in the air. If he will keep cool, manipulate his apparatus
so as to preserve its equilibrium, and "let nature take its
course," he will come down gradually and safely to the
ground at a considerable distance from the starting place.
This is one advantage of starting from an elevation--
your machine will go further.

But, if the aviator becomes "rattled"; if he loses control
of his machine, serious results, including a bad fall
with risk of death, are almost certain. And yet this
practice is just as necessary as the initial lessons on
level ground. When judgment is used, and "haste made
slowly," there is very little real danger. While experimenting
with gliders the Wrights made flights innumerable
under all sorts of conditions and never had an accident
of any kind.

Effects of Wind Currents.

The larger the machine the more difficult it will be to
control its movements in the air, and yet enlargement is
absolutely necessary as weight, in the form of motor,
rudder, etc., is added.

Air currents near the surface of the ground are diverted
by every obstruction unless the wind is blowing
hard enough to remove the obstruction entirely. Take,
for instance, the case of a tree or shrub, in a moderate
wind of from ten to twelve miles an hour. As the wind
strikes the tree it divides, part going to one side and