Aha Nick (thanks)
With regard to No 43, good to know the exact reason it was burned.
Thanks for the Arbon update. Many, many years ago I decided to stop buying books about people. It was a simple space saving measure and not because people are uninteresting. It is easy enough to see they are not, just look at us....
George
Thanks for you source. Yes Bellinger was the pilot who basically flew all the Sperry test flight between 30 Aug 1913 until it was delivered to the Navy in October.
On the posted photo Bellinger is sitting in the cockpit on its right side (at least I think that is what Casari means). The man who is leaning against the aircraft seemingly with a steady grip of it is Elmer Sperry himself.
I have no idea why Casari does not mention the French adventure with this aircraft. A real puzzle....
Cheers
Stig