The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-12-27
WARD SHOWED HIS WINGS
To Immense Crowds in Tampa-DarinS
and Spectacular Flights on
Christmas Day
(Tampa Times, 26tn)


he rose at least 1900 feet. but it hard
ly seemed that much to the crowd as
it noted the case with which the Cur
tiss biplane bored its way aloft in
wide spira1s
Scurrying. around among the high
soaring buzzards seemed to amuse
Ward, for he chased the birds away
from the field before he came down
Then throttling down his engine, he
would start long spiral s1ants to-
ward the earth, holding the engine in
reserve until he was within a couple
Of hundred feet of the earth.
Throwing the planes up into the air
he would then scamper around the
course on the 200-foot level, careenin g
over on the curves like a catboat in a
high wind.
His banking" on the curves was
beautiful, though he took many a long
chance that a less daring aviator
would have shfrked in sticking direct
ly over the half mile track when
rounding the curves at high speed
The writer has seen aviators who flew
much wider in rounding mile tracks
than Ward did yesterday on a half
mile circle.
AS he went around the sharp turn
his machine slanted at an angle of
fully thirty-fve degrees.
For the moments he hung thus sus-
pended. seeming to stand almost still
though probably running forty-five
miles an hour, the crowd held its
breath.
AS he completed the circuit and
swung out on the straightway again
the sigh that went up from the grand
stand showed the rapt attention in
which the aviator had been held. Per
| haps three-quarters of the crowd
| looked to see him fall as he made
those sharp turns.
| But Ward. albeit one Of the most
| reckless skyriders. is also one of the
most skillful and knew what he was
| about.
| His sturdy little Curtiss machine is
| built to stand heavy strains and 81
| long as the machine held together
| there was not so much danger for hin
| as there was, perhaps, for some OF
the motorcyclists who had been sour.
| rying over the track ahead of him.
| If anything had broken--but what:
| the use of talking about that?
The fate of Ely, and of Molssan
and of Johnstone-skil1ed men ant
good fellows-is too recent for speeu
| latien.
| Ward made three flights and wa
| in the air probably twenty minutes il
/ all. Starting his machine at the wo
mans building, he ran straight dow,
| the track and rose into the air d
rectly in front of the grand stand
|
went up The starts were so gradua
and he went into the air so easily tha
it seemed hard to believe he coul,
raise so high.
What a young fellow he Is" wa
the general comment as he passed tn
stand
1t was perfectly justified, for War
is not more than twenty one and on
of the youngest men in the business.
Perfectly cool and collected, a mas
ter Of his engine and thoroughly awar
of what his flyer will do and will no
do the lad Is one of the best flyers i
the country today His exhibition wa
a marvellous showing of what has bee
done in the way of perfecting the fly
ing machine in the three short year
| the device has been known.
Ward uses the Curtiss biplane an
1.-The machine is his own. the sum @
$4,000 having been passed over to tn
Curtiss company. Though not gener
: ally known. both Curtiss and tn
Wright brothers are making machine
and selling them commercially just a
automobiles are sold, though not S
generally by any means. Still, q
$4,000, there IS a nice little profit |
: the sale Of the machines.
The machine which flew yesterda
has a wing spread of twenty-six fe.
: six inches and weighs about 81
> pounds. Ward will not add more tha
> 1e0 more TO the machine. Tt is e.
clusiyely a racing machine but wi
carry passen gers on a pinch, thoue
: the bigger machines with a forty-fo
spread of wing are much safer whe
it comes 20 a passen nger-carrying stun
Z Unlike the Wright machine. the Gu
e tiss has but one propeller. 1t was IL
s propeller Of a French war machil
d that Drained the French minister
a war at big military meet in Fran
: last spring. and Chief Mechanician
|. J. Horton. who has the task of star
:. ing the big blades. is very careful +
deed TO duck out Of the way once Il
gasoline Is sending power into the b
E wind screw.
r So powerful Is the screw that it
q as much as three men can do to no
: back the machine until Ward Civ
/ the word to ''let 'er go''
Il Then down the course il spins wi
a Il elatter Of gasoline exhausts runni,
U perhaps 200 feet and attained a spe
of twenty miles an hour or more /
fore Ward tilts the planes a bit a
&C slants the machine into the upper a
Seems as If somebody would ha
- thought of that before" said one "
- saw the flights and marve1ed at :
= ease with which man went into I
~ air.
So long as the engine runs stead
- and the aviator does not try a
=. tricks there is little danger in
: air. but if the engine stops trou
: starts at once, for the only safety
in speed. The machine is a &c
= deal heavier than air and once sp.
'e is taken away from it will drop
once The only thing to do in C
of an engine stopping IS to come do
in the long s1ants known as volopl;
er ing.
IS Strangely enough the higher up
". is the safer in such a case. The r
chine viii go a long ways in the gr
spirais before the ground is reac1
1t and If one is high in the air there
ng more chance to pick out smo
OF landing place. The necessity of
I'd IS apparent TO all who saw the fig
oc The aviator who came down in a pl
is. tulera his ma aaflire eo.fd not run al