Evening journal., 1911-06-08
AIR MAN In
SPIRAL DIPS
Walter BrOOkinS' Stunts
Make Aero Club Meet a
Big Success
FLYER In THREE
DAY EXHIBITION HERE

Walter Brookins. one of the most
daring of the worlds air men. thrilled
several thousand spectators with
spiral dips and glides in his Wright
model biplane at Horse Show Park
yesterday afternoon. Brookins spent
seventeen minutes in the air. dividing
the time into two flights. He show
ed complete mastery of the big bird
like machine, and when he alighted
for the second time he was the center
of cheering throng. Brookins will
make three flights this afternoon and
as many more on Friday and Satur-
day afternoon, going up on each day
at o'clock.
Thrills in the Meet.
The meet was exhilarating from the
moment the crowd swarmed out of
trolley cars, wagons and automobiles,
in a fearful panic for fear it had al
ready happened, and made tracks for
the big tent in the park. where
Brookins' strang creature of wood and
silk and webbed wires looked doubly
mysterious in the semi-darkness. The
man and women in the crowd, to the
greater part of whom it was a brand
nov HAEhAs NtAf d. UllciAllk Win IuA Il
osity as the smallest of the army of
small boys who got in goodness knows
how-certainly the long-suffering and
exasperated police didn't Those near
est the assistants cleaned stray facts
of the science Of aviation and passed
them on until they reached the outer
most circle. and presently every man
in the crowd was explaining things
to his women folks until you would
have though each owned a number of
different types of aeroplanes. and had
operated them ever since Noah han
the first moonlight excursion to Mt
Ararat. Men who previously could
not have told a balloon from a box
kite quarreled scandalously over the
relative merits of monoplanes and BIZ
planes.
When Brookins had his men glibly
roll out the biplane from the tent TO
the field, II was amusing TO see the
crowd who had refused to bulge for
the automobiles, scatter before it. Re-
membering the awful list of aeroplane
fatalities, they weren't taking any
chances with even an aeroplane on
the ground. Indeed the thing. with it's
purring paddles and twinkling bicy-
Gle wheels, was too alive TO be quite
canny. It looked like mosquito, a
steam launch, and a bicycle. and it
sounded like a threshing machine The
women invariably thought it was cute,
and said so in various little squeals
of delight. The men considered it
neat and nifty, and wondered how
much it weighed Certainly every
body agreed that it was a beautiful
and graceful object to watch. whether
in the air or on the ground Brook
ins created considerable disappoint-
ment by wearing an ordinary gray
suit, a cap. and automobile goggles
and mask for the crowd were expect
ing curious raiment and he was less
freakish the average AUTOMOBILE
ist He is a slightly built man, boyish
in his looks, but quite calm and cool
in the way he bosses his biplane.
Awed by Wonder.
The birdman SKINNED the ground
and ran up an invisible hill of air
into the upper atmosphere amid a
silence which did not betoken lack #
appreciation from the crowd, but
merely that they we're to absorbed III
watching every motion of the machine
to think of applauding, and they were
also a little awed by the wonder Of
race course, taking spectacular dips
at each turn that brought gasps from
the watchers. And yet. II did not LOOK
very scary, so that il seemed surpris-
ing that a majority of men, as well
as women spectators fervently de-
clared nothing on earth would hire
them to go up in one. The police
added a little to the thrill by making
the privileged persons admitted to the
inside field keep away from the
curves lest the airship turn turtle at
these critical points and come down
upon them. Some coldblooded little
boys hoped for an accident, but their
elders we're glad to have Brookins
descend with all his bones intact. The
spiral glide with which the birdman
descended after his second ascent was
a thrilling and handsome sight. The
people allowed inside the course, had
moment of real excitement when the
biplane took to the field and headed
their way at the speed of an express
train. There was some lively sprint
ing on the part of newspaper folk
and oficials The tremendous speed
Of the thing was deeply impressive at
that moment. However. Brookins
sound no difficulty in making the ma
chine stop where he intended it to,
coming down so skilfully that he was
not visibly bounced on reaching the
ground.
There are two seats on the biplsne
but the aviator said that the extra
weight of a second person would re-
auire longer field for the hiplane to
get started in, so that he did not take
anyone with him
Probably Coney Island Of the future
will have aeroplsnes In the form of
green and gold dragons spouting real
fire. with phonograph attachments to
do the roaring. and the whole family
will go soaring at FIVE cents a head
but just at present most of us will
have to get our thrills by watching
the experts and there is plenty Of
thrill even in that