Chicago, June 17, 1904
I have yours of 14th inst. From recent French clippings I note that Santos Dumont (who will probably reach New York today) did make some preliminary tests of his No. 7 before sailing. He found that he had to change the position of his motor, and place it on the girder. He has a new 60 H.P. motor which works well, but he is going to change his suspension wires when he gets to St. Louis, in order to get farther away from the gas vent of the [bag].
Three new gliding machines of modified construction are being constructed in France. Preliminary trials in light winds gave good results with 2 of them.
I thought that your new machine was to be a duplicate of that of 1903, so that either one could be experimented with in case breakages. Is this not so?
I rather suspect that your experimental ground is not as favorable as that at Kill Devil Hill. Do you contemplate resorting to the latter spot, in order to work out your machine so that you can compete for the St. Louis prize?