Homemade Flying Instructor Gives Air Thrills (May, 1933)

Homemade Flying Instructor Gives Air Thrills

Two eighteen-year-old boys of Turlock, Calif., have built themselves a flying instructor that provides virtually all the thrills of piloting a piano. Passengers are strapped in two miniature aircraft that fly in circles around the supporting framework, under the power of gasoline motors, as shown at left. The baby planes are tethered to a rotating crosspiece in such a way that they are free to roll and perform other aerial evolutions at the pilot’s touch of the controls. An operator riding on top of the crossbeam may apply a brake lever, or cut off the ignition, if the enthusiastic pilots acquire too much speed. Over week-ends the boys tow their device on a trailer base to nearby towns, and charge for rides.