Los Angeles herald., 1908-12-26
RIDES
IN AIRSHIP
KNABENSHUE AGAIN MAKES A
REMARKABLE FLIGHT
CROWDS BELOW SHOUT MES
sAGEs TO KRIS KRlNGLE
DrigbIe Sails Over Y. M. c. A. Build
ing and Gives Herald's Guests
Novel EXhi.
hiton

Roy Knabenshue made his flight with
Santa Claus yesterday afternoon, leav-
ing Chutes park at o'clock and maxi
ing a trip over the Y. M. G.. A. build
ing, to give the children entertained
there an opportunity to see the Christ
mas saint sailing in the air. He Will
take his seventy-sixth trip with his 1908
diriglble tomorrow afternoon.
George Deusler, Knabenshue's en-
gineer, who has accompanied him on
all but one of his Los Angeles trips in
the past month, was costumed as Santa
Claus He waved his hand to the chill
dren in the park as the ship went up
into the air and was steered around to
head for the north. The ship was dt-
rected straight northward, and knap-
enshue- circled over the Y. M. c. A.
building and Simpson auditorium. The
boys and girls were ON the ground, but
the airship was so near the roof that
it's passengers could easily see the rem
nants of the dinner upon the tables on
the roof.
To the spectators on the bleachers
the airship appeared to be almost over
Mount Lowe. The illusion was so per-
feet that several persons who had not
seen the dirigible before found 1t diff
cult to convince themselves that the
ship was not within a mile of the
range.
After making the turn at the Y. M.
c. A. building Knabenshue maneuVered
westward on the return trip, and sailed
twice over the ball park. The boys
kept their eyes on Santa Claus and
shouted messages to him as he came
within hailing distance. When the
boats nose was headed down an easy
landing was made. The children crowd
ed around for the honor of shaking
hands with the first Santa Claus ever
-I-s f,,., rrI, tI,t1
air, but Deusler modestly scurried back
of the grand stand to remove his white
beard and costume.
Madame Lillian Nordica was an in
terested spectator of the flight, and
after the landing she congratulated
Mr.. Knabenshue on his success in nav
igating the air.
"I am intensely interested, and I
watched your trip with feeling of
pride at being able TO see an airship
directed as you will it to 60"
Knabenshue has made world records
with his dirigible this year as remark
able as those with aeroplanes accom-
plished by the Wright brothers. No
other aeronaut has taken so many
flights with another person on the air
ship. With yesterdays trip Knaben-
shue has made seventy-five two or
three-passenger trips with his present
dirigible. All have been made in the
last eight months, and fifteen were in
this territory-eight at Phoenix and
seven at Los Angeles. These last fif-
teen ascents were made exactly accord
ing to the program planned, starting
within five minutes of the scheduled
time, which is itself a world record.
The night fight accomplished by
Knabenshue this month stands by itself
in the history of aeronautics.
Before debating his 1908 model for the
last time Knabenshue plans to make
two flights which will be regarded as
remarkable by aeronauts of all coun-
tries. One of these will be a trip to the
ocean, with landing on the sea-
and a return to Chutes park. The 9TH
er will be journey up Mount Lowe
or Mount Wilson and a return to the
starting point. These will make new
records for distance and speed, as well
as for destination, and the fact that
they will be tried in winter will attract
the attention of airship authorities
elsewhere.
Knabenshue is confident that both
these trips are easily feasible in Cali
fornia atmosphere, and he is as conf
dent OF their success as of making a
trip over the city like that undertaken
yesterday.