Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, July 8, 1921, Page 12

JULY 8, 192 owyas ved ks ok FLYING‘ CIRCUS SERGEANT a ORVILLE BONN DOES STUNTS THAT OTHER FLYERS WON'T DO. NORTHERN MlNNESO’i’A FAIR Will Be Held at BEMIDJI, MINN. SEPT.. 20-21-22-23 MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO ATTEND. 2 The Jahn’s Positive Opening "Parachute, Recognized b; and Navy Officials as the Most Remarkable and Efficient Life- Saving Device. Invented' by Minnesotan. ! A DIVE IN MID-AIR : . —standing cn the wings of the airplane one thousand feet.' I sus- Ever since the invention After the most thorough piloted by Harry G. Setzler, highly. oowiire i of the airplane and the loss of 'live that has followed its use, the necessity for a life- saving device which would enable a pilot or passenger to leave the airship in mid- air and descend safely to the ground has been recognized. It remained for a Min- nesotan, L. Jahn, by name, of Montediveo to in- vent and manufacture such a device. It is known as the Jahn Aerial Life-Saving Ap- paratus, . It is arranged in compact, form and strapped to the back of passengers or pilot. The wire comes over the right shoulder with- in easy reach of the hand. The pulling of this wire re- leases a spring which spreads the parachute to the air. In case of accident or fire, or the loss of control of the airplane, the pilot simply pulls the wire which releases the parachute and it pulls test by Army and Naval of- ficials, the Jahn Aerial Life- Saving Apparatus has been officially adopted in the aerial division of both Army and Navy. Speaking of his experi- ence in making parachute jumps with the Jahn Para- chute, Orville Bonn, Sergt. 1st class.,, A. M. Air Serv- ice- (Army) pilot and para- ¢hute jumper, says: “My experience in the air. eonsists of thirty-seven month in the U. 8. Air Serv- ice, two years of which I served overseas, I feel that my knowledge of the air is quite thorough as far as aeronautics had ad- vanced at the time of my discharge from the U. 8. Air Servncu (Army), Maréh™11, 1920. “I became _agquainted with the Jahn, Parachute shortly after my 'discharge and made my first jump at from an_ altitude of two thousand feet, in a drizzling rain. The chute functioned perfectly, opening within sixty feet after I released the pin. I drifted about three-quarters of a mxle in a slight breeze, coming to my feet with an impact that 1 could stan dto without los- ing my balance. Several thousand people witnessed the demonstration and una- nimously endorsed the chute. “On September 9th, made a demonstration at the . Minnesota State Fair, where 1 was piloted in a British Avro by Lieut. Larrabee, to an altitude of 1,500 feet, where I dove from the rear cockpit while he was in a vertical bank. The chute opened as before with the: minimum shock and fall. I drifted with a strong breeze over the fence of the Fair grounds and made a rough landing due to the heavy him' out of his seat, carries him slowly to the ground while the airplane may crash to the ground in a hopeless wreck. Montevideo, Minnesota, June 21st, 1920, 'It was my first experience with this type of parachute. I jump- ed from a Curtiss UN-4 ship 'LEARNED TO DO STUNTS FROM WAR EXPERIENCES During the late war the ‘Aviation Corps was a deciding i factor in it, and our own flyers were conceded to ‘be'as good as any country’s flyers—even if they had had less ex- perience. Many times during a life and death battle in the clouds, between the opposing airmen, it was necessary for an aviator to.do things with his plane that seemed against all the laws of gravity—in order to escape with their lives. Stunts like these were onl} httémpfed as a last resort to get away from the enemy and the:men \\g{w did them as & last desperate measure come to know that such stunts could be done as a thriller for the public, and for which the public would pay good money to witness— and so we have today such thrillers as the “Flying Circus” described on this page. Bemidji is preparing to entertain one of the largest crowds that ever attended her Fairs; and coming at a time of the year when everyone can spare at least one day, when they can join hands with their neighbors and fellow wox“kers, and enjoy the fruits of a year of abun- dance. By all means, make arrangements to be here for the duration of the Fair, which will take up four days of jol- lificefion and fun. If you can’t spare four days—try to be here for one. who wind, but the chute showed no signs of oscillation. demonstration was witness- ed by Ruth Law and Al W:' son, My - recommended it STUNTS THAT WILL MAKE YOU HOLD 'YOUR BREATH. It is not very often that an affair vof this shown in towns this kind . is size—but the