Around the World in Ten Days

by Albert Bigelow Paine

  CHAPTER IX

  THE TEST FLIGHT

  John, Paul, and Tom reached the fairgrounds a good full hour ahead ofthe scheduled start that Saturday morning. In fact, Mrs. Ross hadgiven them an earlier breakfast than usual, so that they could give theSky-Bird II a general going over before it came time for her to makeher initial flight.

  Of course all three young men were a good deal excited, although theywere careful not to let each other know it, for fear of being thetarget for a little fun from the others. In this effort at reserve,the irrepressible Tom was the least successful of the trio, as might beexpected, and when he caught John and Paul slyly winking at each otherand glancing in his direction as he nervously tried the same controlfor the third time, he blurted out: "Oh, you fellows needn't laugh atme! You're just as much on edge as I am, now that we're really goingto fly this old bird!"

  "Come, Tom, don't try to cover up your nervousness by accusing us ofthe same thing," protested Paul.

  "You're as agitated as a young kid with his first electric toy train,Tom," laughed John. "How much gasoline have we got in the tanks now?"

  "The gauge shows ten gallons," said Tom, bending down and looking atthe instrument-board in front of the pilot's seat.

  "That isn't enough for a decent flight," declared John. "We'llprobably be out for at least an hour, and we may use as much as fifteengallons in that time; that's about half the consumption of ordinaryairplanes, you know. We'll shove in twenty gallons more so as to be onthe safe side."

  "We haven't put in any oil yet," reminded Tom. "We'd better put inabout two gallons, I should say. Most planes use about a half-gallonto the hour; if we use half as much, that will give us plenty ofgrease."

  The tanks were in the lower part of the forward fuselage. With thecaps removed, a hose was inserted by Paul, and then John forced thegasoline up by a small but powerful handpump until the gauge told thatthe required additional twenty gallons were in. The same pump wouldwork with the oil also, and soon the viscid fluid had been transferredfrom the storage can on the hangar floor to its proper tank in theairplane. Thence it would feed itself up into the carbureter of theworking engine by a force-pump attached to the engine, as with thegasoline.

  The boys had just finished putting in the fuel when Mr. Giddings andBob drove up in the former's automobile.

  "I expect this is a great day for you young men?" said the publisher,with a smile of greeting to all. "I know it is a time I have lookedforward to myself for a good many months,--ever since I accepted thechallenge of the _Clarion_, in fact. Is the Sky-Bird supplied withgasoline?"

  "Yes, sir," said John; "we just got through with that job. We haveeasily enough fuel aboard now for a couple of hours' flight, and thatwill be long enough for a first one. New engines are always 'stiff'and should not be run too long at a stretch."

  "Have you run this pair yet?"

  "Oh, yes," said Bob. "We have tried them out several times, dad, andin connection with the propeller, too. They work tip-top, eitherconnected or disconnected. I tell you, when they're in connection theycertainly do make this big propeller hum!"

  "I can't understand how you can operate the propeller in here," saidMr. Giddings, much puzzled. "All the airplanes I have seen have alwaysdashed forward as soon as their propellers began to revolve underimpulse of the motor or motors; there was no restraining them. Ishould think this machine would run through the front end of the hangarhere as soon as you--"

  "Pardon me, sir," interrupted John, "but we have gone those fellows onebetter. You forget that in the drawings we showed you there was a setof brakes designed to be worked by a control within reach of the pilot,brakes which will engage these ground wheels a good deal the same asbrakes work on automobiles--by a flexible band of steel and grit-filledcotton which is made to compress over a large sort of hub on the innerside of each wheel."

  "Very good," said Mr. Giddings; "but I understand that has been triedbefore, with the result that the airplane at once tipped forward andstuck its nose into the ground, or rather tried to, smashing itspropeller to smithereens."

  "They will do that every time unless something has been devised tocounteract this tendency to pitch over," explained John. "We havedevised the thing to prevent it, Mr. Giddings."

  "See here, dad," put in Bob at this point. "Stoop down a bit and lookunder the forward end of the body here."

  His father did as requested, and Bob pointed out a circular openingabout the size of a saucer, from which protruded the end of analuminum-encased shaft bearing a small rubber-tired wheel of verysturdy proportions.

  "That is our preventer, dad," smiled his son.

