balloon, five or six aeroplanes, three riders--Maloney, Wilkie,
and Defolco--and had sixteen applicants on my list, and had a
training station to prepare any when I needed them.

'Exhibitions were given in Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Clara,
Oaklands, and Sacramento. The flights that were made, instead
of being haphazard affairs, were in the order of safety and
development. In the first flight of an aeronaut the aeroplane
was so arranged that the rider had little liberty of action,
consequently he could make only a limited flight. In some of
the first flights, the aeroplane did little more than settle in
the air. But as the rider gained experience in each successive
flight I changed the adjustments, giving him more liberty of
action, so he could obtain longer flights and more varied
movements in the flights. But in none of the flights did I have
the adjustments so that the riders had full liberty, as I did
not consider that they had the requisite knowledge and
experience necessary for their safety; and hence, none of my
aeroplanes were launched so arranged that the rider could make
adjustments necessary for a full flight.

'This line of action caused a good deal of trouble with
aeronauts or riders, who had unbounded confidence and wanted to
make long flights after the first few trials; but I found it
necessary, as they seemed slow in comprehending the important
elements and were willing to take risks. To give them the full
knowledge in these matters I was formulating plans for a large
starting station on the Mount Hamilton Range from which I could
launch an aeroplane capable of carrying two, one of my aeronauts
and myself, so I could teach him by demonstration. But the