220 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 
tractor propeller mounted on the steel frame, well forward, as shown 
in the photographs. It was hoped in this way to spare the original 
engine and propeller bearings, which were none too strong for the 
unusual burden added by the floats. In 1903 the total weight of 
pilot and machine had been 830 pounds; with the floats lately added 
it was 1,170 pounds; with the Curtiss motor and all ready for flight 
it was 1,520 pounds. But notwithstanding these surplus additions 
of 40 per cent and 85 per cent above the original weight of the craft, 
the delicate wing spars and ribs were not broken, nor was any part 
of the machine excessively overstrained. 
Owing to the pressure of other work at the factory, the aeroplane 
equipped with the Curtiss motor was not ready for further flights till 
September. In the absence of Mr. Curtiss, who had gone to Cali- 
fornia in August, a pupil of his aviation school, Mr. Elwood Doherty, 
volunteered to act as pilot. 
During some trials for adjusting the aeroplane controls and the 
center of gravity, Mr. Doherty, on the afternoon of September 17, 
planed easily over the water, rose on level wing, and flew about 450 
feet, at an elevation of 2 or 3 yards, as shown by the accompanying 
photographs of that date. Presently two other like flights were 
made. Mr. Doherty found that with the forewings at 10° incidence, 
the rear ones at 12°, and the pilot’s seat on the main frame about 
midway between the wings, the flier responded nicely to the move- 
ments of the pilot wheel. A slight turn of the wheel steered the 
craft easily to right or left, a slight pull or push raised or lowered it. 
The big double tail, or rudder, which responded to these movements, 
was the only steering or control surface used. The breaking of the 
8-foot tractor screw terminated these trials for the day. The waves 
indicate the strength of the wind during the flights. 
On September 19, using a 9-foot screw, Mr. Doherty began to make 
longer flights. A pleasant off-shore breeze rippled the water, but 
without raising whitecaps. A dozen workmen, lifting the great tan- 
dem monoplane from the shore, with the pilot in his seat, waded into 
the lake and set it gently on the water. A crowd of witnesses near 
at hand, and many scattered about the shores, and on the lofty vine- 
clad hills, stood watching expectantly. When some of the official 
observers and photographers, in a motor boat, were well out in, the 
lake, a man in high-top boots, standing in the water, started the pro- 
peller, and stepped quickly out of the way. Then with its great 
yellow wings beautifully arched and distended, the imposing craft 
ran swiftly out from the shore, gleaming brilliantly in the afternoon 
sun. At first the floats and lower edges of the rudders broke the 
water to a white surge, then as the speed increased they rose more 
and more from the surface. Presently the rear floats and the rudders 
cleared the water, the front floats still skipping on their heels, white 
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