65 HS1-834228961 62-HQ-83894 Section 004

, lnv~,;t Novel, New Gamt
Flying Sauc•;•, Catch ,-----------==
Fancy ol Da) ,ona Beach I
Vi,itor, and Re,ident,
. By JACK TROY
Times- Union Staff Writer f
£x-A fTny'Air F~~ce\fifiers
DAY!ONA BEACH, Feb. 14-The
Ingenuity of two former Army Air
;:ore~ !lier:; from California ls
paymg of!" at this Florida Beach
resort where, nowadays the air 1s 1•
full of "flying saucers.';
When Major Warren Fransclonl :
and Lieut. Fred Morrison of San
Louis_ Obispo completed their war
experiences ln the China-Burma• I
Indl_a and the Italian theatres of op- l
~r~1on, they returned home anrl I
Jo ed forces in a novel industry.
Morrison had always been I I
trigued by the Idea. o! sailing ;i; 1
/pans on the beach, and so h y • ·/
Franscioni put th~lr h- - ..ua tal-
en ts togethP~ ..aa came up with a
,1
plastic version with fins. They then
had Invented a new game, a novel
, way of playing catch with nylng
l saucers. a gyroscopic airfoil aerodY·
manically correct. precisely engi•
neered and a pleasant way to take
exercise.
Grid Coa.ch Uses It
The football coach at Hemet.
Calif., High School was Intrigued
with the idea of using the saucers
to condltlna his pl<>)'«~., t ..o.,.'- q,.,,,,
1
1
; •
I
1
:
'oala.nce and to reach out to ma,b
catches of the discs which. by e•-:--..
tai n methods of spinning, bo0111·
erang and also sail a.way from the ~
intended receiver. A player has to
l,be on his toes to catch them, espe• I
clally if the wind ls blowing. I<
It rnav be just coincidence, Ran- •
scion! and Morrison said toda:V, but E
\ the Hemet coach last season tum.ed
out his first championship team. The
boys were on their toes. ~
Although they had their di&CS \
made in Glendale and had planned
l, on extensive West Coast promotion,
snow flakes unexpectedly fell and
,~o they headed for Daytona Beach.
wMre, according to the tourists.
"summer spends the winter."
No snow flakes fall here; onr,::,
flying saucers. "-'hich a re so durable i
that t hey are not Injured by cars E
passing over them. t
Morrison was shot down In hiS c
fifty-eighth mission In Italy but\1
escaped serious injury. The tv.·o J
ex-Army officers refer to them- I\
selves as the world's champion Fly- \'t
ing saucer pilots, and certainly
their novel lnventlor -conceived In t
Callfornlli, and promo•.ed ln Florida 1
-ha.& caught on with beach lovers. Jc
TheY were smart enough, of 1
course, to patent the Flying saucer ,
idea in order to capitalize on ready- .I
made publicity bor• of repeat ed ,r
Saucer sea res arour the country.\
·\ In throwlnit the 01d pie or calte s
tins there always was the danger it
I or cutting one's hands. But with \t· \the new plastic tin saucers, the 1
only danger ls getting bopped In I
the nose. And only the less agile !t
allow that to happen once In a le
while.
P romotion Main P roblem I"Fransclonl and Morris feel that 1
~
I
coaches might find their salllng•
gadgets just as handy In training a \
squad as did the coach of Hemet.
And they are hopeful tM,t theyImay, in time to come, expand their
w11res from coast to coast.
At the present time DaytonaIBeach is the only resort that has
seen the saucers. The boys are
contemplating attending a few fairs
and getting their product before
,larger m41-sses of the public.
"Promotion ls our only problem,"
!Morrison declared. "Production ls
no Item. All who've tried our in·
teresting little 1t~dget seem to have
fun sa lllng It. 11nd they also find
that they are using muscles long
neglected."