Viewing page 44 of 71

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

thorough check. As he started to leave on November 21st the plane caught fire and the resulting damage delayed him until November 25th. He reached Memphis, Tenn. on December 2nd and Vicksburg, Miss. December 9th. Suffering from an attack of appendicitis, Tony arrived at New Orleans on December 16th to finish the cruise. It had been necessary to lift him into the plane for the last lap of his journey and he was immediately attended by a physician upon arrival at New Orleans. He was elated, however, for he had set a new World Hydro Distance Record of 1,972 miles that would easily stand for some time. To him this trip had been a real pleasure and his main desire was to demonstrate the safety and convenience of Hydro cruising for sport. He had carried a passenger between points at times charging $1 per mile. He also carried movie men and mail, and put on exhibitions at many points for the crowds gathered to see him. He flew very low most of the way down the river and spark plugs were his major troubles. At times he was flying on only three of the six cylinders of his Roberts engine. Movie photographer William Trepts made the trip with Tony from St. Louis to New Orleans. Tony brought the FIRST air mail ever delivered to Memphis, Tenn. on this trip. His total flying time was 31 hours, 43 minutes, longest day's trip 181 miles, and 42 public exhibitions were flown.
[[indent]]By mid-January, 1913 Tony was back in St. Louis testing the new Benoist Flying Boat. In April he announced his entry in the Great Lakes Reliability Cruise from Chicago to Detroit scheduled to start July 8th. For this contest the Benoist Company made a new special Biplane Flying Boat powered by an 80 H.P. 6 cyl. Sturtevant engine mounted in the hull forward of the seats, with a shaft running back to drive the high pusher propeller by chain transmission. On June 24th Tony was in Duluth, Wisconsin to assist his brother Rodger with the first flight tests of a new Benoist Flying Boat purchased by wealthy Duluth grain trader W. D. Jones. On July 8th Tony was entry No. 1 and first to start in the Great Lakes Reliability Cruise at Grant Park, Chicago. His passenger was Paul McCullough, the well known balloon pilot of St. Louis. Tony was set up and started flying at Grant Park on July 5th and did considerable test work on the two days following. Also starting
[[bottom right corner]] 4