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Plane Paragraphs

New Brunswicker Back from South With Solo Tag; The Writer Tries a Few Spins, Likes Them

By L.A. Woodruff

William J Darmstadt of 195 George street surprised his friends this week on his return from a southern business trip by announcing he has taken up flying, reached the solo stage and has logged nearly 10 hours of solo time. A traveling engineer, Darmstadt found it difficult to "get in his time" because business too often took him away from airports. Many instructors and many types of aircraft at several airports, were encountered before the Rutgers University graduate soloed. 

Darmstadt put in "a half hour here and an hour there" during his travels in order to build up dual instruction time. Among his several instructors was Edna Gardner Kidd, famous woman racer, whom he encountered at the Southern Flying School, New Orleans. He is enthusiastic about flying and hopes his future work will take him near airports to allow him to meet requirements for a private pilot rating. 

The most interesting phase of our instruction to date- spins- was reached this week after we'd been out of the air for a month. When Instructor Michael A. Gitt kicked the light Cub trainer into the first spin 3,000 feet over Somerset Hills Airport at Basking Ridge, we'll admit we were ready to give up flying on the spot and make use of the 'chute on our back. 

Before the nose had finished describing a huge circle on the earth below during our fall of several hundred feet, however, the writer was assured everything would go "according to the book". Mike stopped the spin at the prearranged spot. We took her 'upstairs' again to regain lost altitude. In a stall now, we kicked left rudder and prayed. the nose went down and whipped in a left turn. After two sweeping turns, sharp right rudder stopped the spin, and stick control brought the ship out of its dive. We tried several more right and left spins and liked them. Better than the best scenic railway. 

Arthur "Red" Foster of Metuchen, TWA first officer, is now convinced of the incomparably faster speed of air travel as compared with automotive speed. Nearing the end of a scheduled flight from the West recently, Red checked his watch while passing over Hadley Airport and Metuchen. Eight minutes later the large Douglas transport touched its wheels on LaGuardia Field runway. Red climbed into his car for the drive to his home and arrived in Metuchen two and a half hours after leaving North Beach. 

The boys at the airport have been chiding us all week for the 21-mile cruising speed we attributed to the Curtiss-Wright substratosphere transport last week. We blame it on an elusive typographical error which crept in when a zero was dropped from the "210" which should have appeared. 

Sunday activity at Hadley was the greatest in many a month. With more planes than ever hangared at the county field, a busy summer is expected. Another 65-horsepower Luscombe has arrived at Hadley Aircraft hanger. It is owned by the TwinBoro Roller Rink, Inc., of Roselle. A.K. Wikstrom of Bound Brook flew his new Howard monoplane from Boston to Hadley in an hour and ten minutes this week. 

Hadley Chapter, National Aeronautic Association, will meet Tuesday evening at the Roger Smith Hotel. A parachute rigger will be guest speaker during the public program meeting at 8:30.