The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-02-18

had no idea of how was to get it
back to hard sod again.
I borrowed a rope from him to
use in pulling the tail back to a
normal position and we started
back to the swamp.
Meantime it seems that two boys
had seen me land, and, when 1 did
not emerge from the cockpit imme-
diately, lid run to Savage with the
news that IAN aviator had landed
upside down in the swamp" and
that they had "gone up and felt Of
his neck and that it was stiff and
he was stone dead"
I had flown over the town in the
rain only few minutes before, and
as in those days it was not diff
cult for any one to believe anything
about an airplane the town prompt
ly locked its doors and came crawl
ing and wading through the swamp.
The older inhabitants followed
the railroad track around its edge
and by the time I returned with the
farmer and rope there were
enough townspeople to solve my
problem by carrying the ship back
on to solid ground.
They we're undoubtedly much dis
appointed at having come so far on
false alarm, but turned to will
lingly to help me get the ship out
of the swamp.
The next edition of one of the
Minneapolis papers carried the fol-
lowing item, which typically exem-
plifieS what has been the average
mans knowledge of aeronautics:
AIRPLANE CRASHES NEAR
SAVAGE
Charles A. Lindbergh, son of
ex-Congressman Lindb ergh,
crashed near Savage, Mimi, this
morning. He was flying in his
plane 300 feet above the ground
when it suddenly went into a nose
dive and landed on its propeller
in swamp. Lindbergh says he
will be flying again in three days.
After reading this and similar
accounts of equally minor accidents
of flight, it is little wonder that the
average man would far rather
watch some one else fly, and read
of the narrow escapes from death
when some pilot has had a forced
landing or blowout, than to ride
himself.
Even in the postwar days of now
n oil IF
the serious accidents were caused by
inexperienced pilots, who we're then
allowed to fly or to attempt to fly
without license or restriction about
anything they could coax into the
air-and to carry any one who
might be beguiled into riding with
them.
My next move was to wire to
Little Falls for propeller which
Wyche had expressed from Ameri-
Gus, and two days later joined my
father in his campaign at Marshall.
My father had been opposed to
my flying from the first and had
never flown himself. However, he
had agreed to go up with me at
the first opportunity, ard one alter
noon he climbed into the cockpit
and we flew over Redwood Falls
together.
From that day on I never heard a
word against my flying and he never
missed a chance to ride in the
plane.
After the campaign was over I
spent the remainder of the summer
transforming through Minnesota,
northern Iowa and western Wiscon-
sin.
Most of the time I was alone, but
I took one student around with me
for few weeks while I was teach
ing him to fly, and then 1 barn
stormed southern Minnesota with
my mother for ten days.
My mother had never objected TO
my flying and after her first flight
at GAINESVILLE, Minnesota, she became
an enthusiast herself.
We had been together constantly
up to the start of my flying career