It happened that I had flown the Sikorsky amphibian and had met Mr. Sikorsky. He had called on me in BUAERO and left with us a vivid impression of his charm of manner, his intellectual honesty, his resourceful mind, and—unique in our experience—a most becoming modesty. For at a time when fast-talking promoters had beaten paths to our doorway, in the hope of high pressuring us into buying their mousetraps, the Russian designer alone had shown humility with respect to his art and respect for the judgment of others. And with it all, being himself without guile, Mr. Igor Sikorsky had proved himself the most convincing salesman in our rather wide experience. For sitting as we had at the crossroads, we had had the advantage of a good view along all highways. Now I learned from Fred Rentschler that there was another complication of the kind Mr. Sikorsky later sometimes referred to, in his delightful accent and his literal-English translation of an old American saying—“Somewhere there is a Negro sawing wood.” Pan American Airways, during the boom, had advertised a competition calling for large flying boats or amphibians, to be flown on its Caribbean and South American air routes, where practically no airports were available. Sikorsky Aviation, it appeared, had won the award and had agreed to build three of the giant craft at an average price of $125,000 each. After having spent at least that much on engineering alone, they had decided to throw the drawings away and start anew with a clean sheet of paper. Fred Rentschler had been a member of the Pan American Airways board of directors during the competition, and now felt that United was committed to go on with the project. He had reconciled himself to the fact that it would cost United upwards of a million dollars, and had even concluded that the money could be looked upon as an investment. If the planes proved successful, we might get back our money and more too, by selling airplanes, propellers, and engines to the new commercial airline. In a way, one might persuade himself that it was United’s duty to make such a contribution to the art.