NEW ZEALAND AVIATOR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1899, 6 November 1913, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND AVIATOR.

AETIAL ACROBATIC FEATS,

Tlio New Zealand aviator, Mr. J. J. Hammond, was a .passenger from Loudon i).v iho E.M.S. Osterlcy, which arrived in Australia last ivcek.

Interviewed by the Fremantta correspondent- of the Sydney "Sun,'" Mr. Hammond intimated that ho would rol>oat the aerial acrobatic feats in Australia of I'egoud, tlio Frenchman, provided it was jnado worth his whilo. What is you feeP ho was asked. "I wont £1000 a week. It is worth, it." Why is it worth it—beoauso of tlio risk ? "Not, not so much that," camo the reply. "I saw Pogoud do his tnoky work in tho air. J.t is not so dangerou.9 as it looks. A moiioplai)o "will do it itself provided you let it aloiio. Look what tho liYcnchiuim did. _ Ho Went up i.u tho moiwplaito, get into a parachute, and let her go. Tho machine turned completely over, and camo to tho ground undamaged." But wouldn't tho weight of the man fn tho seat intorforo with thoso movements? asked tho reporter. "Not at all," said Mr. Hammond. "He would givo it greater speed on its headlong (light. . You can do Pegoud's trick, provided you uso an ordinary Bleriot monoplano with a longer tail, and with bigger planes. You simply shut tlio motor oif and go down head on in a vertical drive from about 1000 fbofc. Tho machine rollß over on its back and form!? a gigantic 'S' —that Is for upside-down work. The maehino goes down head on, tho clutch is pulled back, tho machine dips up quickly, and Hie impetus of going up completes this full circle. As I said before, I will •So this in Australia if they pay mo for it. I have a machine with me."

"Yes." ho added, "tho French are great airmen. Tlioy are suited for tho work, being dapper littlo inch, highly strung, ana intensely patriotic."