Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-10-24
FIRST FLIGHT HIS LAST
SAYS ]. S. KLEMGARD
Pullman Farmer Takes 10 Air With
Pilot but Gets Bruised i'm Land.
ing-Machine Collities With
Grandstand

In Kelly field aviation parlance J.
S. Klemgard has 80 minutes of fly
ing to his credit. In newsboy street
language he also has a bum nose,
black lamp and a badly scratched
mug. In Jim's own words he has
enough. The prosperous Pullman
farmer took to tn eair last Saturday
with Lieutenant William c. Buell. of
Walla Walla, for the purpose of view
ing from a point of vantage his thod-
sands of acres of rolling Palouse sDil
After going the loop the loop, the
tail spin and numerous and divers
other air antics the pilot headed the
winged machine toward Mother
Earth as Klemgard sighed his relief
A landing was attempted on Rogers
field. the football goal posts having
| been removed to make this possible.
! The machine took to the ground on
the west end of the field, but the
tremendous momentum carried it
across the seven acres, where it
crashed into the grandstand, the left
wing striking Ford automobile
owned by the Standard Oil company,
and demolishing the fender.
Neither the pilot nor the passenger
were severely injured, but the air.
craft was completely disabled. Both
wings and the landing gear were
broken and the propeller blades shat
tered as the machine crashed into
the grandstand with enough force to
break the 6X6 support for the left
side of the stand. The body of the
machine and the engine were not
damaged and the craft was shipped
to Walla Walla Monday for repairs.
Klemgard was persuaded to make
the flight by a number of his friends,
who had gathered at the starting
point Saturday morning. 1t was his
first experience in the air and, he
says, MS IdoL' As pOOu dS nc udu
regained his composure after the dis
astrous landing and o hasty invoice
Of his limbs had convinced him that
he was still all in one piece, he re-
marked: We'll, George McCroskey
and Doc Mcguire and those other Pa
lousers who went TO California for
thrills won't have anything on me,
anyway, and / stayed here and at
tended to business.
The airship belonged to the Smith
Aircraft company, with headquarters
at Walla Walla. F. V. Catterlin,
manager of the company, was On the
ground at the time of the accident.
He expressed himself as thankful
that the damage was to the airshIp
only, which is one of the later Cur
tlss models, type J.N.4D., with an
O.X.4 motor.
Second Lieutenant w. G. Buell.,
the pilot of the machine, is well
hiAOW IL vi tic Nd1iphos iAC 81 az hAA-
&c here in 1917 from the department
of horticulture and was county agri-
culturist of Walla Walla county UNI
til August of this year. Lieutenant
Buell. has a wide range of flying ex-
perience, having served with the U.
S flying corps a Mather field. Cali
fornia. Brooks field, Texas. and Tay-
lor field, Alabama.
Buells flying partner and me-
chanic is J. c. Kramer OF Cotton,
Wash, who served as master signal
electrician In charge OF repair work
on aircraft at Doerr field. Florida.
The plane arrived from Walla
Wolla Friday. landing ia the fields
south OF the college farm. where 1t
was left. undergoing some minor re-
pairs.