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165
The Aeroplane Speaks. Fifth Edition
·
H. Barber
43
[Footnote
12:
Getting
out
of
my
depth?
Invading
the
realms
of
fancy?
Well,
perhaps
so,
but
at
any
rate
it
is
possible
that
extraordinary
speed
through
space
may
be
secured
if
means
are
found
to
maintain
the
impulse
of
the
engine
and
the
thrust-drift
efficiency
of
the
propeller
at
great
altitude.]
[Footnote
13:
Box-kite.
The
first
crude
form
of
biplane.]
PART
IV
'CROSS
COUNTRY
The
Aeroplane
had
been
designed
and
built,
and
tested
in
the
air,
and
now
it
stood
on
the
Aerodrome
ready
for
its
first
'cross-country
flight.
It
had
run
the
gauntlet
of
pseudo-designers,
crank
inventors,
press
"experts,"
and
politicians;
of
manufacturers
keen
on
cheap
work
and
large
profits;
of
poor
pilots
who
had
funked
it,
and
good
pilots
who
had
expected
too
much
of
it.
Thousands
of
pounds
had
been
wasted
on
it,
many
had
gone
bankrupt
over
it,
and
others
it
had
provided
with
safe
fat
jobs.
Somehow,
and
despite
every
conceivable
obstacle,
it
had
managed
to
muddle
through,
and
now
it
was
ready
for
its
work.
It
was
not
perfect,
for
there
were
fifty
different
ways
in
which
it
might
be
improved,
some
of
them
shamefully
obvious.
But
it
was
fairly
sound
mechanically,
had
a
little
inherent
stability,
was
easily
controlled,
could
climb
a
thousand
feet
a
minute,
and
its
speed
was
a
hundred
miles
an
hour.
In
short,
quite
a
creditable
machine,
though
of
course
the
right
man
had
not
got
the
credit.
It
is
rough,
unsettled
weather
with
a
thirty
mile
an
hour
wind
on
the
ground,
and
that
means
fifty
more
or
less
aloft.
Lots
of
clouds
at
different
altitudes
to
bother
the
Pilot,
and
the
air
none
too
clear
for
the
observation
of
landmarks.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
