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"WE"
"WE"
BY
CHARLES A. LINDBERGH
THE FAMOUS FLIER'S OWN STORY OF HIS LIFE
AND HIS TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT, TOGETHER
WITH HIS VIEWS ON THE FUTURE OF AVIATION
WITH A FOREWORD BY
MYRON T. HERRICK
V. 8. AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE
FULLY ILLUSTRATED
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK — LONDON
Zk* ]linickexbiitiitr ^x*bs
1927
Copyright, 1927
by
Charles A. Lindbergh
This is a copy of the First Edition of " WE"
July, 1927
^frru<IruJ/»vv<^^Iy>\>
.^rs^
Made in the United States of America
Dedicated to
MY MOTHER
And to the Men Whose Contidence and
Foresight Made Possible the Flight of the
"SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS"
MR. HARRY H. KNIGHT
MAJOR WILLIAM B. ROBERTSON
MAJOR ALBERT BOND LAMBERT
MR. J. D. WOOSTER LAMBERT
MR. HAROLD M. BIXBY
MR. EARL C. THOMPSON
MR. HARRY F. KNIGHT
MR. E. LANSING RAY
FOREWORD
WHEN Joan of Arc crowned her King
at Rheims she became immortal.
When Lafayette risked his all to help
the struggling Americans he wrote his memory
forever across a mighty continent. Shepherd
boy David in five minutes achieved with his sling
a place in history which has defied all time.
These three shining names represent the tri-
umph of the idealism of youth, and we would not
speak of them with such reverence to-day had
their motives been less pure or had they ever for
aii instant thought of themselves or their place
in history.
So it was with Lindbergh, and all the praise
awarded him, judged by the rigid standards of
history and precedent, he has merited. He was
the instrument of a great ideal and one need not
6 FOREWORD
be fanatically religious to see in his success the
guiding hand of providence.
For he was needed and he came at the moment
which seemed exactly preordained. He was
needed by France and needed by America, and
had his arrival been merely the triumph of a
great adventure the influence of his act would
have gone no further than have other great
sporting and commercial achievements.
There have been moments here in France when
all that my eye could reach or my intelligence
fathom appeared dark and foreboding and yet,
in spite of all, my soul would be warmed as by
invisible sunshine. At such times when all hu-
man efforts had apparently failed, suddenly the
affairs of nations seemed to be taken from out
of the hands of men and directed by an unseen
power on high.
Just before the Battle of the ^larne I was
standing on the Seine embankment.
A great harvest moon was rising over the city
near Notre Dame. It seemed to rest on the
FOREWORD 7
corner of a building. The French flag was
blowing steadily across its face. In fleeting
moments while this spectacle lasted people knelt
on the quay in prayer. I inquired the meaning
of these prayers. The answer was that there is
a prophecy centuries old that the fate of France
will finally be settled upon the fields where At-
tila's horde was halted and driven back and
where many battles in defence of France have
been won. And pointing up the Seine to the
French flag outlined across the moon people
cried, "See, see the sign in heaven. It means
the victory of French arms. The prophecy of
old is come true and France is once again to be
saved on those chalky fields."
Now when this boy of ours came unheralded
out of the air, and circling the Eiffel tower set-
tled to rest as gently as a bird on the field at Le
Bourget, I was seized with the same premoni-
tion as those French people on the quay that
August night. I felt without knowing why,
that his arrival was far more than a fine deed
8 FOREWORD
well accomplished, and there glowed within me
the prescience of splendor yet to come. Lo! it
did come and has gone on spreading its benefi-
cence upon two sister nations which a now-
conquered ocean joins.
For I feel with every fibre of my being that
Lindbergh's landing here marks one of the su-
preme moments in the history of America and
France, and the faith we have in the deciding
power of spiritual things is strengthened by
every circumstance of his journey, by all his acts
after landing, and by the electrical thrill which
ran like some religious emotion through a whole
vast population. "The Spirit of St. Louis" was
to the French people another sign come out of
the sky — a sign which bore the promise that all
would be well between them and us.
What a happy inspiration it was to christen
his ship with such a name! It brought as from
on high a new spiritual message of peace and
good will, and it was more than a coincidence
that Lindbergh should drop from his ship his
FOREWORD 9
farewell message to Paris on that spot, in the
Place de la Concorde, where once the Spirit of
Saint Louis was invoked in tragic circumstances.
The priest who stood there beside King Louis
the Sixteenth as the guillotine fell, cried defiantly
to the assembled mob: "The Spirit of Saint
Louis ascends to the skies." With Lindbergh,
out of the skies, the noble Spirit of Saint Louis
came back to France.
France took Charles Lindbergh to her heart
because of what he was and because of what she
knew he represented. His little ship came to the
meeting place of the greatest conference that
has ever gathered between two nations, for under
the shadow of its wings a hundred and fifty mil-
lion Frenchmen and Americans have come to-
gether in generous accord. No diplomatic bag
ever carried so stupendous a document as this
all unaccredited messenger bore, and no visiting
squadron ever delivered such a letter of thanks
as he took up the Potomac in returning. Has
any such Ambassador ever been known?
10 FOREWORD
Lindbergh was not commissioned by our gov-
ernment any more than Lafayette was by his;
in each case it has been merely left for states-
men to register and approve the vast conse-
quences of their acts. Both arrived at the critical
moment and both set in motion those imponder-
able forces which escape the standards of the
politician's mind. Who shall say but that they
were God-sent messengers of help, smiling de-
fiance of their faith at an all too skeptical world?
What one accomplished has already changed
history through a century; what the other has
just done the people of America and France
will take good care shall not be wasted.
The way Lindbergh bore himself after getting
here was but the continuation of his flight. He
started with no purpose but to arrive. He re-
mained with no desire but to serve. He sought
nothing ; he was offered all. 'No flaw marked any
act or word, and he stood forth amidst clamor
and crowds the very embodiment of fearless,
kindly, cultivated, American youth — unspoiled.
