1919] on The Air Road 513 



person or thing of German origin, I must state the truth, that to two 

 German lads, Otto and Gustav Lilienthal, the honour belongs of 

 having been the first to take this course resolutely, and to study 

 thoroughly balancing and control. So far back as 18S5, when only 

 fourteen and twelve years of age, they took aviation up with enthu- 

 siasm, and experimented, working in secret to escape the jeers of their 

 schoolmates. With resolute perseverance they made a careful study 

 of the action of birds. Otto put some young storks into an enclo- 

 sure, and watched them as they endeavoured to fly, observing how 

 they always placed themselves so as to start against the wind, and 

 that when they came down, after blunderingly covering a few yards, 

 they always turned round and walked gravely back, and again faced 

 the wind for another attempt. Instinctively, they sought the 

 pressure of the air to hold up against gravity. In the light of their 

 observations, these lads made many experiments with various models ; 

 and ultimately, so that they might study control and balancing, con- 

 structed a wing-like frame which would enable a " glide " to be made 

 from a height, the spread-out wings retarding the action of gravity. 

 After using this "glider" from a height, to enable them to set their 

 *'ghder" to any wind they erected an artificial mound, 50 feet high, 

 sloping in all directions, so that they could always face the wind 

 pressure to aid in gliding for some distance clear of the ground. It 

 will give some idea of the work necessary for making this mound 

 w^hen I say that it contained more than 480,000 cubic feet of soil. 

 When using the " glider," the controller lay on his elbows and breast 

 on a flat surface so that his limbs might hang freely down. " Taking 

 off " from the mound, the wind partially sustained the weight, and 

 he was able to glide free of the ground, and could study control to 

 keep the balance. When any tendency to lose equilibrium by a 

 change of wind was encountered, young Lilienthal restored the 

 balance by moving his body in a counteracting direction. His 

 swinging was the same in effect — only from below instead of from 

 above— as that of the lady performer on a horizontally-stretched 

 wire. In this way, and in spite of wind changes, these lads learned 

 how the downward glide from their mound could be made safely, and 

 gained confidence in the knowledge that if mechanical power could 

 be used to push the " glider " forward it could also be controlled by 

 suitable appliances so that practical flight would be possible. Unfor- 

 tunately, when at the very threshold of success, their work ended in 

 tragedy. On his last flight Otto neglected to attach the strong spring 

 shock-absorbers, w^hich would mortify the shock of concussion should 

 any accident occur, and on losing his balance, the swing of his limbs 

 being insufficient to restore equilibrium, he fell and was killed. He 

 left behind him a fame that cannot die, and young though he was at 

 the time of his death, he is still spoken of as the greatest pioneer of 

 aviation, and many call him the " Father of the Aeroplane." 



There are two other pioneers one is bound to mention. Wilbur 



