But my personal reasons for making this trip was to test the autogiro on a long trip, under all kinds of weather conditions. I wished to know for myself just what it could do and what its future possibilities might reasonably be.
I made the journey to the coast via the northern mail route where no autogiros had ever been before. When I landed at Oakland, California, mine was the second to reach the west. I started back from Los Angeles, but alas, did not arrive intact. Texas proved my Waterloo for I had an accident there that considerably damaged the faithful ship.
As luck would have it, I had an engagement to appear with it two days later in a middle western city. By unmercifully lashing another ’giro and using his spurs, an accommodating pilot managed to arrive from Philadelphia just in time for me to go on with the scheduled performance. Afterward I went east with the second ’giro, while the pilot saw that my wreck was crated and sent to the factory for repairs.
While I regret any kind of accident, I have found they are sometimes of benefit. So it was in this particular case. I learned a great deal—all of it valuable experience with this new kind of plane.
Speaking of plane accidents in general, I might add that women are often penalized by publicity for their every mishap. Any disproportionate “breaks” they get when they accomplish some thing are nullified in crash headlines. Probably
