The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1922-07-24
PILOT THOMPSON AGAIN
VISITS THE CITY OF LUBBOCK


"And then they say that II is dan
gerous to fly"-might be the way
To sum up the record established by
Pilot Thompson who spent several
DAYS in Lubbock this week with his
passenger plane. Pilot Thompson
when he was discharged from the
Air Service after the war bought
standard parts Of wings, wires, struts,
motors, etc, from the government
and built plane Of his own at very
reasonable cost. He started out TO
fly for his own pleasure-just like
you would buy flivver and drive
around over the country. His friends
began to ask him to take them for
trial flights--and gradually he grew
into the passenger carrying business.
In the past three years he has
flown more than 100000 miles and
has carried more than Is, 900 passen-
gers. His flights have ranged from
S minutes to six hours and from five
miles TO 500 miles. Some of his cross
country records stand out as excep-
tional He has flown in all sorts
and kinds Of weather, in daylight and
dark, alone and with as many as
four passengers and has never had
serious accident.
OF course he has blown out a few
tires. scratched the fabric a time or
two, split n propeller now and then
but nothing OF a serious nature. He
is his own mechanic, makes his own
adjustments and repairs and is al
ways ready to go.
His plane has never been in a
hanger more than thirty days during
the whole three years. 1t has taken
rain, the winds, ice, snow and what
not else.-Now and then he has re-
covered the wings, put in new wires,
new parts and tuned il up--ready TO
| 90 again.
Ex-Pilot Keen who has taken a
number of flights with Thompson
all over West Texas, declares that
/ he is one of the safest, most conser-
vative pilots he ever flew with. "He
/ has given me some mighty nice,
smooth stunts, but he does not do
stunt flying with passengers. He
, knows his plane, takes care of II
/ himself and can be depended upon.
/ He has covered every town from San
| Angelo TO Denver from one to a doZ-
en- times and is well known in each
of them. We always like to see him
drop in TO see us" If you have
never had flight II certainly is
worth the money. And as for safety,
why, a flivver on a Lubbock street
/ is a lot rougher and twice as dan
gerous. It will surprise you-how
simple and easy il all is--and how
secure it feels while you are in the
air. As for getting dizzy--it makes
no difference whether you can stand
on a chair or not without falling
/ you can fly just as high as they go
without ever having the slightest SEN
sation of dizziness. II there was
ever "A country made 90 be flown
over il is the plains country. Ten
[ years from today there viii be more
! planes in Lubbock county than there
are high priced automobiles now.
II a man has $4,000 TO put into a
motor vehicle he will use wisdom
I in buying a $4,000 plane and a
I Ford, Overland or Dodge car. They
are fast enough for the short dis
tances around town and within ten
miles of tOwn-your plane is a lot
faster and safer and less expensive
TO operate on the long runs.
"You can fly safely and COM
fortably in almost any kind of
weather that you can drive car
in-and chug holes don't bother
you-and the dust never gets IN
your eyes"
But then you know Keen's fail
ing when he gets TO talking about
anything he believes in. But his
argument is backed up by several
other pilots over West Texas who
keep in touch with the development
Of the flying game.