The Wrights tested the new aircraft at Huffman Prairie, a cow pasture outside of Dayton, Ohio, which is now part of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park and also part of the present-day Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The owner of the land, banker Torrance Huffman, allowed them to use the land rent-free, his only requirement being that they were to shepherd the livestock to safety before experimenting. The Wrights began erecting a shed to house their aircraft during April and by the end of May were ready to begin trials, and an announcement was made to the press that trials would begin on Monday, May 23. A crowd of around forty people, made up of family and friends and a dozen reporters, assembled on the Monday but rain kept the aircraft in its shed all morning, and when the rain cleared the wind had died away. There was little chance of a successful takeoff from the launching rail with no headwind: nevertheless the Wright decided to attempt a short flight to satisfy the press, but the motor was not developing its full power and the aircraft reached the end of the rail without taking off. Work on the engine and poor weather delayed further attempts until the Thursday afternoon, when despite ignition problems a takeoff was attempted, and a flight of around was made, ending in a heavy landing which damaged the aircraft. The press reports were mixed, the "Chicago Tribune" ran its story under the headline "Test of flying machine is judged a success", while "The New York Times" headline was "Fall wrecks airship".