306 SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



the other ; for he believed that a single surface large enough 

 to support a man could not be controlled on account of its 

 great size. He performed some interesting experiments, but 

 he was not able to accomplish a flight. 



About twenty years later Otto Lilienthal, in Berlin, carried 

 on experiments in gliding or soaring. He used large wings, 

 and starting from a height of fifty feet or less he would glide 

 with the wind. In one of these flights he was killed. 



Langley's experiments. Professor Langley of Washington, 

 D. C., carried on some successful experiments about twenty 

 years ago which contributed much to the progress of flying 

 machines. He built a small model of a flying machine not 

 large enough to carry a person. It was provided with two 

 sets of wings about twelve feet wide and the whole machine 

 was about sixteen feet long. It was driven by a propeller 

 turned by a small steam engine. It was steered by a rudder 

 which worked automatically. After several years of ex- 

 perimenting, the machine made a successful flight in 1896, 

 remaining in the air for a minute and a half. This was the 

 first flying machine ever made that actually propelled itself 

 through the air driven by an engine. It is amazing to think 

 of the progress that has been made in the twenty years that 

 have elapsed since then. 



Wright Brothers. In our own country the Wright brothers 

 carried on successful experiments in gliding during 1900 and 

 the years following. They found that a vertical rudder in 

 the rear was the best method of steering to the left and right, 

 and that a horizontal rudder in the front was the best means 

 of guiding the machine up and down. In 1902 they ac- 

 complished a glide of 300 yards. In 1903 they attached an 

 engine to one of their machines and made their first successful 

 flight. Two years later they made a flight of 24 miles and 

 landed in safety. 



In 1908 Wilbur Wright took his machine to France and 

 demonstrated the practical value of the airplane. He re- 



