m*- w - Clpdigital.org

than for a brief spin, to break the American
record for distance and duration of
flight.
Her machine was not new. It was of
low power. She had asked the Curtiss
people to sell her one of their latest and
best models. This request had been
refused on the ground that she was not
strong enough to handle the larger types.
Miss Law, therefore, has demonstrated
that a woman, without special
preparation, or equipment, in a low
powered and relatively antiquated machine,
could make a new aerial record
for America. By so doing she proved
that any one of sufficient skill could do
the same. Aviation then was not a thing
for the extraordinary individual. Anyone
with health and nerve could certainly
navigate the air in a modern machine
of standard make.
Simplification of the problems of flying
have in part been accomplished by
the introduction of sound scientific principles
in the construction of the fuselage
or body. So today instead of having
an irregular shaped object
to battle against the
winds, the aviator seats ,,
TRAINING OUR AIR SCOUTS 569
himself in a boat-shaped car that glides
through the air with all the ease of a
craft navigating a stream. Nowadays,
therefore, a quiet wake is left in the stern
of our flying machines.
While, as has been stated, Miss Lawmade
her astounding record in a machine
of an old but standard model, she is not
altogether satisfied with the biplane type.
The triplane now appeals to her. This is
because of the fact that recently one of
these machines exceeded the speed record
held until then by the monoplane. She
is now experimenting with this latest
type. More than likely she will set some
new records. If she does she will
thereby give additional encouragement to
the man who believes he is willing to
drive a motor car eighty miles an hour
or a motor boat at half that speed, if
given the opportunity, but who still
shrinks instinctively at the thought of
leaving terra firma or the comparative
security of the water for the uncertain
perils of the uncharted winds and the
realm of cloudland.