Viewing page 20 of 23

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

During the winter of 1910-1911 Nelson rebuilt both the plane and engine, improving the performance. He started tests with it again in the early spring of 1911 and gradually taught himself to fly, and at the same time started work on a new plane. Nelson made his first public short exhibition flights with his original plane at New Britain on May 30th. He continued his practice and flew from New Britain to Newington on June 17th, then on July 1st flew over New Britain and the Harbour. Nelson tried to pass his license tests at Charter Oak Park, Hartford, Connecticut on July 22d but engine trouble terminated his efforts. July 29th he flew at Fisher Field, Middletown, Connecticut, then flew two miles out to the Connecticut State Hospital so the inmates could see him, and had a forced landing on the way back, completely demolishing the plane, but was not injured.
His new, vastly improved, Curtiss-type biplane was soon completed and he installed a 50 H.P. 4-cylinder Maximotor aviation engine. This plane was so successful, he started flying exhibitions at once, the first at Bar Harbor, Maine. This led to an exhibition contract with the Mills Aviators Exchange of Chicago to fly dates for them on a percentage basis, and for the remainder of the 1911 season Nelson flew in the south and middle west. He was at Aledo, Illinois on September 16th to 22d and at Pensacola, Florida in early December. As a result of his successful operation that fall Nelson was retained to fly for Mills in 1912.

 Apparently Nelson always used his own plane, which was "for sale" wherever he flew. If some one wanted to buy it he accepted any reasonable offer, as he was always building a new plane and so was never without one. In this way he built and sold planes to No. 7.
On February 25th, 1912 he flew at Newington, Connecticut, then on March 7th at Hot Springs, Arkansas with James Ward. Following this Nelson returned to the Mills Shop in Chicago where he was working on plane No.4. It was a Curtiss-type pusher biplane with interchangeable wheels and float equipment so he could operate from either land or water, and was powered by a 6-cylinder Kirkham aviation engine. 

Nelson flew exhibitions at Galesburg, Illinois on May 8th and 9th with Diddier