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was his most cherished ambition. After his recovery, he became assembly supervisor and test pilot for the Fisher Body Corporation in the spring of 1917 on their DeHavilland airplane production program, where he remained until December, 1918. On that project he helped build and deliver over 2,000 DeH-4 planes with Lincoln, Marmon and Buick-built Liberty-12 engines. North had the honor of delivering the first DeH-4 plane to Selfridge Field, Mt. Clemens, Michigan. At the termination of his work at the Fisher Body Company North was given a special ciation by Edward F. Fisher for his valuable services to the Company. 
After World War I North went to work for the Thompson Aeroplane Company, Detroit, Michigan, as a mechanic and flying salesman. The company was in the business of buying war surplus planes at disposal sales and converting them to civilian use, including converting many into flying boats which found a ready market in the Michigan lake area. Here he enjoyed several months of eventful work, then near tragedy caught up with him again and he suffered the worst crash of his flying career. A plane had been fitted out with a reduced size seating and cockpit arrangement for a small man and North attempted to check the plane out before turning it over to the customer. Being a large man, North had to squeeze himself into place and while in flight his trousers caught in a pulley, jamming the controls. In his jackknifed position he was unable to free himself and crashed into tree-studded Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan, and was severely injured, he miraculously recovered after a long determined struggle to regain his health. By that times the Thompson Company had gone out of business so North started converting airplane engines for racing boats and soon made quite a name for himself in marine circles. During this work North again made a flight in a flying boat in an effort to find two men reported lost on Lake St. Clair in a canoe. With an observer, he searched the lake from the air until fuel troubles forced him down in the late evening and they drifted all night, finally coming ashore in the morning on the Canadain side, where they beached and reported that they were safe.
In the mid 20's North joined a farmimplement dealer, W. M. Blair, in Chicago, who
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