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PAUL STUDENSKY
MAKES NEW RECORD

DARING AVIATOR MAKES CIRCUIT OF
THE CITY AT A DIZZY
ALTITUDE.

THEN VOLPLANES 2,000 FEET

Performs Remarkable Feet After Only
Two Weeks of Practice-Event of
Moment in Aviation.

What is considered to be one of the most remarkable flights by an aviator ever made in the South took place over Galveston Island late Wednesday afternoon, when Paul Studensky, the French flyer of the National Aeroplane Company, circled the eastern end of the island in a flight which covered a distance of more than twenty-five miles, lasting about forty minutes, and reaching at one time a height of a little over 4,000 feet. The aviator took the water line as a guide, followed the beach down to the eastern end of the island, and there wheeling out over the bay at an altitude of 2,000 feet, he flew westward to the end of the city where he turned again south and headed for the National Aviation Grounds.

A Right Hand Volplane.

Before he reached his destination, however, not the least remarkable feat of the flight was performed. The gasoline supply of his machine became exhausted when he was directly over the roofs of the houses in the western part of the city, and with a motor which had ceased its throbbing the daring and cool-headed little aviator pushed the head of his lifeless aeroplane downward, and, volplaning at a terrific speed from more than 2,000 feet in the air in a right-hand spiral, one of the most difficult feats in aviation, he swept earthward and landed in a vacant lot near Fifty-second street and Avenue I, without so much a breaking a wire of his machine.

Two Weeks' Experience.

Aviator Paul Studensky, and in this there is a momentous feature, took his seat in an American-made biplane just two weeks ago. He had never before attempted to fly anything save a Bleriot monoplane, the controls of which are as different from the Curtiss type biplane as a steam engine is from a gasoline automobile. The flight marks a feat which has seldom been accomplished in the history of aviation, and will without doubt be noted in every part of the world where modern aviation is recognized.

A New Record.

This remarkable feat by Aviator Paul Studensky marks another development in the annals of aviation progress in America. Although more extensive and daring flights have been made since flying in a heavier-than-air machine has become a reality, there is probably no man who has ever made such a flight with so short a period of practice as that of Studensky. There are many aviators who are considered masters of the art who have been flying for several years and who have never ventured over the roofs of cities and the menacing waters of an ocean or bay, and who have never attained an altitude of more than one or two thousand feet. Aviator Studensky, with two week's experience, including a short daily practice lasting not more than two or three hours a day, not only accomplished these feats, but he reached the dizzy height of over 4,000 feet and performed one of the most difficult and daring volplanes which is possible for the modern aviator.

Practiced on Beach.

When Studensky entered the employ of the National Aeroplane Company he contracted to make a successful flight in a biplane with eighteen days of practice. Actually only ten days of practice were consumed by him before he made the daring flight of Tuesday afternoon over the roofs of the business section of Galveston, following it with the record-breaking feats of Wednesday evening. His practice was confined to short and seemingly insignificant hops along the sands of the Denver beach, which he selected as the most suitable place for his experiments. He contented himself with these short jumps for the first few days of his practice, gradually becoming accustomed to the controls of the machine, and gaining confidence in his ability to pilot the new craft.

Built by Lester V. Bratton.

The Curtiss type biplane in which Studensky made his remarkable flight was designed and built by Lester V. Bratton, the youthful mechanician of the National Aeroplane Company. While embodying most of the principles of the Curtiss type machine, the aeroplane contains many new features which are the personal innovations of Mr. Bratton, and the success of Studensky also brings Bratton into prominence as one of the successful designers of America.

Aviator Studensky expects to continue his flights over Galveston, and if his progress in flying ability develops as rapidly as it has during the last two weeks, he may be expected to break some more records before he has finished.