Moth

Some 6,000 ft. over a Detroit suburb last week Clement Joseph ("Clem") Sohn stepped from an airplane, spread his arms and legs, soared and glided down on the batlike wings which last month made him front-page news (TIME, March 11). At 1,000 ft. he folded his wings, opened his parachute, floated safely to earth.

Same day at nearby Flint, another young stunter prepared to emulate Sohn. He was Floyd Davis, 22, parachutist and sailplane enthusiast. A pilot at 16, Davis had 230 hours flying time in 1929 when airport officials had him grounded for stunting. Just reinstated, he was now anxious to test a pair of homemade wings he had spent five months constructing.

Like Sohn's in principle, Davis' wings resembled a moth's rather than a bat's. Fastened to his hips by hinges, they were rigid, oval-shaped, flat, with small ailerons at the tips controlled by handgrips. No webbing was sewn between Davis' legs. Instead he had them bound together, with a small moth-like tail-wing fastened to each ankle. In compliance with Federal regulations, he wore two parachutes--one for emergency in case the other failed to open.

When every detail of the apparatus had been carefully checked, Davis kissed his mother, father and sister goodby, waved to his friends, went up for his first test flight. At 6,000 ft. he stepped overside, fluttered a few seconds on his wings, pirouetting in the air currents. Then he pulled his ripcord.

Those on the ground saw the white puff of his opening parachute, breathed easier. Then they held their breath for the parachute had only partly opened before tangling in the wings. Spinning head over heels, Stunter Davis plunged earthward. Groundlings waited anxiously for the second parachute to billow out. It never did. When they reached the body (see cut) the ripcord ring was still in place.

Sohn thought Davis must have lost consciousness while spinning downward, hence failed to open his emergency 'chute. Said he : "I am afraid that more casualties will be reported if many people without experience in delayed jumping try to fly with their own wings."

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