Grand Forks 1910 Fair Day 2

Page 1. Immense Crowd Saw Truly Wonderful Aeroplane Flight. Hoxsey Rose 2,500 Feet Above The Earth In 22-Minute Flight. Daring Aviator Made Big Hit. Thousands Cheered His Skillful Maneuvers High in the Air. New Sensations Promised Today. It Is Expected Hoxsey Will Carry a Passenger Up Today. Thrilling Maneuvers Held the Audience Spellbound – Rose High in Air and Swooped Down Within a Few Feet of the Earth – After Program of Circles and Figures Hoxsey Rose Into the Clouds. Hoxsey and his wonderful aeroplane were the center of attraction again yesterday. The thousands who saw the successful flight on Tuesday were back to enjoy another thrill and with them came about seven thousand more. There were no skeptics in sight for they remembered that Hoxsey had made good on the first day of the fair, had done all that he or the Wright company had promised and why should there be room for doubt. It was accepted as a certainty that a flight would be made and that the aviator would vary his program and add a few more thrills to the splendid first performance. And again Hoxsey made good.

Hoxsey Is Careful. At 3 o’clock the big biplane was pushed out of the shelter tent and across the race track to the starting rail which had been laid east and west, parallel with the grandstand and just beyond the judges’ stand. The motors were started and Hoxsey pressed the levers at 3:18 but one of the assistants had pressed down too hard on the right side of the machine and Hoxsey was not satisfied to make a start under difficulties so stopped his engines and had the aeroplane pushed back for another start. The aviator says that in a clear field it makes little difference about the tilt of the planes in rising from the rail, but in a small field where it is necessary to swing to one side in rising and where there are so many people lined up around the field he refuses to take any chances, preferring to make another start and get off the earth in perfect style. This he succeeded in doing on the second start. When the aeroplane was in readiness for the second start Mr. Hoxsey was asked to delay his start until the second heat of the 2:13 pace was pulled off, the horses being ready for a start at the time.

Story of the Flight. At 3:26 the aeroplane sped swiftly along the monorail and a little past the center of it rose quickly and gracefully into the air. Speeding westward Hoxsey wheeled and made a swing around the infield at a height of about 75 feet and then rising higher still came back above the great throng of people along the fences, scattering confetti as he went. The rain of vari-colored discs made a pretty sight coming down from a hundred feet in (the) air. Higher and higher went the aeroplane, now swinging in short circles, now rising swiftly to do the “duck and dive” act, now passing in front of the grandstand at terrific speed, passing out of the field over the heads of the people lining the fences and in the open field beyond swooping down almost to the earth, then rising quickly to rush straight toward the grandstand, veering sharply about to swing around with planes tilted now this way now that in describing the figure eight in the center of the field. Presently Hoxsey rode higher and higher until a height of about 300 feet had been reached and in a downward rush made a remarkably short circle that made the spectators wonder how the machine could stay in midair with the planes tilted at such a sharp angle. As a matter of fact, the aeroplane does drop earth ward on the sharp turns on account of the decreased surface for air resistance.

Almost to Earth. Hoxsey’s stunt was to rise to a couple of hundred feet and come down with a succession of short speedy dives until the runners of his machine almost touched the grass, all the while with his machine under perfect control, then he started upward again and rose to a height of about three hundred feet, did the roller coaster stunt and rising again swung out of the infield at a height of nearly 500 feet. He circled higher and higher veering away to the north until he was a mile from the grandstand. By this time he was so far away and so high in the air that the bark of the engines and the whirr of the great propellers was no longer heard. This added to the beauty of the flight and accentuated the birdlike appearance of the great machine. Up in the Clouds. Before coming back above the infield Hoxsey rose to a height of 2,500

Page 12. feet and circled back overhead at that great height. Cheer after cheer arose and the volume of the applause would have been much greater had not so many felt such a deep awe and wonder that it seemed impossible to give vent to their feelings. For several minutes the fearless aviator maneuvered at this great height and then dipped down in a series of long swoops which greatly accelerated his speed on account of the momentum gained in the downward rushes, adding the force of gravity to the push of the engines. His speed in crossing the infield after the descent from the clouds must have been close to sixty-five miles an hour. After the few short swings around the infield Hoxsey shut off his engines and landed with scarcely a perceptible jar in the center of the field in plain view of the cheering audience. The landing was made at 3:48. The flight lasted 22 minutes and there was not a dull moment from start to finish. Boundless Enthusiasm. There was no abatement in enthusiasm on the part of the spectators. Aviation is something that would not soon cease to interest. After the flight today almost everybody was talking about Hoxsey – the skillful daring Hoxsey and the wonderful Wright biplane. Some who had come in for only one day changed their plans so that they might see another flight. Others rushed away to the long distance telephone and urged the people of their home towns to take the first train to Grand Forks. Enthusiasm won the day and they are coming by train and auto. Today and tomorrow promise to swell the already large crowds. And why not? As these volunteer boosters are telling their friends, there is not only a good fair, with interesting exhibits and attractions for every minute of the day but there is also a chance to see Hoxsey fly.

