The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-06-22

w. mot HlOhSCs
You can yell at 'em and scare 'em
away, and I'm not afraid OF anything
can bluff. 1 am afraid, though, OF
these nasty little green snakes. You
can't scare them. They just coil up
and stick their ugly little tongues
out at you. I'm afraid of them, and
I'm not afraid OF anything else, ex-
cept when 1 turn the nose Of my ma
chine straight up in the air to Degin
the loop, and then, while the machine
is going straight up and the solid
earth is thousands OF feet below, I'm
afraid the engine might stop and
that 1 couldn't point the machine
downward quick enough, and II I
didn't. then the machine and would
fall straight down"
The big brown eyes, which had
been laughing as she spoke of the
mousse and the nasty little green
she spoke OF the possibility that con-
fronted her whenever she looped the
loop up in the clouds, thousands OF
feet above the earth. And then she
shook her black curls from on her
shoulders and laughed again. Its
a part of the business, though, and
every time the engine has stopped
when I was going straight up I've
kept my head and turned the machine
downward again"
1t was Katharine Stinson talking
the only woman who has yet looped
the loop in an aeroplane.
She says she is nineteen years old,
but she looks more like a kid of four
teen or fifteen, an elhsh. mischiev-
Gus kid, with great big laughing
brown eyes and a wealth OF raven
curls which she wears down on her
shoulders.
enlightened the First Time
had asked her to tell me how she
looped the loop. and II 1t frightened
her, and. sitting there In her chair,
the child told me. She didn't go
into the technique OF the operation.
but told about 1t IN simple. plain
language. She told me some little
incidents of her aviation career, and
now and then she would stop and
laugh, a peal of girlIsh laughter.
Willie eyes uduCGo- one
is small and fraIl-looking. but full
of animation. and she is more child
than woman. and sometimes as she
walks along she will break into a
little skip like some little girl Her
is tinged with olive. a
delicate tan from her outdoor work,
with Just the faintest tinge OF rose in
II. and looking at her. In her big.
tapping hat, one IL reminded Of a
beautiful wild rose.
And as she talked OF her expert
ences and told me about her flights |
the clouds, and about that |
perilous beginning OF the loop, and |
about getting lost up there in the |
air, dark clouds seemed to gather |
behind the girlish form, and In them |
seemed to be a grisly figure with !
skeleton hand reaching out toward !
her. So real appeared the Illusion /
that one could almost fancy hearing |
a chuckle OF grim glee from the |
Rgure, as the child told Of this perlis /
Dt the air.
81 was dreadfully frightened the
FIRST time 1 made the loop. ] had ]
never seen any one do It, and / didn't
know exactly how 1t was donH.
She Kept Putting Il on.
When Beachey VS. killed doing. It
I went out to Los Angeles and bought
the engine of his machine. Then I
designed my own machine, with an
eye to looping the loop. 1 kept quiet
about my Intentions, although my
brother and sister. both aviators, and
a few others guessed what l was
about. I took the machine to Chi
rago with me last summer and made
several flights. There was one avia-
tor there who had looped the loop.
and 1 wanted him to try out the ma
chine for me. but he wouldn't
made several flights at a meet there,
and every day the other aviators
would urge me to do the loop, but
kept putting II on. / had made
Twelve flights in the machine, and
Every time my courage had failed me
or else / didn't feel exactly right; at
my rate. hadn't yet done the loop.
That day, 1t was July II. was tin
xering about the machine. prepara-
.ory to going up, when an Italian,
who peddled fruit about the grounds
anne up and watched me. He had
iirty white dog which followed him
and he turned to the dog ,
md observed: 'Stins' no gonna loop 4
/ -da-loop. Stins' 'fraid to loop-a-
la-Ioop. Stins' gotta da cold feet I
lidn't let on like l heard this little {
iide speech, but 1 decided l would I
oop the loop that day. {
81 kept on putting 1t on. however I
md circIed higher and higher. Then {
tried it. The first movement Is to I
urn the nose of the machine straight
downward: that gives an added i'm 7
,etus for the upward move. Then the I
Machine is turned directly upward 8
or the first movement OF the loop I
tself. n
That Ii whore the danger lies, II 4