FOREWORD 11
unspoilable. A nation which breeds such boys
need never fear for its future. When a contract
for one million dollars was sent him through his
associates he cabled back to them, "You must
remember this expedition was not organized to
make money but to advance aviation." There
is the measure of his spirit ; the key to his inten-
tions.
Flying was his trade, his means of livelihood.
But the love of it burned in him with fine pas-
sion, and now that his fame will give him a
wider scope of usefulness, he has announced that
he will devote himself wholeheartedly to the ad-
vancement of aeronautics.
His first step in that direction is the publish-
ing of this book, and no one can doubt that its
influence will be of enormous value in pushing on
man's conquest of the air. It will be idle for me
or anyone else to estimate now what these re-
sults will be. But America vibrates with glow-
ing pride at the thought that out from our
country has come this fresh spirit of the air and
12 FOREWORD
that the whole world hails Lindbergh not only
as a brave aviator but as an example of American
idealism, character and conduct.
Myron T. Herrick.
United States Embassy
Paris
June Siocteentli, 1927
CONTENTS
PAGE
19
I. — Boyhood and Early Flights
II. — My First Plane 39
III. — Barnstorming Experience ... 63
IV. — Heading South ...... 84
V. — Training at Brooks Field . . . 104
VI. — Receiving a Pilot's Wings . . . 126
VII. — I Join the Air Mail ..... 163
VIII. — Two Emergency Jumps .... 176
IX. — San Diego — St. Louis — New York . . 198
X. — New York to Paris . . . . .213
Publisher's Note ..... 231
Author's Note ...... 232
A LITTLE OF WHAT THE WORLD THOUGHT
OF LINDBERGH
By FITZHUGH GREEN
I. — Paris ........ 233
II. — Brussels ....... 248
13
14 CONTENTS
PACK
III. — London . > <>. » » » . 254
IV. — Washington ..,».. 265
V. — New York . . . , « . . 297
VI. — St. Louis . . . « » « .315
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING
PAGE
"WE" .
Father and Son
Frontispiece
Instructor and Classmates in a Mid-western
Military School .....
Shipping "The Spirit of St. Louis"
The Men who Made the Plane
Financial Backers of the Non-stop New York to
Paris Flight ......
FusiLAGE Frame of the Plane
Working on Navigation Charts for Flight .
Instrument Board of the Plane .
"We" Make a Test Flight ....
Patsy, the Mascot ......
Police Guarding "The Spirit of St. Louis" .
Captain Rene Fonck Wishes Me the Best of
Luck ........
Getting Ready for the Take-off .
Just Before Starting on the Big Adventure
15
20
21
32
33
60
51
66
67
82
83
98
99
114
115
16
ILLUSTRATIONS
"I Didn't Use my Periscope All the Time" .
A Salutation from M. Bleriot
Paul Painleve Extends his Welcome .
With M. Doumerque and Ambassador Herrick
Crowds at the City Hall ....
Guests at the Luncheon of M. Bleriot
On the Steps of the Embassy
The Welcome at Croyden Field .
With Crown Prince Leopold
With H. R. H. the Prince of Wales and Lord
Lonsdale .......
Crowds Pressing Around "The Spirit of St
Louis" as the Plane Landed ...
"At Croyden Field I Escaped to the Top of the
Observation Tower Overlooking the Crowd'
The U. S. S, "Memphis," Flagship, on which the
Author Returned to America .
Coming Down the Gangplank of the U. S. S
"Memphis" . . .
Charles Evans Hughes Confers the Cross of
Honor ....•••
At the Tomb of "The Unknown Soldier*
Speeches at Washington Monument .
FACING
PAGE
118
119
126
127
130
131
146
147
162
163
178
179
194
195
210
211
226
ILLUSTRATIONS 17
FACING
PAGE
From the Top of Washington Monument . . 227
At Arlington Cemetery . . . . .234
The $25^000 Check Presented by Raymond Orteig 235
Receiving the Orteig Prize Medal . . . 235
Welcome in New York Harbor .... 242
Riding up Broadway ...... 243
New York City's Welcome ..... 258
A June Snowstorm ...... 259
The Parade Passing Through Central Park . 274
The Parade in Central Park .... 275
Speaking at the Ceremonies in Central Park , 290
Speaking at the Ceremonies in Prospect Park . 291
"The Spirit of St. Louis" After her Return . 306
After the Flight to Washington .... 307
St. Louis' Welcome . . . . . .314
My Mother 315
"WE"
BOYHOOD AND EAKLY FLIGHTS
IiWAS born in Detroit, Michigan, on Febru-
ary 4, 1902. My father was practicing
law in Little Falls, Minnesota, at the time.
[When I was less than two months old my parents
took me to their farm, on the western banks of
the Mississippi River two miles south of Little
Falls.
My father, Charles A. Lindbergh, was born in
Stockholm, Sweden, January 20, 1860, the son
of Ola and Louisa Manson. His father (who
changed his name to Lindbergh after reaching
America) was a member of the Swedish Parlia-
ment and had at one time been Secretary to the
King.
19
20 "WE"
About 1860 my grandfather with his family
embarked on a ship bound for America, and
settled near Sauk Center, Minnesota, where he
took up a homestead and built his first home in
America — a log cabin. It was here that my
father spent his early life.
The Rev. C. S. Harrison, writing for the
Minnesota Historical Society, gives an account
of the activities of my grandfather during the
€arly days in Minnesota.
There were very few schools in Minnesota at
that time, and my father's boyhood days were
spent mostly in hunting and fishing. His educa-
tion consisted largely of home study with an
occasional short term at country schools.
