"WIZARD" STONE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1719, 9 April 1913, Page 9

"WIZARD" STONE.

..: . AN AVIATOR IN AUCKLAND. - "Wizard" Stone, a well-known airman, has arrived in Auckland,,aud is-to give some exhibition flights shortly. In discussing the perils of flying, Mr. Stone suggested to a "Herald" interviewer that experience, as one would suppose, is everything. A'man with brains, who has ttown'under all possible conditions, learns how to : anticipate an accident and how to make'the'best vf it. , , : Mr; Stone has had several bad accidents, which might easily h'avo-proved fatal to a less'expericnced aviator, lie docs not believo in strapping himself to his seat, or in .using any. safety helmets. The latter, lie" said, may save a cracked skull; but they jvill not prevent a broken neck, and. of the two. a cracked skull is, in his opinion, preferable. ' Another mistake which people make, said Mr. Stone, is in assuming that it is safer to ily over water than land. This, he maintained, is not the case, as in falling into water -from a height, one' may be easily-caught in the .machine or stunned, and. consequently drowned before help can arrive. ' 1 "Air currents can only be mastered by experience," concluded tho aviator. "Theso currents may he going in any direction, horizontally or vertically, up or down. •Sometimes one meets a whirlwind which will carry tlie lnachino along with it, do what the aviator will to get out of it. A cm-rent of air • may strike ono -wing and tilt over the .machine; simultaneously another current may strike the other wing in an opposite direction, und unless tho aviator is remarkably careful he will capsize." In order to -be nblp.to effectually combat 'the ever-changing currents, Mr. Stone stated, it is necessary to go up to, a good height. ( There is then much more room to' navigate, and to accomplish a success-ful-landing, should it bo necessary to desceud. . . • ■ Mr. -Stone has brought with him a Bleriot inuuoplune, in which ho has already ilown ovor 4000 miles, his longest single flight being from Paris to Pan—adistanco of ■ 501 miles. His engine is a 50 horse-poWnr Gnome. T-lie whole machine takes to pieces, but can be put together again, in -15 mimites. There is no room for a passenger, but Mr. Stono anticipates brinaiiig his other machine over here, and in that one ho can carry a passcngci'. j