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North Dakota, on October 12th; a very active exhibition tour of the fall fair circuits. When the 1911 exhibition season ended St. Henry returned to the Curtiss Camp at San Diego, California, where he began to practice flying from the water.

That fall Curtiss was flooded with student enrollments which necessitated setting up separate land-and-water flight training classes. St. Henry was made chief water flying instructor, also assisting on occasion with land plan instruction. 

In January, 1912, all pilots and mechanics left the Curtiss Camp with their machines to attend the Los Angeles Meet at Dominguez Field held from the 19th to 28th. After this event St. Henry resumed instructing and reportedly taught Julia Clark to fly. On February 28th St. Henry obtained F.A.I Pilot License No. 101 at San Diego on a school plane. During the spring months of 1912 he improved the Curtiss side-by-side dual control arrangement initially developed during 1911.

St. Henry remained with Curtiss through 1912 to 1915 during which time he was twice sent to China with plane shipments to assemble,  test and demonstrate to the military officials. He continued to fly exhibitions, frequently with Lincoln Beachey, and together they put on some hair-raising stunts. They became very close friends and St. Henry reportedly gave up exhibition flying after Beachey's death.

Robert St. Henry was married in November, 1915, and returned to the automobile business, managing some automobile agencies until World War I when he offered his services to the government and, with several other pilots, was sent to Great Britain as an instructor.

After the war Shaffer became Advertising Manager for the French Battery and Carbon Company, Madison, Wisconsin. He remained there for a time then joined the firm of Stevenson, Harrison and Jordan, a management-engineering group of financiers. One of the failing companies they purchased was the Cushman Motor Works of Lincoln, Nebraska. Shaffer was made President of the firm and succeeded in pulling the company out of trouble and putting it on a paying basis. During his management the firm developed and produced the "Bob-O-Link" power lawn mower, the first one on the market for domestic use.

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