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Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33068, 8 November 1972, Page 2

An old trouper who has been performing in circuses and sideshows for nine of his 11 years, Loopy Armstrong, did not mind being interviewed yesterday — but he showed far more interest in the typewriter than the reporter.

It was all old hat to Loopy, who today begins a three-day stint of flying in a model aeroplane at 60 miles an hour and racing cars at only slightly slower speeds in the Royal Show sideshow alley.

Loopy (no relation to the astronaut, Neil Armstrong) is a second generation Kiwi, but of Indian extraction from the Bonnet species.

He likes bananas, peanuts and walnuts; is a vegetarian; has a snack in the morning and wants his

dinner at 4.30 p.m. sharp. He prefers to be in bed at 5.30 p.m. and likes to sleep in until 7 a.m. at least. Loopy does not talk much — he chatters only when frightened. He does not like the cold, but copes with it provided he gets a tablet containing many vitamins daily. He obtains this from his owners, Mr and Mrs R. Newton, of Hamilton.

But clean-living, likeable Loopy, who hopes to live until he is 19, has his problems like many of today’s parents. His only child, Arabella, aged three, who weighs only 51b compared with his 161 b and is not fully trained, is a cheeky girl and beats him every time they race in the model cars.