Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-26

THE OMAH4
plane took an even keel again. while we
started to rise up once again.
The wind was whistllng past my ears
I could scarcely breathe. the breeze was
blowing up my coat sleeves, the machine
was shivering and shaking to the vibra-
ton Of the engine. n the exhaust was
pouring out a deafening roar. We were
about thirty feet up.
some Fancy BuckIng.
Then the plane started to buck and act
contrary. There was a terrific gale blow.
ing past us because Of our speed. on the
ground this was Just a breath. you'd not
notice it. But w in the sky the zephyr
meant that the air, on which we were rid
ing. was full of pitch holes. eddies, whirl-
pools, MISUNDERSTANDING worse than the
rapids at Niagara Falls.
The plane started to dive up and down.
tilt right or left. slow in all directions.
sometimes doing all three things at once.
Thibeaudeau slammed over one rudder
after another, adjusting them continuously
I'VE were pitching around on our seats
in the tornado Of rushing air and the
piece OF board was gyrating. jumping,
wriggling, twisting, squirming. lettering,
while the machine staggered and reeled
drunkenly through the morning sunshine.
l tell you what, l wasn't feeling anxious
to fall that thirty feet.
IT could see myself hitting the ground on
the soft comfort Of three blades of grass
and then tumbling head over heels for
half a mile before / stopped. You can
make it a best bet that 1 hung onto that
bar, and wedged my heels tightly against
the thin little stick of wood.
1--WE whizzed along something like a
bat, I guess. Have YOU ever seen a bat
fly? He hasn't any tail and goes bobbins
up and down in an aimless sort OF way.
Well. our rudders weren't any too timber
and Thibeaudeau only had two hands. and
he was always a little slow In meeting the
conditions at the momen
I'VE bumped and jumped and twisted
around like a broncho buster on a regular
devil Of a horse. I hung on tight. slippine
along the board a little bit, every second
getting vibration treatment. Thibeaudeau
took me out a couple Of miles, and ther
we started back for the shed.
Making a Landing.
THE horizon was rocking drunkenly, and
the shed stood like a small speck on tn,
far edge of the review grounds the gov.
eminent had loaned for the meet. TIL.
mechanician could just be seen, a small
black dot, and Thibeaudeau aimed for him
w rushed toward him. The shet
swelled every second. The plane shiveret
and rocked and tilted, and the ngine ex
hause roared beneath us.
w started to drop to the ground wher,
Thibeaudeau wanted to make a landin,
close to the shed, and were flying with un
diminished speed. Just as we were abou
four or five feet up one of those whirlinl
eddies got under the right end of our plan,
and it dropped to the ground with a banl
and a ripping of canvas.
"Thibeaudeau and 1 were shot out owe.
the left end Of that board like lightning
and the plane struck the earth with
tremendous crash, Slowing right arount
sideways. The thing slid along for abou
forty or fifty yards and then stopped.
w picked ourselves up from the tan
gle Of broker wood, canvas smashed
wheels, spllnters and guy wire Thlbeau
deau had all the skin off his left arm, AM
was cursing 1t wildly in French. The me
chanician came up, shouting $500 minutes
and a half. We had done about three mile
and a quarter in two and a half minutes.
"It was about as rough a ride as 1 eve
had-that two minutes. There wasn't an,
smooth swooping in it. 1t was a regula
shakeup from beginning to end. But it wa
exciting. I'd have put up $4,000 for, an
other ride and in my own machine
Bought the
You bought a machine, then, from thi
Thibeadeau?' the fat man asked.
Eyes. Thibeaudeau explained that tn,
accident wasn't the fault of the machine
but due to the weather and to the exits
passenger making the machine hard t
handle"
How did you get on? Did T~hibeaudea,
give you lessons p
w found the plane wasn't really yer,
badly damaged. T~hlbeaudeau and tn
assistant had II fixed up the next ia,
with a little wood and canves and som
new bicycle wheels. 1 had q few falls, blu
wasn't hurt particularly. The machinI
? always takes the brunt of the shock. 1 go
my hand on the engine once, though, an,
was badly burned.
But you mustn't get an idea that tn
, flying machine is a smooth, gliding car
; It's one of the toughest kinds of trans
portation, and YOU don't want to buy on
unles you expect to get shaken up a bi
) going and coming