Page:O que eu vi, o que nós veremos (1918).pdf/21

 project insanity. Hydrogen was the most explosive thing there was!

"If I intended to commit suicide, perhaps I should sit on a barrel of gunpowder in the company of a lit cigar". I couldn't find anyone to encourage me.

Nevertheless, I put into construction my No. 1, and soon after No. 2.

My experiments in the air began at the end of 1898. They were very interesting, not because of the results obtained, but because of the surprise of seeing, for the first time, an engine rumbling and roaring in the air.

I even believe that it was these experiments that led to the foundation of the Aero Club de France.

The experiments with this model did not have the desired result.

I had been too audacious, making a balloon that was too long for the means at my disposal at the time.

I abandoned that shape and built an ovoid balloon.

With the first model I had a terrible fall of several hundred meters, which very