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July 18th and 19th Ward flew at Hastings, Nebraska, and on July 22nd at Mason City, Iowa. August 4th to 6th he and Beckwith Havens flew at Rockford, Illinois, then Ward left for the Chicago Meet at Grant Park to be held August 12th to 20th. There he made a fine showing against more professional aviators and flew a total of twenty hours and thirty minutes during the event. Just before the meet, on August 11, 1911, Ward obtained his F.A.I. Pilot License, No. 52 at Grant Park, Chicago, flying his Curtiss Plane. On August 27th he flew at Kenosha, Wisconsin, with Cromwell Dixon, then flew alone at Beloit, Wisconsin, on August 30th. Beginning September 1st he flew five days at a fair in Olean, New York.
Following this Ward entered the $50,000 Hearst Transcontinental Race and started from Governors Island on September 13th, preceding Cal Rodgers who left on the 17th. After a lot of hard luck and a series of mishaps Ward finally reached Addison, New York, on the evening of the 14th, where he gave up.
October 10th he flew at Adrian, Michigan, and on the 24th at Kalamazoo, Michigan, with Bud Mars. There they raced each other, and also raced automobiles at the local race track. On November 11th he flew at Jackson, Tennessee.
During the winter months of 1911-1912 Ward did some flying in the south and was at Valdosta, Georgia January 5 and 6, 1912. On March 31st he defeated Tony Jannus in an air race at Kinloch Field, St. Louis, Missouri. He was then a contestant at an air meet at Birmingham, Alabama starting April 20th. Flying there also were Oscar Brindley, Eugene Heth, Len Bonney, George Mestach, Paul Peck and Fred Schneider. During the summer months Ward was flying in the Midwest and on August 3rd was at Duluth, Wisconsin, at an Elks Convention. On August 10th he flew at Fargo, North Dakota, with George Mestach, then on August 17th and 18th at a fair in Mankato, Minnesota, and on August 25th at Sioux City, Iowa. Starting October 14th, he flew at the Mississippi State Fair at Meridian with Louis Gertson.

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