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Laird became so anxious to get started on his new plane that he left the Sloane firm and returned to Chicago. He had retained a workshop at Cicero and his younger brother Charles was already working there. 

About this time they "took an order" to build a small light biplane for the National Aeroplane Company of Chicago, using an Excelsior twin-cylinder motorcycle engine, which became the first of a long line of well-known Laird planes to be built and sold commercially during his long and noteworthy manufacturing career. Simultaneously with this order Laird started to built his new 1916 acrobatic exhibition 2-seat tandem tractor biplane, using the 6-cylinder, 45 h.p. engine. He was now operating under the name of Laird Aviation Company and began to receive numerous inquiries about "how to build" his Baby Biplane. As a result he advertised and for some time sold plans and building instructions covering it. 

The new exhibition plane was completed in May, 1916, and proved to be very successful. With this machine Laird started an active exhibition season later that month, with his first engagement at Urbana, Illinois, during the University of Illinois Interscholastic Meet. In June he started looping this plane to become the sixth looper among American exhibition pilots. Also in June he flew for his pilot license at Ashburn Field with this new plane and received F.A.I. License No. 532 on July 16, 1916. Following his engagement at Urbana, Laird gave exhibitions at Lansing and Cadillac, Michigan, then at Butte, Montana, on July 3rd and 4th where he performed loops on two flights each day, and made two night flights with fireworks during the Elks Convention. This was his first night flying. His next date was at Bozeman, Montana, then he went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Ft. Pierre, South Dakota, [[crossed-out]] them [[/crossed-out]] and Springfield, Illinois. In September and October Laird went west and filled some dates in Colorado and Texas, then returned east to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he flew for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch newspaper. Here, on election night in November, he flashed colored lights from, his plane to indicate which presidential candidate,Hughes 

5. 

Transcription Notes:
. ✓ (Check marks) were used to indicate a line where a change was to be made in the text. Don't know whether they are needed now since changes have been made. The last two words are not transcribed incorrectly, as the writer didn't put a space there, so we shouldn't.