Program for Today. Today, with the same ideal weather conditions that have prevailed thus far, there will likely be a chance to see some local man take a ride with Hoxsey. There are dozens of applications in and a lot more of us who have learned that it does not do any good to file an application as Mr. Hoxsey reserved the right to make his own selection of a passenger and has not yet announced his choice. It is also probable that the aviator will make a double flight today. He is under contract to make but one flight each day but he says the Wright people are inclined to give a good measure and will go more than half way to please an appreciative audience. The time for the second flight will probably be early in the evening, although no announcement can be made at this time. The afternoon flight is scheduled for 3 o’clock or as soon thereafter as will best fit into the program of the day. The program will again be varied and those who have already seen two flights are just as certain to enjoy the third. (Grand Forks Daily Herald, Thursday Morning, July 21, 1910, Volume XXIX, Number 224)

Comments Made by Those Who Saw Hoxsey Aviate. E. A. Wilson, president of the North Dakota Improvement company at Fargo, was a fair visitor yesterday. He came over to see if the airship really went up or if it was just a big advertising dodge. He went home last evening completely satisfied that it was the greatest ever and with the firm determination he was going to tell the Fargo fellows they would have to go some to beat the Grand Forks fair. H. C. Misner of Crookston heard about Tuesday’s successful flying machine trip, and he came over yesterday specially to see it. He was more than satisfied, and went home last night to tell the rest of the people about it. E. E. Cole, proprietor of the Metropole hotel at Fargo, had the following to say regarding the aeroplane flight yesterday: “No one has ever seen a more beautiful flight in the world. If I get a chance, I will tell the Fargo people that they ought to have it at their fair.” F. G Kenworthy and Thomas McGoey, two Grand Forkers who long to aviate with an intense, burning longing, went all the way to Chicago to see flying machines fly, and then came home to see two flights that eclipsed anything they saw by several hundred degrees.

To wonder since first aviation was discussed some 30 years ago whether it would ever become a reality, to come to the Grand Forks fair hardly expecting to see a real flight, and then to see the magnificent exhibition given by Aviator Hoxsey, was the experience yesterday of an elderly man 86 years of age. During the preliminary work of getting the aeroplane in readiness he watched every moment with an intensity that showed his great interest. With the first false start his face fell and there was present that air of resignation that indicated the expected had happened. When the second attempt was made and the aeroplane went up slowly but surely, he rose suddenly to his feet, rubbed his eyes to be sure that they were not deceiving him, and as the machine soared upward and around like a giant bird, he laughed like a school boy and the tears, tears occasioned by pure delight and by the realization of the hope of years, coursed down his cheeks as he watched the aviator continue in his maneuvers. Approaching the end of life, and intensely interested in the wonders of science, he had seen the brain of man accomplish another marvel of science, the aviation of the air in a heavier than air machine.

“You have the best fair I have ever seen for the amount of money involved.” This was the statement yesterday of C. N. Cosgrove of the Minnesota state fair and coming from a man of such wide experiences in the fair business the statement means considerable. “Your fair is clean, its attractions are every one up to date and the Wright aeroplane with Aviator Hoxsey caps the climax and lifts it away above the ordinary run of fairs both state and local. I had seen the expression, ‘Grand Forks where they have good fairs,’ and now I know that it is more than an advertising catch phrase, for I can testify that they do have good fairs, and that is putting it mildly, in Grand Forks.” A prominent visitor in yesterday to see the big fair was R. N. Cosgrove, secretary of the big Spokane fair. Mr. Cosgrove was enthusiastic in his praise of the exhibition and declared emphatically that the flight made yesterday by Aviator Hoxsey was alone worth while if there was no other show to go with it. He expressed considerable surprise over the size of the crowd and over the splendid attractions and exhibits. (Grand Forks Daily Herald, Thursday Morning, July 21, 1910, Volume XXIX, Number 224, Page 1)

Prominent Visitor Was In Grand Forks. President Hart of the Hart-Parr Company Took in Grand Forks Fair Yesterday. President Hart of the Hart-Parr Gasoline Tractor company of Charles City, Iowa, was an interested visitor at the fair yesterday. Mr. Hart is in the city for the purpose of looking over the local field and also to look over the company’s new building in this city which is now in the process of erection. Mr. Hart said with qualification that the Grand Forks fair was the biggest little fair he had ever seen and expressed surprise at the size of the crowd in view of the reports received east that there were hard times ahead in North Dakota. In discussing the crop situation Mr. Hart said with a smile that he would advise all farmers to plow down their fields as soon as possible after harvest and in this way get rid of the week pest. Incidentally he mentioned that the traction plow is the most up to date method of plowing. (Grand Forks Daily Herald, Thursday Morning, July 21, 1910, Volume XXIX, Number 224, Page 12)