In a previous article, (Corky Scott) said:
He was halfway down the runway and for some reason felt he had to make
a decision about whether to takeoff or not. This is the part I don't
understand. Why did he have to takeoff or not? Couldn't he have
simply shut the engine down?

There was a very quick discussion on the show that he didn't think he
could stop in time to miss crashing into the trees at the end. Given the
choice between a sure crash if he stayed on the ground or a likely crash
if he lifted up, he elected to take off.

Wasn't the Wright B pretty close to the Vin Fizz (which I think was a
modified EX)? In which case, it should have been a pretty capable plane.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"The surreality of the universe tends towards a maximum" -- Skud's Law
"Never formulate a law or axiom that you're not prepared to live with
the consequences of." -- Skud's Meta-Law