which, according to his own account, gave better results than
his previous machines. 'Six or seven metres velocity of wind,'
he says, 'sufficed to enable the sailing surface of 18 square
metres to carry me almost horizontally against the wind from the
top of my hill without any starting jump. If the wind is
stronger I allow myself to be simply lifted from the point of
the hill and to sail slowly towards the wind. The direction of
the flight has, with strong wind, a strong upwards tendency. I
often reach positions in the air which are much higher than my
starting point. At the climax of such a line of flight I
sometimes come to a standstill for some time, so that I am
enabled while floating to speak with the gentlemen who wish to
photograph me, regarding the best position for the
photographing.'

Lilienthal's work did not end with simple gliding, though he did
not live to achieve machine-driven flight. Having, as he
considered, gained sufficient experience with gliders, he
constructed a power-driven machine which weighed altogether
about 90 lbs., and this was thoroughly tested. The extremities
of its wings were made to flap, and the driving power was
obtained from a cylinder of compressed carbonic acid gas,
released through a hand-operated valve which, Lilienthal
anticipated, would keep the machine in the air for four minutes.
There were certain minor accidents to the mechanism, which
delayed the trial flights, and on the day that Lilienthal had
determined to make his trial he made a long gliding flight with
a view to testing a new form of rudder that--as Pilcher
relates--was worked by movements of his head. His death came
about through the causes that Pilcher states; he fell from a