Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1910-09-30
.BIPLANE WAS WREC KED
Left The Ground Wednesday but
Came Down With q Crash
Aviator George sehmitt Of Rutland Es-
capped with Scratohes-conditIons on
Grounds Unfavorable for Flight.


As a special attraction the flying ma
chine was "a failure. 1t went up after
several unsuccessful attempts, but it
came down like a stone. on the first day
il ran into the rope and posts surrounding
the dra wing enclosure and the swapping
OF pieces Of the frame told the waiting
crowd plainly that there would be no
flight that day. The second days at
tempt gave more promise of success. but
scarcely had the machine left the ground
when il crashed to earth a wreck 1t
did not poke its nose out Of its tent yes
terday for the reason that IT had none.
Flying machines are all right in their
place, but the Valley fair ground is not
the place especially under conditions
that existed this week. The biplane met
with an accident but it was to avoid
more serious accident that the young
aviator. George Schmitt of Rutland, drove
IL into the earth. Thousands Of persons
were disappointed, but no more so than
the fair management or Mr.. Schmitt, who
did the best he could.
Mr. Schmitt. who is a Rutland high
sthool student is years old and who made
the first flight in n motor-driven machine
in Vermont, had his Curtiss biplane in
a large tent near the grove east OF the
track Late Tuesday afternoon It was
pushed to the south end of the oval and
pointed north. After n long wait the 60
horse power SasOlele engine was started
and the machine sped away on its three
small wheels, but as II showed no signs OF
going up the power was shut off and it
was pushed back to the starting point
and new attempt was made. This time
II made more rapid progress. but again
IT showed no indication of lifting and the
engine was stopped. II was too late to
avoid an accident however, and the
white winged thing kept on by its own
momentum until the rope around the
lyr1y rfvnrr v,.1a ri,
nose pushed itself over the rope but the
lower plane ran smack into a post, which
held II fast Several OF the slender arms
were snapped or and the front wires
were hopeessly twisted. Mr.. Schmitt an
nounced that he would work all night
getting ready for the next day. and the
biplane was pushed back into the tent
With thousands Of people crowded into
the oval Wednesday afternoon a flight
was out of the question. but the machine
was run out and put in readiness as the
aviator was under contract to hy Only
the top Of II could he seen from the
Grandstand, so dense was the crowd
which hemmed II in on all sides Most
9via tors wait until sundOwn before max
ing FIGHTS in order to avoid the glare Of
the sun in their eyes, and this was what
Mr.. Schmitt intended to do but the
crowd became So impatient and hurled
so many shafts Of sarcasm that he de-
cided not to wait and accordingly he
started his engine. The crowd fell back
and made pathway and the manbrd
made a dash northward, hut so many
people We're I'm the way and the danger
Of killing somebody was so great that
Mr.. Schmitt shut of the power.
As the wind was blowing from the
south Mr. Schmitt decided to take ad-
vantage of ii and he turned the machine
around to fly southwark. The next at
tempt was not made until the racing was
WOW nd e
Just south of the track were wires on
poles, carrying 10000 volts of electricity
from the Vernon dam and power plant
In order to avoid the possibility of a hor-
rible death on the wires the aviator
tilted the nose of the machine up at n
sharp angle, and to the surprise of ali he
left the ground When up about % feet
the wind turned the biplane in the direc-
tion of the grandstand and at the same
time rocked 1t violently Mr.. Schmitt
saw that he could not rise high enough
to clear the grandstand. where several
thousand people were waiting He was
tast approaching the track and something
must be done quickly. Without waiting
to shut Off the engine, which takes a lit
tie time, he pointed the machine down.
ward and drove it to the ground at full
speed shrinking on one corner some dis
lance back of the vaudeville stage
1t landed with a crash and exclamations
OF horror We're made by the crowd as IT
was feared Mr. Schmitt might be killed
lie was thrown on his face under the BIZ
pane ana was unable to get out without
assistance, but aside from being bumped
on the nose, causing nosebleed, and a few
scratches on his forehead he was unin-
Jured. The front part of the machine
was broken off, the propeller was
smashed the wings were town, the
braces We're sprung, and about the only
part that escaped damage was the en-
CINE The crowd surged on the field and
the police and mounted marshals had
hard work keeping the people away from
the wreck. Superintendent Shumway Of
Tered every assistance possible, but it was
seen mat 1t would be impossible to make
repairs in time for a flight Yesterday.
The biplane was 80 feet long and was
OF the Curtiss type used by the noted
aviator by that name.