"When the motor was completed and tested, we found that it would develop 16 horse power for a few seconds, but that the power rapidly dropped till, at the end of a minute, it was only 12 horse power"

This quote by Orville Wright is referring to the testing of a motor. After the motor was finished and checked, it was found that it had the potential to develop 16 horse power for a couple of seconds. However, the power quickly dropped off and after a minute, the motor was only able to produce 12 horse power. This suggests that the motor was unable to sustain the preliminary power output for a longer period of time. This could be due to a number of elements, such as the motor not having the ability to manage the power output, or the motor not having the ability to maintain the needed temperature to sustain the power output. Whatever the cause, it is clear that the motor was not able to sustain the preliminary power output for a longer time period.