The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-06-13
walker Tells
OF ACCIDENT
MOTOR WENT BAD WHEN HE
WAS $50 FEET UP-wAs
NOT HURT.

After falling practically three hun.
bred and fifty feet and escaping death
by a very narrow margin indeed, Avi.
ator Clarence II. Walker, with Mrs.
Walker, returned yesterday from Hilo
on the Honolulan, enthusiastic over his
reception in the Crescent City. Ideal
weather conditions, better flying con-
ditions. enthusiastic crowds and Felix
Brughelli got first mention from Walker
yesterday, the accident which smashed
his machine and might have seriously,
if not fatally, injured him coming
second.
''If 1 make good in Australia,' he
said last night, q" 1 IN coming back to
Hilo and give them free fight or pay
back Brughelli his losses. 1 was never
better treated in my life. Brughelli
only told me to hop of the ground a
little to show the people that could
90 up in the air, although he had a
contract which called for two flights
or more a day for two days. Even
after the accident which put the BIZ
plane and the meet out of business he
had the president open the bank and
handed me the full amount of the con-
tract. 1 had half hour to catch the
Honolulan to get back here, and was
so disgusted with the motor that / told
them to throw it in the ocean,"
The motor, however, is still above
sea level, Walkers machinist remain.
ing in Hilo in charge of it, with orders
to bring it up during the week. He
blames the entire failure of the Hilo
meet, so far as it was a failure, on the
motor.
Had a "Hunch."
''Brughelli had races during the FIRST
: lpart of the afternoon,' he said, "and
had fairly good crowd. 1 gave the
machine trial previously and hoped
it off the ground several times. She
was working beautifully and laid hei
, up until the races were over.
cit was a funny thing. Several day.
before the flight my maehinist wrote 6
postal to Mason and told him that the
field was poor and he felt that we wert
going to have smash. When I go
in the machine to go up felt nervous
something that I never am. After tn,
accident could hold my hand as steady
as I can now, but before I got in thu
machine 1 felt that something was go
! ing to happen. You do get hunche
like that.
= cone trouble with the field dow
there, it is so short you get no tim,
to get started. 1t had just stopped
: rainiOg and there were a lot of pool
! over it, the water two inches deep il
y places. When I went through thes
= the water would splash up around mi
and couldn't see for a moment.
had some difficulty in getting started
but by pushing down my front cor
I troll and then bringing it up suddenl.
o left the ground and scared over tn
8 fence beautifully.
= Ideal Conditions.
f "Once. l got up in the air the neI
q vousness left me. The flying condi
), tions were ideal. Although my ma
e chinists had said that it was to
t, windy L did not find it so. It wa
o little gusty, but it did not bottle
n me. The air was heavy after tn
a. rain-iust right-and it felt so fin
that ] rode with one hand and wave
d the other at the crowd When tn
re machine is flying as it was then it
Is the best sport and most exhilaratin
1. thing in the world.
It ~ noticed that when I tried to ris
II quickly the motor did not take it an
10 felt rather logy. I knew that til
a. sa fest thing to do was to get up
ir thousand feet. / intended to 90 t
ir that height above the grandstand an
give them a straight drop of 500 fee
The country was bad and there WEI
no landing places beside the field i
1,,,F II Ahak iol, Abnv
~ wouldn' t be any danger at all. So
= kept on going ahead on the level b
% until she gathered speed and then she
~ her MP little, rising about Us fe'
" " mile.
e. Something Goes Wrong.
n. "When / was about $50 feet up, ju
IS. over the edge of the ocean, and abol
~ two miles from the field, I felt IL
We motor miss several times. / kept Q
going and shut the throttle off in hop,
ne that it would recover, but when / pl
Sc it on again it was worse than eve
I'd When went up Mrs Walker had r
ct marked that the engine did not see
y. to he shooting right.
IN ''After saw that the motor was
in that condition 1 bucked the win
in awhile and then turned the machiI
e. and began to look right away for
st landing place. If / had gone up a.
other fifty feet / would have been SAT
hut as soon as I got turned arouu
the motor missed so often that ! di
10 not have the speed to keep on IL
level and the machine began to sett
~ ~ on her tail. 7 thought of landing
~ the ocean and on the beach, but ii
y; water looked TO be about thirty fe
!. deep and the beach was full of boul
=. ers. The country at first glance locke
~ level, but when I looked closely sa
~ ~ that it was fun of hollows and lay
- boulders and / decided to try to NAL
- the field
., Anybody who knows anything at a
- about such things could tell that wi
90 in trouble and my mechanics, wh'
es they saw the propeller jumping, begl
sa to run towards me, as they thought
= could never reach the field.
n. Fight for Life.
lis alt was continual fight all II
NO way back. WASH I going fast enoui
Tis to get level again, although / ev'
climbed out on the running gear al
pushed my elevator down IA far