THE MAN WITH WINGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22444, 13 June 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE MAN WITH WINGS

"Like Being in Another World"

CLEM SOHN TELLS HOW HE THRILLS THOUSANDS

" My heart .topped beating. I am still shaking with the thrill of i t Never in all my life have I seen anything so astounding," said a spectator at Hanworth. England, after witnessing Clem Sohn'n lirst performance in Britain. He jumps from an aeroplane and " flies " before opening his parachute.

A LITTLE more than a year ago a young American professional parachute jumper became tired of just falling through the air for 10,000 feet and then opening his parachute. So, to pass the time away, he began experimenting as he fell. He discovered that by moving his arms and legs he could actually control his headlong dive to earth,' writes Victor Burnett in the Sunday Express, London.

that's what 3 - ou'vo got to keep out of.' And I still don't like them. "I still think the biggest scare 1 ever had was when I tried to do a flick roll. In that you drop one wing, turn over, and come out the right way up again! Well, it isn't really difficult in a real aeroplane—if you know how. I wanted to find out how with my own wings. I started all right, dropped one wing, and started to go round. That's where the trouble came in. I started to revolve so fast I was an und and in another before I knew w, lere I was. "Heart hi my Mouth"

"Hastily I check jd it, lost speed, and began to spin faster and faster. My heart was in ray mouth. Down I went, down, spinning so fast everything became a blur. 1 dropped 5,000 feet bofore I could get out of it. "But those first wings taught mo a lot. I fooled around with them for Bome time, and devejoped some more ideas to make them more efficient. From then I've gone on and on, always trying out new acts, learning from the drawbacks of the last. . - •

At first there wasn't much control—just sufficient for him to rise and fall a few inches in long, undulating swerves. He continued this new and fascinating game. A few weeks later he managed to control his dive so much that he could actually swim in the air, by moving his arms, legs and head in the same way as if he was in the water. First Attempts This, in turn, gave him another idea. He thought about it for some time, and then decided to put it into practice. He wanted to make himself a pair of wings. He knew that no man had ever succeeded in flying with his own wings before. He also knew there would be great risk. But the temptation was irresistible. With a friend, he made his first pair of wings. And, to a certain extent, they worked. That young parachute jumper came to Britain recently. His name is Clem Sohn. He is twenty-five years old. He has been doing parachute jumps since he was seventeen. Now, all over the world, he is known as the Birdman.

"This is the first time I've used the wings I brought over with me. I want to increase the span of the wings as much as possible. The greater the wing span the more real soaring I can do. Every new set has a larger span than the i'ast. One of the disadvantages is the weight I have to carry. The two parachutes —one in case the first doesn't open—weigh 7olbs. alone. I could fly further if I could reduce the weight. Increasing Wing Span °One day I hopa to have a big wing span ipo do it. "But with a big wing span there is always the danger of a wing carrying away. I have to be very careful of that. It is an ever-present danger, even with the apparatus I have now. I have to open the wings slowly because of it. "What I do now when I leave the machine is to stop the tumbling fall with my tail, and turn it into a straight dive. Then, one after the other, I

Sohn is modest, and quiet. He smokes a little, drinks a little—"just beer." He has a soft, faintly American accent. And he doesn't experiment blindly. "Some day, some-how, all men may be able to do what I'm doing. From those first experiments, when I was doing delayed jumps, I got the idea for wings —a real flying surface that I could control in the air," he 6aid. "I spoke to a friend, Art Davis, an engineer. Between us we worked out a pair of wings to go between my arms and my body, and a fin to go between my legs. When they were open they looked like a bat." An Untried Field "Then came the great day. I went up to the 12,000 feet region and jumped. 1 didn't know what the wings would do. I was in an untried field. And, boy, didn't I know it in those first few seconds. " J watched the aeroplane float away above uie. Then, gradually I stopped myself tumbling by spreading my legs and opening my tail fin. That stopped me turning over and over, and put me in a straight fall. After that, just as slowly, 1 spread one wing. The fall began to stop, and I started flying straight, with a slight roll and banking movement, owing to all the lift being on one side. Then I opened the other wing. "And I flew. "I must have been just as surprised as the people below. I found I could fly straight, turn, dive, climb a little — even loop. As I became more used to that pair of wings I found I could enlarge my scope, found how far I could go, when I ought to stop. Looping was Dangerous "1 found some of the dangerous points too. Looping was dangerous. 1 don't often do it now, unless 1 have to. As I reach the top of the loop 1 lose speed. And losing speed is nearly fatal. The little aeroplane that is me decides to spin. Over 1 go, head downwards, spinning round and round like a top. As there are no fixed controls it is very difficult to get out of the spin. "I learned on those first trials that vou must catch a spin as soon as it starts or it becomes increasingly difficult to pull yourself out. My first spin scared me. stiff, and when 1 did get out of it 1 said to myself, 'No spins, Clem; they're too hard. Oh, boy,

slowly spread my wings. Then I soar away, turn, come back, turn again, until I am down to 1,000 feet. "There I judge my position and open my parachute, floating down to the flying field. I turn by slightly letting one wing in and twisting my feet. Bushing of the Wind "The smoke bomb, that shows the line of flight, is let off almost as boob as I jump from the aeroplane. Ihe actual flight is like being in another world. There is no sound but the rushing of the wind past my face and the distant drone of an aeroplane engine. And if I lose speed the wind dies away and there is no sound at all. • "If I look up I can see my aeroplane circling in the distance. Below there is a chequered map of fields and houses, with the aerodrome a bright green patch in the middle. Somewhere on that patch there are hundreds of little black specks, moving like ants. Those specks are the people watching me. "I feel that I'm my own master Every movement of my arms and leg> is obeyed and magnified in the swoops and turns of my flight. Somehow, except that I'm conscious of my flight. I feel like the birds of the air must feel. "And I think that every one may have wings like mine and be able to soar from the house-tops. But there is a great deal of experimenting to tx> done first."