
it lifted from the track after a forty-foot run. One of the life saving
men snapped the camera for us, taking a picture just as the machine had
r