He was educated at Grove Lake Academy,
Minnesota, and graduated from the law school
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with
an LL.B. degree.
He began his law practice in Little Falls
where he served as County Attorney. He later
became interested in politics, and was elected to
Wiiie World Phnios
FATHER AND SON
BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 21
the 60th Congress in 1906 to represent the Sixth
District of Minnesota at Washington, a capacity
in which he served for ten years.
My mother was bom in Detroit, Michigan,
daughter of Charles and Evangehne Land. She
is of English, Irish and French extraction. As
a graduate of the University of Michigan, she
holds a B.S. degree from that institution, also an
A.M. degree from Columbia University, New
York City. Her father. Dr. Charles H. Land,
a Detroit dentist, was born in Simcoe, Norfolk
County, Canada, and his father, Colonel John
Scott Land, came from England, and was one
of the founders of the present city of Hamilton.
My grandfather was constantly experiment-
ing in his laboratory. He held a number of pat-
ents on incandescent gi-ates and furnaces, in
addition to several on gold and enamel inlays
and other dental processes. He was one of the
first to foresee the possibihties of porcelain in
dentistry, and later became known as "the father
of porcelain dental art."
22 "WE"
During the first four years of my life, I lived
in our Minnesota home with the exception of a
few trips to Detroit. Then my father was elected
to Congress and thereafter I seldom spent more
than a few months in the same place. Our
winters were passed in Washington, and our
summers in Minnesota, with intermediate visits
to Detroit.
When I was eight years of age I entered the
Force School in Washington. My schooling was
very irregular due to our constant moving from
place to place. Up to the time I entered the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin I had never attended for
one full school year, and I had received instruc-
tion from over a dozen institutions, both public
and private, from Washington to California.
Through these years I crossed and recrossed
the United States, made one trip to Panama, and
had thoroughly developed a desire for travel,
which has never been overcome.
My chief interest in school lay along mechani-
cal and scientific lines. Consequently, after
BOYHOOD AND EAKLY FLIGHTS 23
graduating from the Little Falls High School,
I decided to take a course in Mechanical Engi-
neering, and two years later entered the College
of Engineering of the University of Wisconsin
at Madison.
While I was attending the University I became
intensely interested in aviation. Since I saw my
first airplane near Washington, D. C, in 1912,
I had been fascinated with flying, although up
to the time I enrolled in a flying school in 1922
I had never been near enough a plane to touch
it.
The long hours of study at college were very
trying for me. I had spent most of my life out-
doors and had never before found it necessary
to spend more than a part of my time in study.
At Wisconsin my chief recreation consisted
of shooting-matches with the rifle and pistol
teams of rival Universities, and in running
around on my motorcycle which I had ridden
down from Minnesota when I entered the Uni-
versity.
24 "WE"
I had been raised with a gun on our Minne-
sota home, and found a place on the R.O.T.C.
teams at the beginning of my freshman year at
Wisconsin. From then on I spent every minute
I could steal from my studies in the shooting
gallery and on the range.
The first six weeks of vacation after my fresh-
man year were spent in an Artillery School at
Camp Knox, Kentucky. When that was over
I headed my motorcycle south and with forty-
eight dollars in my pocket, set out for Florida.
After arriving at Jacksonville I started back
the same day, but over a different route leading
farther west than the first. Seventeen days
after leaving Camp Knox I arrived back in
INIadison with a motorcycle badly in need of
repair and nine dollars left in my pocket. After
stopping in Madison long enough to overhaul
the engine I went to Little Falls to spend the
remainder of my vacation.
Soon after the start of my third semester at
Wisconsin I decided to study aeronautics in
BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 25
earnest, and if, after becoming better acquainted
with the subject, and it appeared to have a good
future, I intended to take it up as a hfe work.
I remained at the University of Wisconsin
long enough to finish the first half of my sopho-
more year. Then about the end of March, 1922,
I left Madison on my motorcycle en route to
Lincoln, Nebraska, where I had enrolled as a
flying student with the Nebraska Aircraft Cor-
poration.
The roads in Wisconsin in March, 1922, were
not all surfaced and when, after leaving the well-
paved highway, I had progressed only about four
miles in as many hours, I put my motorcycle on
the first farm wagon that passed and shipped it
to Lincoln by rail at the next town.
I arrived at Lincoln on the first of April. On
April 9, 1922, I had my first flight as a pass-
enger in a Lincoln Standard with Otto Timm,
piloting.
N. B. In the following account of flying during the
post-war period of aviation, before flying laws and the
26 "WE"
Aeronautical Branch of the Department of Commerce
came into existence, it should be borne in mind by the
reader that the experiences and incidents related in this
book in no way describe modern commercial flying condi-
tions. Even in this account it will be noticed that the
more spectacular events took place in such a manner that
all risk was taken by the pilots and by members of the
aeronautical profession; also that exliibition and test fly-
ing were responsible for most of these.
In the four emergency parachute jumps described
herein, it is apparent that in each case the plane would
never have been flown with passengers under the conditions
which necessitated the jump.
Commercial air transport has developed rapidly during
the last few years, until today it has reached a stage
where the safety of properly operated airlines compares
favorably with other means of travel.
I received my first instruction in the same
plane a few days later under I. O. Biffle, who was
known at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation as
the most "hard boiled" instructor the army ever
had during the war.
The next two months were spent in obtaining,
in one way or another, my flying instruction, and
in learning what I could around the factory, as
BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 27
there was no ground school in connection with
the flying course at that time.
We did most of our flying in the early morn-
ing or late evening on account of the strong
Nebraska winds in midday with their corre-
sponding rough air which makes flying so diffi-
cult for a student.
I believe that I got more than my share of
rough weather flying, however, because my in-
structor, or "Biff" as we used to call him, had
certain very definite views on life, one of which
was that early morning was not made as a time
for instructors to arise. So as I was the only
student and Biff my only instructor, I did very
little early morning flying.
