The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-05-20
The Worst Scare About
The First AirpLane Flight
Comes the Night Before
Too Busy and Interested To Be Scared When Ship Is in
the Air-It Feels" Safe and Comfortable-No Sense
of Great Height-Landscape Looks Like Beautifully
Modelled Contour Map.

from above or by its location. I even
spotted the apartment house in which
I live. Goodness knows it is insignifi-
cant in appearance
The city itself was solid green, with
the foliage of the trees which are its
glory. The business district, Kansas
avenue and Jackson street, Smoky
Row and the state house square,
were the only striking breaks on the
woolly green surface
Ny gaze switched from the city be-
meath to the far horizon. As far as
could see. the terrain was in squares,
marked off by shades of green and
brown. The horizon itself was
shrouded in a smoky haze. I could
see for perhaps twenty miles in every
direction. The ground appeared per-
fectly level.
I caught myself moralizing on the
delightful effect of getting up above
the inequalities, the Irregularities,
and the bumps and roughness of the
world. I wanted to stay up there for
ever, in the spirit at least, if not in
the body.
SpiraIIing Had No Terrors.
I wanted to take pictures. wien
we get up about fifteen hundred I'll
cut the motor and spiral down steeply
Then you can shoot straight down.
and not be interfered with by either
the wing or the nose,"- Neville said.
I signalled Neville that was ready.
And he spiralled. He took no more
trouble than if he had moved the lit
tie map around for my inspection, the
plane tipped, dipped, and 1 was
startled to find the wing which had
been stretching out toward the no.
rizon, pointing straight at the ground.
I snapped wildly. The man who de-
veloped the pictures tells me my
swapping was wilder than 1 knew.
Spiralling steeply down, banking
till the ship was vertical, had no ter
rors, it was wholly delightful, and
felt far safer than turning corners in
Topeka traffic with some of my mo-
torist friends.
Between the making of the date
for the flight and the landing at the
end of the trip, was really frightened
but once. That was when Neville
started to nose down steeply, rapidly,
and Unexpectedly, toward the landing
field had forgotten where the field
was.
For an appreciate space of time
I literally sat on nothing, eight hun
bred feet above the ground. The
The only place at which I touched it
was where my shoulders rubbed
against the coaming of the cockpit. 1t
was bad for the fraction of a second,
but, oddly enough, as soon as I real
lied what was happening, my body
adjusted itself to the movement of the
machine. and it was worse than
descending q. steep hill on a smooth
pavement, in an automoblle-
Back in Kansas.
Then the bumps commenced again.
We were back in Kansas, the flight
was over, and I was sorry.
Yes, I was scared-the night be-
fore the flight.
Reardon took my place, and he and
Neville started for St Joe, Mo, to
meet flight of army planes. Rear
don sells them Nourse oil for lubri-
eating.
Safe? OF course think it's safe"
he said. Mrs. Reardon and Jack, Jr.,
were there. He glanced at them. IF
I didn't think it was safe to sell oil
from an airplane, do you think I'd
leave them here and start out?" he
said.
Mrs Reardon returned from her
first flight angry and disappointed.
II thought there would be at least a
little thrill in it," she said, land there
wasn't" Which just goes to show the
difference in viewpoints. 1t all de-
ponds upon the victim Some of us
get thrills. all right.
Jack, Jr., twenty-five months old,
wants to fly, too, and he will, some
day.