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17th to 19th. At the end of the flying season Nelson joined the Cohen Motor Company at New Britain as their Service Manager, and induced the firm to establish an Aeronautic Department, where he started to build his 7th and last plane. This was similar to Plane No. 6, except that it had a flying boat hull which could be removed and a land gear installed if desired.

It was completed early in 1914 then Nelson, with Arson Cohen and two mechanics, took the plane to Florida where they barnstormed and carried passengers until the spring of 1915 when Nelson sold it and returned to New Britain.

Nelson's next project was a small one-man submarine which be proposed for treasure hunting and salvage work. IT was completed in 1916 but nothing came of that venture. In late 1916 the Cohen Motor Company entered a bid to supply a Nelson-designed, twin-engine seaplane to the Navy Department. Failing to secure the contract Nelson gave up plane building.

During World War I Nelson was an engine and plane inspector at the Curtiss-Buffalo, New York plant. After the war he returned to New Britain where he operated a combination garage, welding and machine shop for several years, and during that time was active in local civic affairs, serving on the City Council, and was a member of the City Airport Committee. Later Nelson moved to Yonkers, New York where he became Master Mechanic for the Blue Ridge Coal Company and the Heating Maintainance Corporation for twenty years, then retired there.

Nelson reportedly made his last flight as a pilot in 1924. As a hobby he built boats, automobiles and was always tinkering with some ingenious gadget which might be marketable. Nelson passed away at his home in Yonkers, New York, on November 8th, 1964 at age 77. He was a member of the Early Birds.

Flying Pioneer, Nels J. Nelson was an unusually active pioneer of early American aviation. Teaching himself to fly on the first of several planes he built, he contributed much to the early aviation era. A serious, hard-working mechanical genius, he always knew his machine, for he built them himself. He kept his aircraft in excellent repair and never had a serious accident.