About twenty minutes past eleven
Of the members of the illustrious assembly not one was absent from the reserved places within the ropes . There were Truck Milnor , Bat T. Fynn , and William T. Forbes with his two daughters on his arm . All had come to affirm by their presence that nothing could separate them from the partisans of `` lighter than air . '' About twenty minutes past eleven a gun announced the end of the final preparations . The `` Go-Ahead '' only waited the signal to start . At twenty-five minutes past eleven the second gun was fired . The `` Go-Ahead '' was about one hundred and fifty feet above the clearing , and was held by a rope .