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as far as I could. The vertical rudder held the plane up while it was returned to level flight,-- but I am still not sure as to how it occurred.

The biggest event was the Tri-State race, divided into two classes, monoplanes and biplanes, due to the fact that the monoplane was much faster.  While there were many entrants only four planes started, Ovington and Stone flying the monoplane class with Atwood and myself flying a B-Wright.  The course included three intermediate landings, at Nassau, New Hampshire, Worcester, Massachusetts, Providence, Rhode Island, and back to Boston.  Stone and Atwood landed in Medford, a short distance from Boston, and gave up the flight.  Ovington and I, therefore, became the sole contestants in each class.  We finished the flight and came up winners.  It was a gruelling experience that used up the daylight hours and forced me to land back at Boston after dark.  Early on my lap darkness overtook me and only through flares being shot up from the home field was I able to locate it.  The automobiles at the field, by turning on their headlights, gave me enough vision to make a safe landing.

Flying soon became one of the main attractions at Fairs and any other kind of public celebration.  It was a novelty and pilots and planes were few and far between.  After the favorable reaction to my participation in the Meet at Boston, Captain Beck, Arnold and myself were engaged to fly at numerous New England towns.  This was, of course, with time being taken on leave status.  They all followed the usual pattern, --

[[image: Augusta in Good Flying Weather]]

message pick-ups, accurate landings, simulated bombings with oranges and bags of white powder, maneuvers, and performance tests.  In these aerial meets setting new records became the order of the day; experiencing new thrills became routine occurrence.  I got my ample share of both.

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