134 ANNUAL REPOHT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



trussed together, about 5^ feet long and 1 foot wide. The auxiliarj' 

 surfaces and the mechanism controlling the warping of the main sur- 

 faces are operated by three levers. 



The motor, which was designed by the Wright brothers, has four 

 cylinders and is water cooled. It develops about 25 horsepower at 

 1,400 revolutions per minute. There are two wooden propellers, 8| 

 feet in diameter, which are designed to run at about 400 revolutions 

 per minute. The machine is supj^orted on two runners, and weighs 

 about 800 pounds. A monorail is used in starting. 



The AVright machine has attained an estimated maximum speed of 

 about 40 miles per hour. On September 12, a few days before the 

 accident which wrecked the machine, a record flight of one hour 

 fourteen minutes twenty seconds was made at Fort Myer, Virginia. 

 Since that date Wilbur Wright, at Le Mans, France, has made better 

 records, on one occasion remaining in the air for more than an hour 

 and a half with a passenger. 



A reference to the attached illustrations of this machine Avill show 

 its details, its method of starting, and its appearance in flight. 



The Herring Aeroplane. 



The Signal Corps of the Army has contracted with A. M. Herring, 

 of New York, to furnish an aeroplane under the conditions enumer- 

 ated in the specification already referred to. Mr. Herring made 

 technical delivery of his machine at the aeronautical testing ground 

 at Fort Myer, Virginia, on October 13, 1908. 



In compliance with the request of Mr. Herring the details of this 

 machine will not be made public at present, but the official tests re- 

 quired under the .contract will be conducted in public, as has been 

 the case with other aeronautical devices. Opportunity will be af- 

 forded any one to observe the machine in operation. 



This machine embodies new features for automatic control and 

 contains an engine of remarkable lightness per horsepower. 



The Farman Aeroplane. 



The Farman flying machine has two superposed aerosurfaces 4 feet 

 11 inches apart, with a spread of 42 feet 9 inches and 6 feet T inches 

 from front to rear. The total sustaining surface is about 5G0 square 

 feet. 



A box tail 6 feet 7 inches wide and 9 feet 10 inches long in rear of 

 the main surfaces is used to balance the machine. The vertical sides 

 of the tail are pivoted along the front edges, and serve as a vertical 

 rudder for steering in a horizontal plane. There are two parallel, 

 vertical partitions near the middle of the main supporting surfaces, 

 and one vertical partition in the middle of the box tail. A horizontal 

 rudder in front of the machine is used to elevate or depress it in flight. 