  "In a few minutes we'll show you how it works," added John Ross. "Isee you are wearing a cap, sir, as I suggested. That is all thespecial dress you will need, as our enclosed cabin makes helmets andclose bundling unnecessary. We fellows will wear our regular workingtogs."

  Everything being in readiness, the four young men easily pushed the bigairplane out of the building and to a place where it would have asmooth runway for a hundred yards ahead. The weather was ideal for thetrip. There was little wind, and the few strato-cumulus clouds whichwere visible showed great stretches of azure-blue sky between them.

  "Everybody climb in," ordered Tom, with a wave of his hand. "I'llcrank her up. You take the joy-stick, John."

  All hands complied. Then Tom began to turn the big burnishedpropeller, just as John threw a lever from the inside which caused theauxiliary ground wheel to shoot down and engage the sod. At the sametime the movement of another lever by Paul set the airplane's brakes.

  Several times Tom turned the propeller around. Then, with a pop, theengine cylinders began to fire, Tom jumped swiftly back, and thepropeller whirred like a mad thing. At the same time the Sky-Bird gavea start, as though to dash forward; but beyond a steady, slightvibration of her whole body, as Tom slowed down the motor to fourhundred revolutions per minute, there was no indication to her inmatesthat she was straining to get away. Tom now quietly mounted the step,and came into the cabin, pulling the step up after him and closing theself-locking door.

  "That shows you how this third ground wheel acts, dad!" cried Bobtriumphantly to his father, who sat in a chair adjoining. "Now watchthe old girl jump ahead when Paul throws back the brake lever and hisbrother lifts the third wheel and gives her more gas!"

  The changes were made even as he spoke; the propeller's hum grew into amild roar through the cabin walls, and the Sky-Bird leaped away overthe ground, gaining momentum at every yard. To the surprise of eventwo such veteran flyers as John Ross and Tom Meeks, the airplane hadgone less than fifty yards when she began to rise as gracefully as aswallow in response to her up-turned ailerons and elevators. In lessthan ten seconds she was well up over the fair-grounds, and the roofsof all the buildings in the neighborhood were seen below them.

  John kept the machine mounting at a good angle until the altimetershowed them to be up two thousand feet. Then he straightened out theailerons and elevators, and began to run on a level keel. The otherinmates of the cabin noticed, by looking through the observationwindows, that he was gradually bearing in a great circle about the townof Yonkers. Off to the northwestward were the rugged blue crags of theCatskills, covered with patches of milk-white snow, and just in front,winding like a huge serpent among the picturesque foothills, was thesparkling Hudson, dwindling away to a mere silver thread in the north,tapering away in the same manner toward the south, where it lapped thepiers of the city of New York and immediately afterward lost itself inthe waters of the Upper Bay. Although the great skyscrapers of the bigcity itself could be dimly seen, they looked very small at thatdistance.

  Directly below them our friends could make out the familiar buildingsand landmarks of their own town as they swept past one by one, Johnpurposely flying at reduced speed so that a clearer vision could behad. He also shot down to within a thousand feet, presently, as he sawhis own home approaching. Someone, whom both John and Paul imme
diatelyrecognized as their mother, stood in the door waving a handkerchief.In recognition, Paul drew down one of the sliding windows, and put outhis head and fluttered his own handkerchief. Shortly afterward--itseemed not more than a minute--the machine was over Shadynook Hill, andBob and his father were waving a similar salute to Mrs. Giddings.

  As they swept on, men and women and children could be seen looking upfrom the streets beneath. Most of these people were used to seeingairplanes, but obviously the bright finish of the Sky-Bird II, and itsstriking eagle-like appearance created more than passing notice.

  Those in the cabin were amazed to note how effectually the new mufflerand the walls of the cabin shut out the sounds of operation. It wasvery easy for them to talk back and forth with each other by using afairly strong pitch of voice, even when the machine was running at agood rate, as it now began to do, for John once more gave the enginemore gas, and turned the airplane skyward. Up, up they shot like arocket. The hand on the dial of the altimeter moved along steadily--itreached 2 again, passed to 3, 4, 5, 6; the earth seemed literally to befalling away from them. All at once, when they were between six andseven thousand feet high, and watching the minute patches of color farbelow, which represented buildings, houses, hills, and the like, theseobjects were swept away, and through the glass plates of the cabinfloor they could see nothing but a gray vapor below them. It was alsoaround them.

