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Curtiss, Charles Willard and Bud Mars. 

Curtiss was always looking for possible new exhibitions flyers and at that event he took quite a liking to Ely and was very impressed with his flying. As a result, he signed Ely on as one of his exhibition men. [[crossed-out]] On [[/crossed-out]] From June 19th to July 1st Ely flew at Sioux City, Iowa, with Bud Mars, still flying his own 4 cylinder Curtiss plane, and July 23rd, to 27th they were at Creighton Field, Omaha, Nebraska. In August,Ely flew at Rochester, New York,on the 5th to 7th, then at the Sheepshead Bay Meet, Long Island, [[crossed-out]]New York[[/crossed-out]] August 19th to 28th. There he flew with Curtiss, Mars, Willard and McCurdy and did some wonderful flying, making several cross-country trips, and on the 27th was given a [[crossed-out]]T[[/crossed-out]][[t]]rophy by the Manhattan Beach Hotel for flying the greatest number of hours and attaining the highest altitude of any aviator at the Meet. To accept this he landed on the beach in front of the hotel, was the honored guest at a luncheon, then returned to the flying field. In September he flew at Kalamazoo, Michigan, on the 5th and 6th; Rock Island, Illinois, on the 12th to 17th; Roanoke, Virginia, on the 21st and 22nd; then at Poughkeepsie, New York on the 27th through the 30th. 

October 1st to 7th Ely flew at a meet in Chicago, Illinois, with Curtiss, Willard, McCurdy and Blanche Scott. This event, at the Hawthorne Race Track, was sponsored by the Chicago Post and was to precede the start of a race from Chicago to New York for a prize of $25,000, put up by the Post and the New York Times. At this event, on October 5[[crossed-out]]th[[/crossed-out]], 1910, Ely obtained his F.A.I. pilot license, No. 17. Several aviators entered the Chicago-to-New York race, but Ely was the only one to start on October 9th. After about twelve [[crossed-out]]12[[/crossed-out]] miles he was forced to land with engine trouble. When this was corrected he attempted to takeoff with the help of bystanders and broke the front wheel. The next morning the gas line broke on takeoff and he landed in a ditch, which damaged things somewhat. After making repairs he did get off, but in twenty-five [[crossed-out]]25[[/crossed-out]] minutes the motor quit at 2,000 feet and he made a forced landing at East Chicago and broke the front wheel again. Since the time limit to complete the race was October 16th he gave up, only nineteen [[crossed-out]]just 19[[/crossed-out]] miles from his starting point. 
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