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contest. That month he also flew at the Herkimer County Fair at Herkimer, New York, then at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, on October 12th and 13th before huge[[crossed-out]]h[[/crossed-out]] crowds. While there he also carried authorized mail. On October 31, 1912, Johnson established a new American endurance record with a passenger, or three hours, fifty-one minutes at Bath, New York, flying a 6-cylinder, 65 h.p. Thomas biplane. The previous record has been made August 19, 1911, by [[left-margin]] checkmark [[/left-margin]] George Beatty during the Chicago [[capitalizing edit mark]] Meet. Johnson carried Arthur Blasiar, who was a mechanic and student at the Thomas School, as his passenger. Neither man was dressed in warm clothing for the flight and both suffered from the cold.

That fall the Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company of Bath, New York, was incorporated to manufacture planes, by W.T. Thomas, Oliver W. Thomas, Cummings [[left-margin]] checkmark [[/left-margin]] [[crossed-out]]L[[/crossed-out]] M. Cox and Walter E. Johnson. In a few months Johnson had taught himself to fly, became an instructor, a chief test pilot, and now was a member of the firm, certainly a creditable achievement. During 1912 Johnson alos[[reverse edit mark]] assisted in training Earl Fritts, Glenn M. Tait and Arthur Blasiar. That fall Ralph M. Brown became assistant instructor and Johnson started the winter shcool[[reverse edit mark]] to again [[crossed-out]]f[[/crossed-out]] train from the ice on Lake Salubria. 

Johnson started the 1913 exhibition season at a Fl[[crossed-out]]a[[/crossed-out]]ying Carnival held by the Aeronautical Society of New York May 30th to June 1st on Staten Island. Also flying in the event were H.B. Brown, C.M. Wood and Cecil Peoli. Late in 1912 the Thomas Brothers had started development of a flying boat and this work resumed in the spring of 1913. This resulted in their enter[[crossed-out]]e[[/crossed-out]]ing a plane to be flown by Johnson in the Aero & Hydro Great Lakes Flying Boat Cruise from Chicago to Detroit, starting July 8th. This race, which followed the shore[[delete space edit mark]]line of the Great Lakes, vai[[reverse edit mark]] the Straits of Mackinac, was easily the most notable competitive flying event of that year.

Thomas Brothers entered a new flying boat especially designed for the contest, with the first all-metal hull ever fitted with wings. This plane, equipped with a 65-70 h.p., 6-cylinder Kirkham engine, received its f[[crossed-out]]o[[/crossed-out]]irst flight tests on June 19th at Lake Conesus. Additional testing followed, carried

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