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5

CAPT. FRANK HAWKES

I have been active in aviation for twenty-one years. It has always been my desire to be a contributor to it's advancement. Most of the time I have been endeavoring to stimulate interest in speed. Once, however, I deviated long enough to precipitate activity in gliding and soaring. I have always been convinced that gliding is the logical preliminary step in the curriculum of flying instruction. 

In 1930 I planned to give a number of demonstrations of this art and I chose a course across the United States as my arena. The glider train was to take off from San Diego, California on March 31st, due to arrive in New York on April 6th. The glider was scientifically and structurally fabricated along sound principals. It was attached to a 500 foot stranded steel cable which ran out from a drum in the tow airplane. By a release, it could be cut loose from the tow line instantly. There was a telephone system installed by which conversation between glider and tow airplane could be carried on. The entire project was carefully calculated. I had every confidence I would succeed. The flight covered 2700 miles with twenty stops for fuel and demonstrations. On April 6th, seven years ago, I landed in New York, precisely on schedule. My glider, which I called "Eaglet" now rests in the Smithsonian Institute. 

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