THE MAN WITH WINGS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 143, 18 June 1936, Page 12

THE MAN WITH WINGS

“LIKE BEING IN ANOTHER WORLD”

Clem Sohn Tells How He Thrills Thousands

“My heart stopped beating. I am still shaking with the thrill of it. Never in all my life have I seen anything so astounding,” said a spectator at Hanworth, England, after witnessing Clem Sohn’s first performance in Britain. He jumps from an aeronlane and “flies” before nnonino- his nnraehnto.

A little more than a year ago a s young American professional parachute i jumper became tired of just falling ft through the air for 10,000 feet d and then opening his parachute. So, s' to pass the time away, he began fc experimenting as he fell. He disec-v- c ered that by moving, his arms and icgs he could actually control his ( ireadlong dive to earth, tv rites Victor Burnett in the Sunday Express, Lon- ■ don. 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 1 dive so much that he could actually « swim in the air, by moving his arms, g legs, and head in the same way as if he was in the water. First Attempts. This, in turn, gave him anotirer idea. He thought auout it for some. Huie, and then decided to put it into prat-ticc. He wanted to make Himself a pair of wmgs. He knew that no man nad ever succeeded in Hying with his own wings before. He also Knew there would ue great risk. But Vbe temptation was irresistible. With a friend, he made his first pair of wings. And, to a certain ex leu i, they, worked. That yu-ung paracuute 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 Uie Birdman. bolin 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 1 was doing delayed jumps, 1 got the idea for wmgs —a real flying surface that 1 couid control in the air,” he said. “1 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 lin to go between my legs. When they were open they looked like a bat.” An Untried Field. ••Then came the great day. 1 went up to the 12,(JOO feet region and jumped. I didn’t know what the wings would do. I was in an untried field. And, boy, didn't 1 know it in those first few seconds. “1 watched the aeroplane .float away above me. Then, gradually 1 stopped myself tumbling by spreading my legs and opening my tail lin. That stopped me turning over and over, and put me in a straight fall. After that, just as slowly, I spread one wing. The fail 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 1 opened the other wing. “I must have been just as surprised as the people below, 1 found I could fly straight, turn, dive, climb a little — even loop. As 1 became more used to that, pair of wings 1 found I could enlarge my scope, found how far I could go, when I ought to stop. Looping was Dangerous. “I found some of the dangerous points too. Looping was dangerous. I don’t often do it now. unless I have to. # \s I reach the top of the loop I lose speed. And losing speed is nearly fatal. The little aeroplane that is me decides to spin. Over I go, head downwards, spinning round and round like a top. As there are no fixed controls it is very difficult to get out, ot the spin. “I learned on those firsttrials that you 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 I said to myself, ‘No spins, Clem; they’re too hard. Oh. boy, that’s what you’ve got to keep out of.’ And I still don’t like them. “I still think the biggest scare I 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 diftieult 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 1 was around and in another before 1 knew where I was. ‘ ‘ Heart in my Mouth ’ ’ “Hastily I •checked it, lost speed, and began to spin faster and faster. My heart was in my mouth. Down 1 went, down, spinning s 0 fast everything became a blur. 1 dropped 5000 feet before 1 could get out of it. “But those first wings taught me a lot. 1 fooled around with them for some time, and developed some more ideas to make them mole efficient. From then I’ve gone on and on, always trying out new acts, learning from the drawbacks of the last. “This is the first time I’ve used the wings I brought over with me. 1 want to increase the span of the wings as much as possible. The greater tne wing span the more real soaring I can do. Every new set has a larger span than the last. One of the disadvantages is the weight I have tj carry. The two parachutes—one in case the first doesn't open—weigh 751bs. alone. I could fly further if I could reduce the weight. Increasing Wing Span “One day I hope to have a big wing span to do it. “But with a big wing span there is always the danger of a wivg carrying away. I have to be very careful oi that. It is an ever-present danger, even with the apparatus J have now. I have to open the wings slowly because of it. “What I do now when 1 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 slowly spread my wings. Then I soar away, turn, come back, turn again, until I am down to 1000 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. Rushing of the Wind * ‘The smoke bomb, that shows the line of flight, is let off almost as soon as I jump from the aeroplane. The 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 1 can see my aeroplane circling in the distance. Below there is a chequered map of field- and houses, with the aerodrome a bright green patch in the middle. Somewhere on that patvh there are hundrcls of little black specks, moving like ants. Those specks are the people watching me. “I foci that I’m my own master. Every movement of my anas and legs is obeyed and magnified in the swoops and turns of mv flight. Somehow, except that I’m conscious of mv flight, 1 feel like the birds of ‘he air must feel. “And T think that cverv one may have wings like mine and Ln able to soar from the house-tops. But there is a great deal of experimenting to be 'done first.”