The New York herald., 1921-10-30
By RICHARD II. WATKINS.

by kCHAKD II. WAlklNS.
THE easiest way to count stunt"
fiers is to count their tombstones.
This is, of course radical state
ment, but it is almost literally true. The
cleverest 1er who ever lived was not
clever enough to last long at the aero
batic game, as survey of the death roll in
aviation proves.
The stunt fier in the old days of flying
not ten years ago-was a miracle man,
superhuman being without the nerves or
mortality of mankind, an Achilles without
a heel-until he crashed. During the war
he was hero, an adventurer of the air,
flying through storm of shrapnel, fam
ing onions. machine gun bullets and archy
fire., and dropping in flames to earth with
his gun still roaring gallantly. But now
he has become merely nuisance and, like
other nuisances he is being legislated
against.
It is possible to account with almost
mathematical precision for the stunt
iiers of yesteryear. There is, of course,
1921 crop who are still at the zenith, but
the nadir is not far off. The stunt fiiers
who thrilled the crowds years or months
ago are underground.
Hoxsey Beachey, Locklear-all are dead
But so, you may say, are all the other
early aviators and many of those of the
present day. No so. 1t is true that many
flier dropped to death in the fiimsy ma
chimes of decade or more ago; it is equally
true that once in great while we read of
the death of a fier who was flying and not
stunting. but the proportion is about the
same as the mortality of grade crossing
spectators and race drivers as compared
with cautious motorists.
Wrights Took Greatest Chance
With First Practical Plane
The Wright brothers were early f1iers-
the men who took the biggest chance Of
all when. in 1903, they ventured off the
ground in flimsy kite, propelled by a 16
horsepower. coughing, jerky motor. Will
bur died in bed and Orville is still active
in the aeronautical industry. Glenn Cur
tiss was an early flier and held many of
the early records, but he never forgot that
he was a man and not an angel. He is
still alive and one of the biggest figures
in aviation to-day. Louis Bleriot still lives
in France and builds planes and automo-
biles. Dozens of others flew bravely and
well, yet lived.
AS matter of fact, there are two kinds
of airmen, the sons of Icarus and the sons
of Daedalus. Daedalus and his son Icarus,
it may be recalled. were imprisoned some
two generations before the Trojan war.
Daedalus invented wings and fastened
them on himself and Icarus with wax
They flew away from their captors
Icarus, however, was stunt 1ier. He flew
so high the sun melted the wax on his
wings and left him "out of luck" thousands
of feet above what was named the Icarian
Sea in his memory. Daedalus, the in
ventor, few low and reached land in
safety.
Since then the exponents of the Daeda.
liam school Of thought have been building
planes and flying them safely. and the fol-
lowers of the Icarian school of action have
been stunting them and dying
The most severe critics of the stunt
fiers are the engineers. the manufactur-
ers and the great bulk of the now large
brotherhood of pilots. These men realize
that not even an eagle could perform the
evolutions that some Of the stunt fiiers
get away with'-for time
Up in the quarters of the Aero Club Of
America, in rooms decorated with the
trophies of men who went down in the
effort to make flying a thing of real benel
1T to man, or who are still carrying on,
pilots. engineers and builders of planes
gather frequently. as they have for years.
20 discuss the latest ships" and the latest
achievements of the game. One other thing
they are discussing now the abolition of
stunt flying Too many men have flashed
downward to death in good planes mis-
treated beyond the limit of strength OF
steel and wood and linen.
Best Pilot in the Country
Surely Doomed to Death
Calmly, but somewhat regretfully. they
speak of n pilot who may be even now
trying out his motor for his last flight at
Mineola. In their opinion this man is the
cleverest aier in this country. He is mas.
ter of the tailspin, the barrel roll, the
1mmelman, the nose dive, the loop and all
the other stunts. But, in their opinion.
he is doomed to death more certainly than
il he were awaiting execution at Sing
Sing or in the last stages of incurable
disease.
II is not nice thing to hear pilots speak
admiringly of this mans skill. yet to
realize the positiveness of their conviction
that he is soon to die. The pilot in ques.