MIRACLES OF SCIENCE 



was the fact that the main wings of the aeroplane 

 were so constructed that their rear edges could be 

 warped independently; thus varying the angle of in- 

 cidence and hence the resistance to air pressure. By 

 warping the edges of the right wings downward, 

 those of the left wings remaining stationary, the 

 machine would be made to tip to the left; the reverse 

 warping would produce the opposite effect. A method 

 was thus provided for meeting the disturbing influ- 

 ence of changing air currents and gusts of wind, 

 which otherwise would overturn the machine. The 

 vital importance of this feature of the mechanism is 

 obvious. 



But since the warping wings of the machine, while 

 stabilizing it laterally, would tend to deflect it from 

 its course, the apparatus was so arranged that a single 

 lever controlled the flexible portion of the wings and 

 the vertical rudders, the guidance of the latter 

 counteracting the disturbing influence that would 

 otherwise result from the twist of the wing tips. The 

 discovery of this combination constituted the crown- 

 ing achievement of the .Wright brothers, and made 

 their aeroplane a manageable mechanism. In other 

 words, it made the flying machine a machine in which 

 a man could fly. 



All this was accomplished, as we have seen, in 

 1903. But for a time the Wright brothers did 

 not take the public into their confidence, being chiefly 

 concerned in interesting our government in the aero- 

 plane as an auxiliary instrument of war, and it was 

 not until 1906 that the details as to the principles of 

 the wonderful aeroplane were accessible through Pat- 



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