University of Virginia Library

Some Things to Be Learned.

He will soon learn that certain movements of the steering gear produce certain effects on the rudders. If, for instance, his machine is equipped with a steering wheel, he will find that turning the wheel to the right turns the aeroplane in the same direction, because the

tiller is brought around to the left. In the same way he will learn that a given movement of the lever throws the forward edge of the main plane upward, and that the machine, getting the impetus of the wind under the concave surfaces of the planes, will ascend. In the same way it will quickly become apparent to him that an opposite movement of the lever will produce an opposite effect—the forward edges of the planes will be lowered, the air will be "spilled" out to the rear, and the machine will descend.

The time expended in these preliminary lessons will be well spent. It would be an act of folly to attempt to actually sail the craft without them.