man- agement of the fair felt that nothing is too big for this fair. “On September 22nd and 24th I jumped at the Chip- pewa County Fair, Minne- sota. Both of these demon- strations were made from an altitude of two. thousand feet in_a Canadian €HFtiss, piloted by Lgeut‘ diately upon jumping,. the chute opening inside of six- ty feet withcut! fallibg. No ccillation during this fall. ~Parachute opened in .such a manner that enabled me to see every detail of its open- ing (the second day). The string containers fastened at my. shoulders to the harness let the ball of silk out to the end of the shroud lines at which instanf. the chute opened comple;ely his op- Jeration I witnesseds while falling. - “My next jump was at Garrison, North Dakota, in a Curtiss JM-4, piloted by Harry T. Davldson, where I * jumped from an altitude of pended on a forty-foot rope underneath the ship and let loose of the rope as he went into a vertical bank. This threw me horizontally and the chute opened as before, functioning perfectly. Due to the light air I descended more rapidly than in my previous jumps . but landed without a scratch. “I made two more jumps with the same ship and pilat on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, one from the upper right wing and -the other from the rear cockpit. In both these jumps. the time between the pulling. of ‘the pin and the opening jerk was instantaneous; that is, the Jahn Parachute _opening mechanism minimizes the suspense between the jump and the opening of the para- chute.” —ORVILLE BONN, , Sergt. 1st Class, A. M. Air Service( Army) thrill? at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the “Flying Fox” dives towards the earth. On the right is shown an illustration of the “Fly_ ing Fox” diving from the wing of the airplane while it is in flight: at an altitude of 5,000 feet. Straight down he plunges, head first as in the picture, just as a diver goes for a plunge in the wat& ;magme doing it yourself. Does it give you a, Well, that is exactly what every person in the waiting crowd helow ‘does—IMAGINE MAK- ING THAT JUMP YOURSELF. No wonder it gives a thrill.’ Remember gour boyhood days when you used to go to the County Fair? tion, the one you never got tired of seeing, the balloon ascension and parachute drop? Wasn’t the main attrac- That never was one half as spectacular or one half as thrilling as the head-first dive from an Aip- plane will prove to be. Pilot and Parachute Jumper. THE “FLYING FOX” The World’s Most Daring Aecrial Acrobat The performance of the “Fly- ing Fox” on the wings of the air- planes and on rope ladder, hang- ing from landing gears, will draw crowds of people and cause them to gaze in silent amazement at his death-defying stunts. He walks from one end to the other of the top wing of the air- plane when it is thousands of feet in the air. He changes planes in mid-air while the thrilled thou- sands a half mile below hold their breath. He descends to the very lower rung of a swinging rope ladder suspended from the landing gear of the plane and there hangs by his knees and teeth while the ma- chine is going 76 miles an hour. This is the sor of an exhibition/ that is witnessed very seldom ina lifetime. The fact that this wonderful stunt flyer has been engaged to exhibit at the big Northern Min- nesota Fair at Bemidji on Sept. 20, 21, 22 and 23 assures the peo- ple who can come that.they will see something worth taking the time to attend. . CHANGING PLANES Aerial Acrobats of the “Flying Circus” Do the Most Blood-Chilling Stunts Known to Bird Men. It takes the keenest knowledge of flying to be able to maneuver two airplanes racing at top speed through the air in all sorts of weather conditions and hold them al- most touching for the moment it takes the man to grasp the airplane above. A change of planes in mid-air has been accomplished by but few men. This number is con- stantly being lessened by accidents and now there are a few men available for this class of exhibition, The motors are roaring and the smoke is trailing from the exhaust pipes of the two airplanes as the figure of the ‘+‘Flying Fox” mounts to the top wing of the lower plane to make the change. The top plane swoops down and the “Flying Fox” is standing on, the top wing of the lower plane; closer and closer it draws tohim; watch him, he "leaps and grasps the lower wing of the airplane above. He hangs there for an instant, and then slowly he climbs to the wing of the plane and then walks along it to a place of safety. Thousands have witnessed this performance at State Fairs throughout this' country and thousands have turn- ; It takes nerve to watch this stunt as well as to perform it. ed their eyes away just at the critical moment,