By the end of May I had received about eight
hours of instruction which (in addition to the
$500 cost of my flying course) had required
about $150 for train fare and personal expenses.
One morning Biff announced that I was ready
to solo, but the president of the company re-
quired a bond to cover possible breakage of the
28 "WE"
plane, which I was not able to furnish. As a re-
sult I did not take a plane up by myself until
several months later.
Before I had entirely completed my flying
course, the instruction plane was sold to E. G.
Bahl, who was planning a barnstorming trip
through southeastern Nebraska. I became ac-
quainted with Bahl at Lincoln and offered to
pay my own expenses if allowed to accompany
him as mechanic and helper. As a result we
barnstormed most of the Nebraska towns south-
east of Lincoln together, and it is to him that I
owe my first practical experience in cross-
country flying.
"Barnstorming" is the aviator's term for
flying about from one town to another and
taking any one who is sufficiently "airminded'*
for a short flight over the country. In 1922 the
fare usually charged was five dollars for a ride
of from five to ten minutes.
It was while I was flying with Bahl that I be-
gan to do a little "wing- walking." We would
BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 29
often attract a crowd to the pasture or stubble
field from which we were operating, by flying low
over town while I was standing on one of the
wing tips.
In June I returned to Lincoln and received a
little more instruction, making a total of about
eight hours.
About this time Charlie Harden, well known
in the aeronautical world for his parachute work,
arrived in Lincoln. I had been fascinated by the
parachute jumps I had seen, and persuaded Ray
Page to let me make a double drop with Harden's
chutes.
A double drop is made by fastening two para-
chutes together with rope. Both are then packed
in a heavy canvas bag; the mouth of the bag is
laced together and the lace ends tied in a bow
knot. The bag is lashed half way out on the wing
of the plane, with the laced end hanging down.
When the plane has reached sufficient altitude
the jumper climbs out of the cockpit and along
the wing to the chute, fastens the parachute
30 *'WE"
straps to his harness, and swings down under the
wing. In this position he is held to the plane by
the bow knot holding together the mouth of the
bag containing his parachute, the bag itself being
tied securely to the wing. When ready to cut
loose he pulls the bow knot allowing the bag to
open and the parachute to be pulled out by his
weight.
In a double jump, after the first parachute has
fully opened, the jumper cuts the rope binding
the second chute to the first. The first chute upon
being reheved of his weight, collapses, and passes
him on the way down.
I made my first jump one evening in June
from an 1800-foot altitude over the flying field.
My first chute opened quickly, ancf after float-
ing down for a few seconds I cut it loose from the
second, expecting a similar performance. But
I did not feel the comfortable tug of the risers
which usually follows an exhibition jump. As I
had never made a descent before, it did not occur
to me that everything was not as it should be,
BOYHOOD AND EAULY FLIGHTS 31
until several seconds had passed and I began to
turn over and fall headfirst. I looked around at
the chute just in time to see it string out; then
the harness jerked me into an upright position
and the chute was open. Afterwards I learned
that the vent of the second chute had been tied
to the first with grocery string which had broken
in packing the parachute, and that instead of
stringing out when I cut loose, it had followed
me still folded, causing a drop of several hun-
dred feet before opening.
I remained in Lincoln for two weeks working
in the Lincoln Standard factory for fifteen dol-
lars a week. Then I received a wire from H. J.
Lynch, who had purchased a Standard a few
weeks before and taken it on a barnstorming
trip into western Kansas. He was in need of a
parachute jumper to fill a number of exhibition
contracts in Kansas and Colorado, and wanted
me to go with him in that capacity at a small
fraction of its cost. Page offered me a new
Harden Chute instead of my remaining flying
32 "WE"
instruction, and I took a train for Bird City,
Kansas.
Lynch and myself barnstormed over western
Kansas and eastern Colorado giving a number
of exhibitions from time to time, in which I
usually made a jump and did a little wing-walk-
ing.
In the fall, together with "Banty" Rogers, a
wheat rancher who owned the plane, we set out
for Montana. Our course took us through a
corner of Nebraska and then up through Wyo-
ming along the Big Horn Mountains and over
Custer's Battle Field. At one time in Wyoming
we were forced to land, due to motor trouble,
near a herd of buffalo, and while Lynch was
working on the motor I started over towards the
animals to get a picture. I had not considered
that they might object to being photographed,
and was within a hundred yards of them when
an old bull looked up and stamped his foot. In
a moment they were all in line facing me with
lowered heads. I snapped a picture but lost no
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BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 33
time in returning to the plane. Meanwhile
Lynch had located our trouble and we took
off.
After we had been in Billings, Montana, about
a week. Lynch traded ships with a pilot named
Reese, who was flying a Standard belonging to
Lloyd Lamb of Bilhngs. Lynch and I stayed in
Montana while Reese returned to Kansas with
Rogers.
We barnstormed Montana and northern
Wyoming until mid-October including exhibi-
tions at the Billings and Lewis town fairs.
At the Lewistown fair we obtained a field ad-
joining the fairgrounds and did a rushing busi-
ness for three days. We had arranged for the
fence to be opened to the grounds and for a gate-
man to give return tickets to anyone who wished
to ride in the plane. All this in return for a free
parachute drop.
At Billings, however, our field was some dis-
tance from the fair and we decided to devise
some scheme to bring the crowd out to us. We
34 "WE"
stuffed a dummy with straw and enough mud to
give it suflScient falling speed to look like a hu-
man being.
When the grandstands were packed that after-
noon we took off from our field with the dummy
in the front cockpit with me. I went out on the
wing and we did a few stunts over the fair-
grounds to get everyone's attention, then Lynch
turned the plane so that no one could see me
on the wing and we threw out the dummy. It fell
waving its arms and legs around wildly and
landed near the Yellowstone River.
