The "sensuous visitor" was a clipwing Luscombe Silvair which chanced to pass through Elmira on a a spring- like day on February. The naturally sleek and delicate lines of the Luscombe were highlighted by a very well executed paint job.
A different Luscombe is pictured below, for those who are unfamiliar. I like to think of this plane as the "luxury model" because its owner is not burdened with the never- ending tasks of maintaining a showplane. This guy just jumps in and goes flyin'.
Also, for the unfamiliar, the device hanging down from the belly of the airplane is a wind- powered generator. The Luscombe, and a number of other early airplanes have engines which provide no mounting for a generator. (there were no alternators back then). The only solution was to hang a fan powered generator out in the airstream to provide power to charge the battery.
Airplanes which had no generator also had no electrical system at all; they were started by flipping the propeller, and had no radio equipment. Generally they had no gyro instruments either, although a turn- and- bank indicator could be powered by suction generated by a venturi horn that would be mounted on the side of the airplane.