But he won the Michelin Prize of eight hundred pounds by
beating previous records for speed and for the time which any
machine had remained in the air. He gave exhibitions also in
Germany and Italy and instructed Italian army officers in the
flying of Wright machines. At this time Orville was giving
similar demonstrations in America. Transverse control, the
warping device invented by the Wright brothers for the
preservation of lateral balance and for artificial inclination in
making turns, has been employed in a similar or modified form in
most airplanes since constructed.
There was no "mine" or "thine" in the diction of the Wright
brothers; only "we" and "ours." They were joint inventors; they
shared their fame equally and all their honors and prizes also
until the death of Wilbur in 1912. They were the first inventors
to make the ancient dream of flying man a reality and to
demonstrate that reality to the practical world.
When the NC flying boats of the United States navy lined up at
Trepassey in May, 1919, for their Atlantic venture, and the press
was full of pictures of them, how many hasty readers, eager only
for news of the start, stopped to think what the initials NC
stood for?
The seaplane is the chief contribution of Glenn Hammond Curtiss
to aviation, and the Navy Curtiss Number Four, which made the
first transatlantic flight in history, was designed by him.
Pages:
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231