He concentrated all his powers on making a fine landing. When he
was ready to come down he shut off his engine and dipped the
biplane slightly. She answered like a bird, and started gliding
earthward delightfully, planing at a perfect angle.
While Joe was not far up, he had never flown a machine before at that
height, and consequently his volplane seemed to occupy a longer
time than it should have done. His fingers itched to start the
engine again and raise the elevator just enough to arrest the downward
swoop, and transform it into a soft glide, nicely calculated so
that it would bring the wheels of the chassis into contact with
the ground without any shock. He was over-keen on that landing,
realizing that so many pairs of eyes were on him.
The earth came up toward him just a shade too fast to suit him.
Then he decided that the right moment had come, lifted his elevator
slightly, started the engine for a few turns, and wondered if he
had done the thing well.
He had not.
Joe, in his anxiety and inexperience, had pulled up his machine a
little too quickly.
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