We returned to our field and waited expect-
antly for the curious ones to come rushing out for
information, but two hours later, when a few
Montanans did arrive, they told us about one of
the other attractions — a fellow who dived from
an airplane into the Yellowstone River which
was about three feet deep at that point. That
was the last time we attempted to thrill a Mon-
tana crowd.
The barnstorming season in Montana was
BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 35
about over in October and soon after return-
ing from Lewistown I purchased a small boat
for two dollars. After patching it up a bit
and stopping the larger leaks, I started alone
down the Yellowstone River on the way to
Lincoln.
The river was not deep and ran over numerous
rapids which were so shallow that even the flat
bottom of my small boat would bump over the
rocks from time to time. I had been unable to
purchase a thoroughly seagoing vessel for two
dollars, and very little rough going was required
to knock out the resin from the cracks and open
the old leaks again.
I had my camping equipment lashed on top
of one of the seats to keep it dry, and as I pro-
gressed downstream through the ever-present
rapids, more and more of my time was required
for bailing out the boat with an old tin can, until
at the end of the first day, when I had travelled
about twenty miles, I was spending fully half
of my time bailing out water.
36 "WE"
I made camp that night in a small clearing
beside the river. There had been numerous show-
ers during the day, which thoroughly soaked the
ground, and towards evening a steady drizzling
rain set in.
I pitched my army pup tent on the driest
ground I could find and, after a cold supper,
crawled in between the three blankets which I
had sewn together to form a bag.
The next morning the sky was still overcast
but the rain had stopped, and after a quick
breakfast I packed my equipment in the boat
and again started down the river.
The rain set in anew, and this together with
the water from the ever-increasing leaks in the
sides and bottom of the boat required such con-
stant bailing that I found little use for the oars
that day. By evening the rocks had taken so
much effect that the boat was practically beyond
repair.
After a careful inspection, which ended in the
conclusion that further progress was not feasible.
BOYHOOD AND EARLY FLIGHTS 37
I traded what was left of the boat to the son of
a nearby rancher in return for a wagon ride to
the nearest town, Huntley, Montana. I ex-
pressed my equipment and bought a railroad
ticket to Lincoln, where I had left my motor-
cycle.
A short time before I had left Lincoln, while
I was racing with a car along one of the Nebraska
country roads, a piston had jammed and I had
not found time to replace it. Accordingly, after
returning from Montana, I spent several days
overhauling the machine before proceeding on
to Detroit where I was to meet my mother.
I made the trip to Detroit in three days and
after spending about two weeks there I took a
train for Little Falls to clear up some business
in connection with our farm.
During the winter months I spent part of my
time on the farm and part in Minneapolis with
my father. Occasionally we would drive the hun-
dred miles from Minneapolis to Little Falls to-
gether.
38 "WE"
In March, 1923, I left Minnesota and after a
short visit in Detroit, departed on a train bound
for Florida. My next few weeks were spent in
Miami and the Everglades.
II
MY FIRST PLANE
SINCE I had first started flying at Lincoln,
the year before, I had held an ambition to
own an airplane of my own. So when I
took my last flight with Lynch in Montana, and
started down the Yellowstone, I had decided
that the next spring I would be flying my own
ship.
Consequently when April arrived, I left
Miami and went to Americus, Georgia, where
the Government had auctioned off a large num-
ber of "Jennies," as we called certain wartime
training planes. I bought one of these ships with
a new Curtis OX-5 motor and full equipment for
five hundred dollars. They had cost the Gov-
ernment nearly twice as many thousands, but at
39
40 "WE"
the close of the war the surplus planes were sold
for what they would bring and the training fields
were abandoned. Americus, Georgia, was a typ-
ical example of this. The planes had been auc-
tioned for as little as fifty dollars apiece the year
before. A few days after I arrived, the last oifi-
cer left the post and it took its place among the
phantom airports of the war.
I lived alone on the post during the two weeks
my plane was being assembled, sometimes sleep-
ing in one of the twelve remaining hangars and
sometimes in one of the barracks buildings. One
afternoon a visiting plane arrived and Reese
stepped out of the cockpit. I had not heard
from him since we had traded planes in Montana,
and he stayed with me on the post that night
while we exchanged experiences of the previous
year.
One of the interesting facts bearing on the life
of aviators is that they rarely lose track of one
another permanently. Distance means Httle to
the pilot, and there is always someone dropping
MY FIRST PLANE 41
in from somewhere who knows all the various
flyers in his section of the country, and who is
willing to sit down and do a little "ground fly-
ing" with the local pilots. In this way intimate
contact is continually established throughout the
clan. ("Ground flying" is the term used to
designate the exchange of flying experiences
among airmen.)
I had not soloed up to the time I bought my
Jenny at Americus, although at that time the
fact was strictly confidential.
After my training at Lincoln I had not been
able to furnish the required bond and, although
I had done a little flying on cross country trips
with Bahl and Lynch, I had never been up in a
plane alone. Therefore when my Jenny was
completely assembled and ready to fly I was un-
decided as to the best method of procedure. No
one on the field knew that I had never soloed.
I had not been in a plane for six months; but
I did not have sufficient money to pay for more
instruction, so one day I taxied to one end of the
42 "WE"
field, opened the throttle and started to take off.
When the plane was about four feet off the
ground, the right wing began to drop, so I de-
cided that it was time to make a landing. I ac-
complished this on one wheel and one wing
skid but without doing any damage to the
ship. I noticed that the wind was blowing hard
and suddenly decided that I would wait for calm-
er weather before making any more flights and
taxied back to the hangar.
