Resistance tests without risking an airman's life : An aeroplane carried by rail . The french military aviation authorities have devised an ingenious method of testing an aeroplane's power of resistance to the air without risk to an aviator's life . The tests were carried out near Survilliers Station under Lieutenant-Colonel Estinne . The machine was mounted on a truck drawn by an engine at nearly seventy miles an hour and was placed in every position it would assume in actual flight . 8 June 1912