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a Rutland business man bought a new 8-cylinder 60 H.P. Hall-Scott engine which Schmitt installed in late July following which he flew his first paid public exhibition date at Medina, New York on August 26th. He made two fine flights there and the crowd went wild. From there he exhibited for three days at the Central Maine Fair, Waterville, Maine, starting August 31st. There on the third day he had a smashup when the wheels caught some phone wires on take-off causing him to crash. Fortunately he was not hurt and his plane escaped serious damage. Schmitt next flew at the Pottsdam, New York Fair September 6th to 8th. He ended a one-week flying engagement at the Fairfield County Fair at Danbury, Connecticut on October 3d. There on the last day he had a forced landing in a swamp when the engine quit, but no particular damage resulted.

Following this Thor arranged for Schmitt to join Peter McLaughlin and aviator Todd Schriver on an exhibition tour of the West Indies, using a Baldwin "Red Devil" biplane owned by McLaughlin. The group left for San Juan, Puerto Rico in mid-November on what was intended to be an extended exhibition tour during the mid-winter months. Misfortune soon overtook them when Schriver was killed at Ponce, near San Juan, on December 2d. After this tragedy Todd and McLaughlin gave up the tour and every one returned to New York.

Schmitt evidently bought the wrecked Baldwin "Red Devil" from McLaughlin and during the early months of 1912 re-built it at Rocky Hill, New Jersey and installed a Rausenberger engine. He planned to use this plane for his 1912 exhibition season and shipped his original Curtiss-type machine to his home in Rutland.

Schmitt was flying his re-built Baldwin plane at Mineola in May and June and was planning an exhibition tour through the mid-west. On July 13th he made two flights at DuBois, Pennsylvania, and on July 20th filled two dates in one day, first in the morning at Alliance, Ohio, then he flew cross-country to East Liverpool, Ohio, 60 miles, for a date, returning to Alliance for an afternoon appearance. That day he was in the air 2 hours, 50 minutes. The next day he flew from Alliance to Chester, West Virginia for an exhibition there, then returned to Alliance.