A pilot who was waiting for delivery on
one of the Jennies offered to give me a little
dual instruction, and I flew around with him for
thirty minutes and made several landings. At
the end of this time he taxied up to the line and
told me that I would have no trouble and was
only a little rusty from not flying recently. He
advised me to wait until evening when the air
was smooth and then to make a few solo flights.
When evening came I taxied out from the
line, took one last look at the instruments and
took off on my first solo.
MY FIRST PLANE 43
The first solo flight is one of the events in a
pilot's life which forever remains impressed on
his memory. It is the culmination of difficult
hours of instruction, hard weeks of training and
often years of anticipation. To be absolutely
alone for the first time in the cockpit of a plane
hundreds of feet above the ground is an experi-
ence never to be forgotten.
After a week of practice flights around South-
ern Field I rolled my equipment and a few spare
parts up in a blanket, lashed them in the front
cockpit and took off for Minnesota.
This was my first cross country Alight alone,
less than a week after my solo hop. Alto-
gether I had less than five hours of solo time to
my credit. I had, however, obtained invaluable
experience the year before while flying around
in the western states with Biffle, Bahl, and
Lynch.
While learning to fly in Nebraska the previ-
ous spring, I discovered that nearly every pilot
in existence had flown in Texas at one time or
44 "WE"
another during his flying career. Accordingly
I decided that, at the first opportunity I would
fly to Texas myself and although I travelled
a rather roundabout way from Georgia to Min-
nesota, my course passed through Texarkana en
route.
The first hop was from Americus to Mont-
gomery, Alabama, and passed over some fairly
rough territory of which both Georgia and Ala-
bama have their share.
I had been warned before leaving the field,
that the airhne course to Texas was over some
of the "worst flying countrj'- in the south" and
had been advised to take either a northern course
directly to Minnesota or to follow the Gulf of
Mexico. This advice served to create a desire
to find out what the "worst flying country
in the south" looked like. I had a great deal of
confidence in my Jenny with its powerful OX-5
engine, and it seemed absurd to me at that time
to detour by airplane. Consequently I laid my
route in the most direct line possible to conform
MY FIRST PLANE 45
with my limited cruising range with forty gallons
of fuel.
The flight to Montgomery was uneventful.
I landed at the army field there before noon,
filled the fuel tanks and took off again for Meri-
dian, Mississippi.
I arrived over Meridian in late afternoon and
for the first time was faced with the problem of
finding a suitable field and landing in it.
An experienced pilot can see at a glance nearly
everything necessary to know about a landing
field. He can tell its size, the condition of the
ground, height of grass or weeds, whether there
are any rocks, holes, posts or ditches in the way,
if the land is rough and rolling or flat and smooth ;
in short whether the field is suitable to land in
or if it would be advisable to look for another
and better one. In fact, the success of a barn-
storming pilot of the old days was measured to
a large extent by his artfulness in the choice of
fields from which to operate. Often, in case of
motor failure, the safety of his passengers, him-
46 "WE"
self, and his ship depended upon his alertness in
choosing the best available landing place and his
ability in maneuvering the plane into it. If his
motor failure was only partial or at high altitude,
time was not so essential, as a plane can glide a
great distance, either with a motor which only
"revs" down a couple of hundred R.P.M. or
without any assistance from the engine at all.
The average wartime machine could ghde at least
five times its height, which meant that if it was
five thousand feet above the ground the pilot
could pick a field to land in five miles away with
safety ; but if the failure was soon after the take
off, then instant decision and immediate action
were necessary.
An amateur, on the other hand, has not over-
come the strangeness of altitude, and the ground
below looks entirely different than it does from
the air, although there is not the sensation, in an
airplane, of looking down as from a high build-
ing. Hills appear as flat country, boulders and
ditches are invisible, sizes are deceptive and
MY FIRST PLANE 47
marshes appear as solid grassland. The student
has not the background of experience so essen-
tial to the successful pilot, yet his only method
of learning lies in his own initiative in meeting
and overcoming service conditions.
There was no regular airport in Meridian in
1923, and a few fields available for a reasonably
safe landing. After a half hour's search I de-
cided on the largest pasture I could see, made
the best kind of a short field landing I knew how
by coming down just over the tree tops, with the
engine wide open, to the edge of the field, then
cutting the gun and allowing the ship to slow
down to its landing speed. This method brings
the plane in with tremendous velocity and re-
quires a much larger landing field than is neces-
sary, but until the pilot has flown long enough
to have the "feel" of his ship it is far safer to
come in fast than too slow.
It had been raining at Meridian and the
field was a httle soft, so that when my "Jenny"
finally did settle to the ground it had a very
48 "WE"
short roll and there was still some clear ground
in front.
I taxied up to a fence corner alongside of a
small house and proceeded to tie down for the
night. I had gained considerable respect for the
wind in Kansas and Nebraska, so after turning
off the gasoline and letting the motor stop by
running the carburetor dry, (a safety expedient
to keep the everpresent person who stands di-
rectly under the propeller while he wiggles it up
and down, from becoming an aeronautical fatal-
ity) I pushed the nose of the plane up to a fence
and after blocking the wheels securely, tied each
wing tip to a fence post and covered the motor
and cockpit with a canvas in case of rain.
By this time the usual barnstorming crowd
had gathered and I spent the remaining daylight
explaining that the hole in the radiator was for
the propeller shaft to go through ; that the wings
were not made of catgut, tin, or cast iron, but
of wood framework covered with cotton or linen
shrunk to drum tightness by acetate and nitrate
MY FIRST PLANE 49
dope; that the only way to find out how it feels
to fly was to try it for five dollars; that it was
not as serious for the engine to stop as for a
wing to fall off; and the thousand other ques-
tions which can only be conceived in such a
gathering.
As night came on and the visibility decreased
the crowd departed, leaving me alone with a
handful of small boys who always remain to the
last and can only be induced to depart by being
allowed to follow the aviator from the field.
