This page has been validated.
Increased Length Possible Cause.
This increase in length may have been the reason for the breakage, although it probably will never be known. The aeroplane, on the start, did not rise as well as it has in the past, but struck the ground lightly about forty feet from the end of the rail. Upon touching it rose abruptly and at such an acute angle that it might have been possible for one of the whizzing blades to strike the ground. This may possibly have caused a twist that developed into a distinct break later in the flight, precipitating the machine to the earth.
The fact remains, however, that the
