“LOOK OUT, LEFTY!”
AIRMAN’S FIRST JOP-OFF AN UMBRELLA MACHINE “Look out, Lefty: I’m going to fly!” cried Kingsfbrd Smith. Gripping the handle of an umbrella he leapt from the roof of a shed. With the open umbrella above his head he dropped with perfect confidence in the buoyancy of his “machine.” But xvhen he was only five years old. and one has lots of confidence at that age. However the weight of the small airman was too great. So it was that the air pioneer fared like Icarus. He crashed on the shoulders of “Lefty,” bis small brother, and the rest was tears, rebukes and remorse. This little tragedy is 26 years old. It took place in a backyard at Longueville. Proud parents laughingly point to this initial flight in a “lighter-than-air” machine as the first steps of Kingsford Smith in aviation. Kingsford Smith served on Gallipoli from the landing to the evacuation. Later he joined the R.A.F. and saw flying service in France, being awarded the Military Cross. “Air machines have been his waking and sleeping hobby for years.” says Mr. Kingsford Smith, sen.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNAK19280911.2.25.8
Bibliographic details
Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 456, 11 September 1928, Page 9
Word Count
185“LOOK OUT, LEFTY!” Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 456, 11 September 1928, Page 9
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Sun (Auckland). You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in