"Chocks Away... Anyone Got A Light?"

"At the Oakland Airport, California, U.S.A. a short time ago a silent airplane slanted across the sky, showing a thin trail of white vapour. It was so silent in operation that spectators heard the pilot shout a greeting to those on the ground. He banked into a turn, and was watched sliding to a landing, and, with the propeller spinning backwards, roll to a stop in less than a hundred feet. This was Mr. William Besler giving his first demonstration flight, and it was, we think, for the first time in history that a man had flown in a steam-driven aeroplane...
Lady Bailey, in her long flight some years ago, mentioned flying for several days over the tree tops of huge forests. Had her petrol given out over this region, it would have spelt death to the occupant of the machine, but had it been necessary for her to land in a partially cleared area, and presuming she did so without a crash, petrol supplies would most certainly not have been obtainable. The pilot of a steam plane with an interchangeable firebox would, in such an emergency, be able to collect sufficient wood fuel to enable him to take off again, and continue on his way. These are just a few ways of looking at our future, but such days will most certainly come, and may come soon."