Page:The Fun of It.pdf/181

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THE FUN OF IT
149

probably not advisable unless the gentlemen in question possess other charms in addition to being good instructors.

By the way, I have not yet heard of a wife teach­ing her husband to fly, but Mary Alexander of Lynchburg, Virginia, should qualify for the next award as she has a nineteen-year-old son whom she has instructed. She is famous too for being a very young flying grandmother, for her son himself is the proud father of an infant. Mrs. Mary Bain, wife of a mining engineer, is the other flying grand­mother I mentioned.

Some of those who haven’t actually held posi­tions, yet belong to the determined-to-fly group, are women who have saved their money from allow­ances or household expenses. I know one girl who spends most of what her father gives her for clothes, on flying. He loves to have her well dressed, but has just about given up hope of seeing her in any­thing other than monkey suits.

While it may be difficult enough to learn to fly if one does not have an airminded Santa Claus in the family, often the hardest part is keeping on fly­ing after the instruction period is over. Renting equipment is expensive and many a long day goes by before an employer can be persuaded to risk his airplane on a novice pilot’s skill—much less pay him to fly. You wouldn’t lend your nice new shiny automobile to someone who had just learned to drive, or hire a chauffeur who didn’t have a record of long experience. Neither should I, and the air­-