I accepted an invitation to spend the night in
the small house beside the field.
The next morning I telephoned for a gas
truck to come out to the field and spent the
time before the truck arrived in the task of
cleaning the distributor head, draining the car-
buretor jet wells and oiling the rocker arms on
the engine.
While I was working, one of the local inhabit-
ants came up and volunteered the information
that he had been a pilot during the war but had
50 "WE"
not flown since and "wouldn't mind takin* a ride
again." I assured him that much as I would
enjoy taking him up, flying was very expensive
and that I did not have a large fund available
to buy gasoline. I added that if he would pay
operating costs, which would be five dollars for
a short ride, I would be glad to accommodate
him. He produced a five dollar bill and after
warming up the motor I put him in the cockpit
and taxied through the mud to the farthest
corner of the field. This was to be my first
passenger.
The field was soft and the man was heavy;
we stalled over the fence by three feet and the
nearest tree by five. I found myself heading up
a thickly wooded slope, which was sloping up-
ward at least as fast as I was climbing in that
direction and for three minutes my Jenny and
the slope fought it out over the fifteen feet of
air between them. Eventually, however, in the
true Jenny style we skimmed over the hilltop
and obtained a little reserve altitude. I had
r < <
a
si
5 £:
3 ^
2; J ^
2 § a
MY FIRST PLANE 51
passed through one of those almost-but-not-quite
accidents for which Jennies are so famous and
which so greatly retarded the growth of commer-
cial flj^ing during the post-war period.
I decided that my passenger was entitled to a
good ride after that take-off and kept him up
chasing a buzzard for twenty minutes. After
we landed he commented on the wonderful take-
off and how much he enjoyed flying low over the
treetops; again assured me that he had flown a
great deal in the war; and rushed off to tell his
friends all about his first airplane ride.
The gasoline truck had arrived and after
servicing the ship I took off again and headed
west. I had no place in mind for the next stop
and intended to be governed by my fuel supply
in picking the next field.
The sky was overcast with numerous local
storms. I had brought along a compass, but had
failed to install it on the instrument board, and
it was of little use in a suitcase out of reach. The
boundary lines in the south do not run north and
52 "WE"
south, east and west as they do in the Northern
states but curve and bend in every conceivable
direction, being located by natural landmarks
rather than meridians and parallels. I was fly-
ing by a map of the entire United States, with
each state relatively small.
I left Meridian and started in the direction of
Texas, cutting across country with no regard
for roads or railways. For a time during the
first hour I was not sure of my location on the
map, but soon passed over a railway intersection
which appeared to be in the proper place and
satisfied me about my position. Then the terri-
tory became wilder and again I saw no check-
points. The storm areas were more numerous
and the possible landing fields farther apart, un-
til near the end of the second hour I decided to
land in the first available field to locate my
position and take on more fuel. It required
nearly thirty more minutes to find a place in
which a plane could land and take-off with any
degree of safety, and after circling the field sev-
MY FIRST PLANE 53
eral times to make sure it was hard and contained
no obstacles, I landed in one corner, rolled down
a hillside, taxied over a short level stretch, and
came to rest half-way up the slope on the far
side of the field.
A storm was approaching rapidly and I taxied
back towards the fence corner at rather high
speed. Suddenly I saw a ditch directly in front
of me and an instant later heard the crash of
splintering wood as the landing gear dropped
down and the propeller came in contact with the
ground. The tail of the plane rose up in the
air, turned almost completely over, then settled
back to about a forty-five degree angle. My
first "crack-up"! 4
I climbed out of the cockpit and surveyed the
machine. Actually the only damage done was
to the propeller, and although the wings and
fuselage were covered with mud, no other part
of the plane showed any marked signs of strain.
I had taxied back about thirty feet east of the
landing tracks and had struck the end of a grass-
54 'WE"
covered ditch. Had I been ten feet farther over,
the accident would never have happened. The
usual crowd was assembling, as the impact of the
"prop" with the ground had been heard in all of
the neighboring fields and an airplane was a rare
sight in those parts.
They informed me that I was halfway be-
tween Maben and Mathiston, Mississippi, and
that I had flown one hundred and twenty-five
miles north instead of west.
When enough men had assembled we lifted
the plane out of the ditch, pushed it over to a
group of pine trees and tied it down to two of
the trees. After removing all loose equipment
I rode into Maben with one of the storekeepers
who had locked up his business when he heard
about the landing of the plane.
I wired Wyche at Americus to ship me one of
the two propellers I had purchased before leav-
ing, then engaged a room at the old Southern
Hotel.
While waiting for the propeller I had ex-
MY FIRST PLANE 55
tracted promises from half a dozen citizens to
ride at five dollars each. This would about cover
the cost of the "prop," as well as my expenses
while waiting for it to arrive. When it did come
I put it on the shaft between showers, with the
assistance of most of Maben and Mathiston. I
gave the plane a test flight and announced that
I was ready to carry passengers when it was not
raining too hard.
The Mississippians who were so anxious to fly
when the propeller was broken immediately
started a contest in etiquette. Each and every
one was quite willing to let someone else be first
and it required psychology, diplomacy, and
ridicule before the first passenger climbed into
the cockpit. I taxied over to the far corner
of the field, instructed my passenger how to
hold the throttle back to keep the ship from
taking off, and lifted the tail around in order
to gain every available foot of space for the
take-off.
The first man was so audibly pleased with his
5G "WE"
ride that the others forgot their manners of a
few minutes before and began arguing about
who was to be next.
That afternoon a group of whites chipped in
fifty cents apiece to give one of the negroes a
hop, provided, as they put it, I would do a few
"flip flops" with him. The negro decided upon
was perfectly willing and confident up to the
time when he was instructed to get in ; even then
he gamely chmbed into the cockpit, assuring all
of his clan that he would wave his red bandanna
handkerchief over the side of the cockpit during
the entire flight in order to show them that he
was still unafraid.