  "We're passing up through a cloud," said Bob to his father, who hadnever been in an airplane before. A moment or two later, the boyadded, as the blue sky could once more be seen below, "Now we're aboveit, dad."

  "It seems to be getting colder," remarked Mr. Giddings.

  "It always gets colder the higher one goes," informed Paul.

  "I hope you're not getting cold feet, dad?" grinned Bob.

  "Oh, I'm comfortable, thank you," laughed his father. "Say, son, isn'tthis as good a time as any to try out the merits of that wireless'phone of yours? Can you work it from this height?"

  "I don't know why I can't--and three times higher," Bob said; "we'lltry it right now. When I left home I told Sis to mind the set there inmy room, and watch for my signal. We'll see now if I can get in touchwith her."

  So saying, Bob put on the wireless helmet, threw the switch, and keptrepeating, "Hello, Sis! hello, Sis! hello, Sis!" for a few moments inthe transmitter. Then he said, after a brief silence: "I get you,Betty. Won't answer you now, as I want dad to talk to you."

  With that Bob smiled, removed the headpiece, and slipped it over hisfather's head, exchanging seats with him.

  Mr. Giddings now heard a voice--the voice of his own daughter--askingquite distinctly:

  "Do you hear me, daddie?"

  "I certainly do, Betty," said he; "where are you?"

  "Here at home--up in Robert's room. I never thought I'd be sometimetalking with you when you were flying through the air. Mother justcalled upstairs and says she can't see the Sky-Bird any longer. Whereare you now?"

  "Up above the clouds somewhere just north of Yonkers," replied Mr.Giddings laconically.

  "Oh, goodness! I must run right down and tell mother. Please don't gotoo high or too far, daddie, will you?" came the clearly agitated tonesof the daughter. "Is Robert all right?"

  "Indeed he is. We'll soon be back with you and tell you all about it.Everything is working perfectly. Good-bye, Betty!"

  And Mr. Giddings arose with a pleased laugh, and hung up the helmet."I'll take off my hat to you, Robert," he said. "I never thought yourfussing at home all these years with electric batteries, buzzers, andwhat not, would amount to anything like this."

  The Sky-Bird II was now running straight ahead with the speed of thewind, John giving the craft more and more gas, and crowding her prettyclose to the limit. The wind swept by both sides of the streamlikecabin with a rushing sound like the distant roar of a huge cataract;the flexible window glass gave slightly to its pressure, but there wasno sign of it breaking. One minute they were in the midst of a cumuluscloud; the next, through it. Now they saw the faint outline of theearth, now sky; now the earth was screened by cloud, but above were theblue heavens.

  "Guess how fast we're making it now?" cried John, one eye on the dialwhich connected with the propeller-shaft.

  "A hundred miles," ventured Mr. Giddings.

  "Hundred and thirty," guessed Paul and Bob.

  "Hundred and eighty," stated the more experienced Tom.

  "All too low," said John. "We're going just exactly two hundred andfifty, if this speedometer doesn't lie!"

  He now announced that he was going to throw in the idle engine. Thiswas done successfully, and under the extra power they were soon makingthe remarkable speed of three hundred miles an hour! John then slowedup and disconnected first one motor and then the other, the airplanecontinuing to fly with unimpaired smoothness.

  As a last test, he dropped to a level of three thousand feet, at whichtime they were considerably north of Albany, and throwing theautomatic-pilot into operation calmly removed his hands and feet fromevery control except the rudder. In this fashion they ran for fifteenor twenty miles on a perfectly even keel, the apparatus automaticallyworking the elevators and ailerons of the craft as various windcurrents tended to disturb its equilibrium. At length, John gave alittle twist to the rudder, and the way the Sky-Bird began to circle,and to bank of her own accord, was a splendid sight to behold. Nohawk, sailing over a barnyard in quest of an unwary fowl, could haveperformed the trick more beautifully.

  As the flyers now headed for home they were all much elated at thesuccess of the first flight of the new airplane. And as it gracefullyswooped down into the fair-grounds a little later, coming to a stop ina surprisingly short run over the ground owing to her braking feature,this elation was increased.