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Brodie's mechanic, Shorty Schroeder, beat out the fire with his jacket. This plane had been previously owned by the celebrated French aviator, Louis Paulhan, and was used by him during his early American Exhibition Tour, from January 3d to about March 1st, 1910.
After this first ride Sinnie became so intensely infected with the "flying bug" that he fully resolved to make aviation his lifetime career. During summer vacation in 1911, he decided to go to St. Louis, Missouri and visit the aviation activities at Kinloch Field. There he had his second ride, with Tony Jannus, on a Benoist aeroplane, in payment for his help in building a new pontoon.
During the summer months of 1912-1913 Sinnie worked as a mechanic with Max Lillie's Flying School at Cicero Field, Chicago, Illinois. While there, he also helped build a second "Model B" Wright" plane for school use.
In 1914 he became mechanic for Joseph Pendhayn, on exhibition on work throughout the middle west. Pendhayn, an Austrian, was stationed at Cicero Field and flew a Day tractor biplane, with Kirkham engine.
By 1915 Sinnie decided he really wanted to learn to fly, so he took a part time job as mechanic with Partridge and Keller, well known Cicero plane builders, for flying instruction. His instructor at Cicero Field was Elmer Partridge, but by midsummer that celebrated flying field was about to be abandoned, so Sinnie was told to find some other place to continue his lessons. He found and arranged for a new site which later became Ashburn Field, and was the FIRST to fly from those grounds. That season, after 2 hours, 50 minutes instruction, Sinnie soloed on November 15, 1915, at Ashburn Field, Chicago, Illinois on a Partridge-Keller tractor biplane with 80 H.P. 6-cylinder Smith radial air cooled engine.
Sinnie flew exhibitions until October 4, 1916, when he joined the U.S Signal Corps, Aviation Section, as a civilian flying instructor, at Ashburn Field. The Government planned to start extensive student training operations there, and officially opened October 28, 1916, with several planes and instructors. In November, 1916 the entire outfit moved south to Memphis, Tennessee for the winter months. The latter part of May, 1917 all operations moved back to Ashburn Field, then on July 7th civilian flying instructors, including Sinnie, flew to Chanute, Field, Rantoul,

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