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made rapid progress and soon was making circles of the field, his strong inner desire to fly satisfied at last.

Laird continued his flying practice and later that fall one of his Model Club associates, Addison Cruver, kept coaxing for an opportunity to taxi the little plane across the field. Since he was one of the group who had helped with the final assembly of the plane at Cicero Field, Laird finally consented to let him try it. Cruver was over-anxious, taxied too fast, bounced off and slammed down in a pile of wreckage, but was unhurt. That winter Laird rebuilt it into a biplane which he flew at Cicero during the 1914 summer season.

In November, 1914, he started rebuilding the plane to facilitate easy dismantling and shipping for exhibition work. He made a new fuselage in two sections, made new wings in four sections with rounded tips, and a new tail assembly of better form. He also designed a more streamlined engine cowling. Laird's close Model Club friends George Weaver and Charles Arens occasionally assisted him in rebuilding this plane, and Laird's younger brother Charles also helped in this work. It was completed in May, 1915, soon became known as the "Laird Baby Biplane" and was used in his first public exhibitions that season. Also, at this time Laird was gaining fame as an expert member of the very active Illinois Model Aero Club where his model building and flying were exceptionally good. He was elected President of the Club and later served in various other official capacities with this noted youth organization.

Laird started flying the Laird Baby Biplane at Cicero in the spring of 1915 and it proved such a success that he and this little plane soon became a familiar attraction at flying events about the Chicago area. As a result he decided to attempt flying some exhibitions. His first one that season was in Sebring, Ohio, at a county fair; and he took his friend Arens and Weaver along as helpers. Weaver's father was a railroad man and Arens also worked for a railroad so they had no difficulty getting passes. The only cash outlay was Laird's fare and express charged for the plane. Laird received $400.00 for two flights