Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-04-30
BY ROBERT III. LYONS

est experience I've ever had. When
l get the opportunity I'm going to
have one of my own.
l reached that decision yesterday
after l had climbed out of the ma
chine, which took me from Middle
/ town to Harrisburg. flying over the
city, executing tail spins, doing
dives and other stunts.
The experience is just like riding
I in an automobile. When we started
had just finished lighting cigar.
/ The traternal committee of the Ro-
F, tary Club, with Charles w. Boil as
chairman, and Frank Saltzman,
I George p. TillotSon and w. G.
Starry as memb0cs, had bid me
godspeed and had made arrange
ments to purchase the flowers for
my funeral. Suddenly we started off
on whirl over the county, arriV-
ing at Harrisburg in a few seconds,
it seemed.
I'VE daren't do any stunts because
, it's against the rules" said the
driver. We'll, for the love OF Mike,
get behind a cloud where we can do
them without being seem" l replied.
! We climbed, and climbed. and
ed height of 5000 feet. Here we
turned over. did some tail spins and
, felt perfectly satisfactory. Right
/ here let me say that we felt as easy
flying upside down as when we were
riding right side up. Up in the all
F, the color of the sky turned from
blue to white. strange to say. and
the earth became the color of brown
paper.
Lets go down to the city" said
to the driver. Sure" he aCQui-
esced. Here's where the fun started !
1t was one grand whirl. ON a half
dozen big buildings people were
standing watching us. We swooped
down and just missed the Penn
Harris elevator shaft Then we
aimed for the Telegraph building.
and | saw Boyd OgelSby run for
cover. The rest of the folks on the
roof scattered like a bunch OF
chickens.
Rough Riding
We executed whole lot of stunts
right above the city. Let's make
for the bridge" said the driver,
pointing to the Market street struc-
ture. Not knowing what was coming
| nodded, and we scooted out to the
bridge. Watch me go under the
bridge between the arches" said my
companion. Holy smokes. no."
yelped, as scared as a schoolboy,
I've got a wife to support"
Sailing over the Mulberry street
bridge, ! believe | could have touch
ed the lampposts. We went out to
Reservoir Park. flew over to Steel
ton and here we found the road"
Just a little rough. This is bad
roadway my companion said.
Guess Wen have to call up Com
missioner Sadlcr and get him to fix
the airway from Steelton to Middle
town. Above Steelton we ran into
an airpocket and slipped down
about fifty feet.
Want to rest a little" was
queried. sure" I told him and up
we went to an S.50o- foot height. sud
denly the machine stopped. and. be-
lieve me, my heart was in my mouth.
But the driver took it calmly "Whas-
samatter?' and he peered over at me.
My God! We're stuck I shouted.
stuck nothing, We're simply rest
ing" he answered. We rested for
about minute and a half, and then
started for earth again. After some
aerial pyrotechnics we went back to
Middletown.
PausinG for Thought
terra frma that the legs of the avi-
ators We're trembling like leaves in
the wind. 1t was the excitement
the keyed-up tension. Believe me.
at one place we had enough to make
some trembles. At height of 1900
feet, the engine stopped and we hung
motionless for moment, then began
to fall. l felt for my life insurance
policy and remembered it was in my
safe at home. Then ! clutched for
the side of the car. and found, as l
had discovered before in the trip.
there We're no sides to clutch. I felt
helpless! The aviator pushed q
couple Of gimcracks and hinky-dinlt-
uses, and finally the motor puttered
again.
Strangely. the farther away from
tn" earth you get, the better you feel
When you approach the earth you
lose your sense of security When
you 90 up the city seems to condense
into "A mere huddle of houses.
Somebody asked me what did
with my hands. Let me tell this: ~
put my fingers in my mouth to keep
my heart from jumping out"
Last night when | went to bed.
couldn't get my eyes shut. Finally
l dropped off into a doze and I'll
swear the bed rocked and flew over
the Penn-Harris, doing some tail
spins just above the Capitol dome. In
fact, while | was supposed to be
asleep, | am sure the bed carried me
up to Miss Penn and sine distinctly
said. Hello. Bob And this morn
ing when l woke up / was gripping
stay in the bottom of the bed with
one hand, and holding shoe with
the other. | think | used the shoe
as a rudded and when | fell out of
bed, I'm sure | did a tail spin.
Taken all in all. it was some eXpe-
rience-and it sure was worth the
effort.