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May, 1911     AVIATION     13

[[image - monochrome photograph of biplane in flight]] 
[[caption]] One of Walsh's First Flights [[/caption]]

putting on a large propeller I could make the engine run very steady and eliminate most of the vibration.

I decided to ship the whole outfit to Los Angeles and to prepare for the Novice meet to be held in that city, October 22d. It took me a week to set the machine up, and there was much speculation as to whether I really could fly, but on September 10th I was ready and after carefully tuning up the engine I made a good flight of about 1000 feet across the infield of the Motordrome. This was as far as I could fly as there was a grandstand built around this enclosure. I made about a dozen flights inside the Motordrome and then moved the plane outside where I had lots of room to try to make a turn.

[[image - monochrome photograph of biplane in flight]] 
[[caption]] Walsh in His Latest Biplane [[/caption]]

In the meantime I was called to Santa Ana to fly Glenn Martin's machine. This machine had experienced a lot of rough usage and was not in the best of condition. I made a few short jumps on this outfit and returned to Los Angeles and entered the Novice meet at the Motordrome. This meet was the turning point in my career as far as aeroplaning goes, for on the very first attempt I made two circles to the right. I might say in this connection that to turn to the right when the engine is running counter-clock-wise is a very dangerous thing to do, as the machine has a tendency to turn over due to the action of gyrascopic force caused by the rapid turning of the propeller.

After the first turn the second seemed easy ,but at the time I did not realize the danger I was running into, but it was a good experience and I had no difficulty after that in making a right-handed turn any time I wanted to. The second day I made three turns, or I should say, three complete circles all to the right. These turns or circles were the first to be made on the Pacific Coast by an amateur. At this meet I was fortunate enough to capture all of the prizes and trophies. The "Examiner" cup for duration in single flight; the San Diego cup for the highest flight; the Whitley trophy for endurance, and the Leonard-Smith cup for the first circle made by any one during the meet.

Transcription Notes:
Brought "put" over from preceding page to avoid breaking words between pages, per transcription instructions.