Arizona republican., 1919-05-10
Phoenix Gets First and Last Sights of Spectacular Show-Had Sham Battle And Many Stunts


 formations, and drop what might have |
 been bombs but was bond literature
 and went home and bought more VIC l tory notes. Arizona Eastern engine 569. all deco ] rated up for the proud occasion, went ! down to Maricopa and brought up the special train carrying the flying circus 1 arriving in the yards about o'clock a. l m. About o'clock yesterday morning l
 the train was switched to the far ground siding. and the unloading and ! assembly, in the hands of over 90 me- chanics, all of whom saw service III France, went rapidly forward. By ten | the men were tuning up the motors and putting the finishing touches. Mo- l tors roared while some of the men held ! the planes from starting forward, and 1 the few allowed on the track either l sought the shade of the wings or stood | in the draught of the whirling propel- ! lers.
 Then they all went to lunch. Some l went to the diner attached to the train, l and some to the dinner served by the l Victory loan committee under the grandstand- Here more than 100 people l were served, Mrs. Sims Ely and Mrs. l Starr being in charge, and the serving l being done by a. bevy of Red Cross girls under the capable direction of Mrs. ! Bob Saufley. It was a good dinner, l too, barbecued beef. beans, pickles, | coffee and ice tea, home made apple l pie, and a lot of other things.
 Lone FIier From East Appears l While the testing was going on 8 | speck developed out the blue in the east
 and rapidly grew into a plane ap- | preaching. Instantly, as though to
 meet an enemy, but in reality to meet | a friend and guide him to the landing. ! Lieutenant McMullen took the air in
 8. big Curtiss plane, and rose to meet l the approaching plane, the roar of 1 whose motor could now be plainly
 heard.
 Sweeping up to meet the newcomer,
 Lieutenant McMullen led him over the
 field and then stood away over the city to give him time to land. The big 1 brown DeHaviland plane circled and
 came gliding down the field to full
 stop opposite the grandstand.
 It was Lieutenant Wilbur Wright,
 son of the inventor of the airplane, who had just flown down from Globe in one
 hour flat in a Liberty motored plane.
 Wright related his adventures during
 the trip over the state, accompanied
 only by his mechanic. The only near
 accident was at Hayden, where he
 landed in a. bunch of tailings and the
 plane went on her nose. Just luck"
 said Wright, that we didn't break a
 propeller. They had to build us a plank
 road 500 feet long so we could take off
 again.
 Twelve Planes Line Up
 Lined up along the race track facing
 the grandstand were now 12 planes,-
 five Curtiss tWo-seater observation and l Uh
 with 150 h. D. Hispano- -Suiza motors,
 and capable of about 90 miles per hour;
 two British s. E. 5 ''busses." speedy lit
 tie one scatter fighting machines, His
 pano- Suiza motored, and capable Of , 125 miles per hour; two Spads, fast French fighting machines with His pano- Suiza motors and capable of per haps 130 miles per hour; and two cap tured German Fokkers, wicked looking little one -seaters, with Mercedes en- 7 zines of 130 h. D., capable of about 130 miles per hour, and mounting two ma chine guns synchroniZed to fire through the propeller All the others mounted one gun. The twelfth machine was Leutennnt Wright's big DeHaviland, with a. 400 h. p. Liberty motor, capable of a speed of 130 miles per hour, which is very fast considering her carrying capacity and size.
 Squadron Takes the Air Promptly at 1:30 the squadron start
 ed aloft. First the five Curtiss ma chimes, piloted by Lieutenants McMul- len, Andrews, Cavanaught and Wolfe; then the s. E. 5s in charge of Lieuten- ants Read and Atkins; then the two Spads with Lieutenants Getchen and Henry Welding the "joysticks,' and finally the two Fokkers with Iieuten- ants Follmer and Pryear at the throttles.
 All the planes, regardless of make and nationality, taxied down the field and took the air with the grace ot swallows skimming over a chimney and spiraled rapidly upward and out over the city. Almost immediately one Fokker driven by Lieutenant Puryear which had been having some engine trouble, returned and landed, the en- zine stuttering and overheated Eyi- dently German engines were not ln- tended for Arizona work.
 Both Spads Drop Out A little later the Spad driven bJ Lieutenant Henry was forced to lanc by an oil leak, and shortly thereafter the other Spad was noticed to bt maneuvering for q landing, and came down safely with the propeller broker and engine stopped.
 But the rest of them put on some showw." They did lopps, tail spins, I'm melman or reverse drops, barren rolls aideslips. banks and falling leai manouvers, the latter giving the eftec of a leaf falling gently, first to on' 5 side and then the other.
 Stage Attack and Pursuit Then they put on a pursuit Out O E the upper air the Fokl1er dived lik' 3 an angry eagle, while the slower Curti! observation planes maneuvered t' avoid him. Then came the fast itt' s English planes to the rescue. chasint the Fokker streaking away across th' ' valley.
 Despite the roughness of the field al made perfect landings, and by the tim the last planes were on the ground tn first ones were dismantled and bein;
 loaded onto the cars. Soon all Wer aboard and the train steamed away fo { Rockwell field, San Diego, their tasl well done. For they had been out 5 days, had put on 27 main shows ant
 three side shows, an average of one day without a single accident or ia tality, a record not equaled by tn other two flying circuses that wer out helping to boost the Victory loan. The grand stand was filled wit thousands of people, who were not al \ lowed on the field for fear of accidents | A flutter of Allied flags crowned tn
 roof, band blared military music \ and the people sat and watched wit
 rapt attention while the stunts wen E on, by ia rthe biggest aerial sho7 \ ever staged in this city. After playin \ follow your leader" the two behin \ doing everything the plane in front di' \ three of the Curtis planes sailed dow N across the middle of the track. dicectl