If the rudder is inclined upward the aeroplane
shoots toward the clouds. When the rudder is parallel to the plane
of the earth's surface, the airship flies in a straight line. When
the rudder is tilted downward, down goes the craft.
I hope I have not wearied you with this description, but it was,
perhaps, needful, to enable those who have never seen an aeroplane
to understand the working principle. One point more. A gasolene
motor, very powerful, is used to whirl the wooden propeller blades
that shove the airship through the air, as the propeller of a motor-
boat shoves that craft through the water.
Faster and faster across the grassy ground went the biplane
containing Dick Hamilton and the army officers. It was necessary
to get this "running start" to acquire enough momentum so that the
craft would rise, just as a heavy bird has sometimes to run along
the ground a few steps before its wings will take it up.
"Here we go!" suddenly exclaimed the captain, and as he raised the
elevating rudder the big craft slowly mounted on a slant.
Dick caught his breath sharply as he felt himself leaving the earth.
He had once gone up in a captive balloon at a fair, but then the
earth seemed sinking away beneath him. This time it seemed that he
was leaving the earth behind.
Higher and higher they went, and Dick could feel the strong wind in
his face. His eyes were protected by goggles, made of celluloid to
avoid accidents from broken glass in case of a fall, and on his head
he wore a heavy leather helmet, not unlike those used by football
players.
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