Page:O que eu vi, o que nós veremos (1918).pdf/49

 The reader may ask me why I didn't build it sooner, at the same time as my dirigibles. It's that the inventor, like the nature of Línneu, doesn't make leaps; he progresses slowly, evolves. I began by becoming a good free balloon pilot, and only later did I tackle the problem of its steerability. I became a good aeronaut in the management of my airships; for many years, I studied in depth the petroleum engine and only when I verified that its state of perfection was enough to make it fly, I attacked the problem of the heavier than air.

The question of the airplane had been on the agenda for some years, but I never took part in the discussions, because I always believed that the inventor should work in silence; strange opinions never produce anything good.

I abandoned my balloons and my hangar in the Aero Club park.

In complete silence I worked for three years, until, at the end of July, after an Aero Club assembly, I invited my friends to watch my experiments the next day.