Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-08-20 | Page 2 | Farmer Mends Battered Plane; Neighbors in Hiding

Farmer Mends Battered Plane; Neighbors in Hiding WEATHERFORD, Okie., Aug. 20 (UP) Herman Schapansky, a alight, mild farmer who wants to take his milk and eggs to market mar-ket by air, today pieced together bis home-made airplane, battsred by four craahea, for another flight. Disturbed neighbors, expecting the worst, unlocked the doors of their storm cellars. They did not intend to be caught unaware as was J. J. Hamburger, who was altting on the porch of hia farm home whittling whit-tling last Saturday, when he beard an awful screeching and rattling and looked up to see Neighbor Schapansky bearing down on him like a destroying . anaeL plane motor, he Installed an old Ford motor. That combination reaulted In hia first crash. He amaahed into a fence close to hia. cow pasture, which la his landing field. Then be bought an ancient airplane motor. Ha crashed three other timea. waa hurt once. Before he took off on hia latest lat-est flight he entered the barn in which he keepa hia plana and found a cow which ha purchaaed the day before for $32 scratching her back on a wing. Infuriated, Schapansky threw a rock and hit tha cow in the bead, tuie staggered, dropped desd. He butchered the cow, sold the meat to the neighbors. He got back S31. Hamburger saw la one narvoua glance that Schapanaky'a plane was traveling about en a line with bis chimney. He dropped en his knsea to pray, then thought better of it and sank on hia face. He peeked up as Schapansky and his plane veered a few feet to the left of the chimney, and headed for the pasture. Tbe plane clattered to a atop. Hamburger ran over to aee if Schapansky waa hurt. He wasn't, but he waa disgusted. "The water boiled out of the motor and ws broks a shock absorbsr," be explained. "I'll give 'er another whirl." They refilled the plane with water and tied the shock absorber back on with an innertube. This time Schapansky traveled aix miles, than waa forced down In another pasture. The plane careened Into a water bog, splintered. splin-tered. Schapansky again was uninjured. unin-jured. Farm wivea who had relayed re-layed a miie-by-mlle account of the flight throughout this rural community along the party telephone tele-phone line Informed Mrs. Schapansky Scha-pansky that bar husband was atlll alive. She. familiar with the routine, placed their children In the family fam-ily car, hooked on the trailer and headed toward the accident scene. Wearily, the Schapanakya loader load-er the wrecked craft Into the trailer and returned borne. Schapansky, who is SO, does not know definitely when he will take off again, but be la impatient for the teat. He became lntereated In aviation avia-tion a year ago. A flier at tire Clinton. Okie, airport near here gave him aeveral lessons in exchange ex-change for Bchapanaky performing perform-ing chorea around the field. He bought for a "trlflin1 sum an abandoned biplane fuselage and wlnga, believed to data back to 1825. Unable to buy an air-