After reaching the corner of the field I in-
structed him, as I had the previous passengers,
to hold the throttle back while I was lifting the
tail around. When I climbed back in my cock-
pit I told him to let go and opened the throttle
to take off. We had gone about fifty yards when
it suddenly occurred to him that the ship was
moving and that the handle he was to hold on to
MY FIRST PLANE 57
was not where it should be. He had apparently
forgotten everything but that throttle, and with
a death grip he hauled it back to the closed posi-
tion. We had not gone far enough to prevent
stopping before reaching the other end of the
field and the onl}^ loss was the time required to
taxi back over the rough ground to our starting
point. Before taking off the next time, however,
I gave very impHcit instructions regarding that
throttle.
I had promised to give this negro a stunt ride
yet I had never had any instruction in aero-
batics. I had, however, been in a plane with Bahl
during two loops and one tailspin. I had also
been carefully instructed in the art of looping
by Reese who, forgetting that I was not flying
a Hisso standard with twice the power of my
Jenny, advised me that it was not necessary to
dive excessively before a loop but rather to fly
along with the motor full on until the plane
gathered speed, then to start the loop from a
level flying position.
58 "WE"
I climbed up to three thousand feet and
started in to fulfill my agreement by doing a
few airsplashes, steep spirals and dives. With
the first deviation from straight flight my pas-
senger had his head down on the floor of the
cockpit but continued to wave the red handker-
chief with one hand while he was holding on to
everything available with the other, although he
was held in securely with the safety belt.
Finally, remembering my ground instruc-
tions, I leveled the plane off and with wide open
motor waited a few moments to pick up maxi-
mum speed, then, slowly pulling back on the
stick I began to loop. When I had gotten one-
fourth of the way around, the ship was trem-
bling in a nearly stalled position; still, the Cur-
tiss motor was doing its best and it was not until
the nose was pointing directly skyward at a
ninety degree angle that the final inertia was lost
and for an instant we hung motionless in the per-
fect position for a whipstall. I kicked full right
rudder immediately to throw the plane over on
MY FIRST PLANE 59
its side but it was too late, the controls had no
effect.
The Negro meanwhile decided that the "flip
flops" were over and poked his head over the side
of the cockpit looking for mother earth. At that
instant we whipped. The ship gathered speed
as it slid backwards towards the ground, the air
caught the tail surfaces, jerked them around
past the heavier nose and we were in a vertical
dive; again in full control, but with no red hand-
kerchief waving over the cockpit. I tried an-
other loop in the same manner but just before
reaching the stalling point in the next one I
kicked the ship over on one wing and evaded a
whipstall. After the second failure I decided
that there must be something wrong with my
method of looping and gave up any further at-
tempt for that afternoon. But it was not until
we were almost touching the ground that the
bandanna again appeared above the cowling.
I remained in Maben for two weeks carrying
over sixty passengers in all or about three hun-
60 "WE"
dred dollars worth. People flocked in from all
over the surrounding country, some travelling
for fifteen miles in oxcarts just to see the plane
fly-
One old negro woman came up and asked, —
"Boss! How much you all charge foah take
me up to Heaben and leave me dah?"
I could have carried many more passengers
but it rained nearly every day and each flight
rutted the field badly. When I landed it
was necessary to pass over a soft spot between
two hillsides, and before taking off I had to taxi
back over this soft place on the way to the far
comer of the field. During the last few days
several men were required on each wing to push
the plane through the mud to the hillside beyond.
Another difficulty was that the old black war-
time rubber shock absorber card had deteriorated
to such an extent that I replaced it with hemp
rope and taxi-ing over the harder parts of the
field was a very rough procedure, especially
since the ground had been plowed in years gone
MY FIRST PLANE 61
by and allowed to grow sod without being
harrowed.
I made several attempts to find another suit-
able field nearby but there was none from which
I could safely operate.
Landing fields are of primary importance to
safety in aviation. It is not a question of how
small a field a plane can operate from, but
rather of how large a field is necessary to make
that operation safe.
Large and well equipped airports situated
close to cities will go far towards developing
commercial airlines and keeping the United
States at the top in aeronautical activity.
The cities who foresee the future of air trans-
portation and provide suitable airports will find
themselves the center of airlines radiating in
every direction.
When an airline is organized, one of the pri-
mary considerations is the condition and location
of the various landing fields where terminals are
contemplated. If the airport is small and in
62 "WE"
poor condition, or if a passenger must of neces-
sity spend nearly as much time in traveling from
the business district out to the field as it will
require for him to fly from the field to his desti-
nation, then it is very probable that some other
city will be selected for the stopping point.
The condition of the field together with the
fact that after a heavy rain it was often neces-
sary to carry gasoline in five gallon cans a mile
and a half over the railroad tracks by hand
forced me to leave Maben and a large number
of would be passengers behind, and early one
morning I took off for the last time and again
headed for Texas.
Ill
BAENSTORMING EXPERIENCES
I HAD strayed over a hundred miles off my
course and experienced a minor crack-up,
but I departed with two hundred and fifty
more dollars in my pocket than I had arrived
with, besides confidence in my ability to make
at least a little more than expenses by barn-
storming.
The constant rains had filled the rivers to
overflowing, and after leaving Maben I flew over
flooded territory nearly all the way to Lake
Village, Arkansas. Often the water was up to
the second story windows of the farmhouses, and
a forced landing at any time would have at least
meant nosing over.
I had installed the compass while waiting for
63
64, "WE"
the new propeller at Maben, and experienced
no further difficulty in holding my course.
After circling Lake Village I landed in a
field several miles north of town. The nearest
building was a clubhouse and soon the keeper
and his family had arrived beside the plane.
They invited me to stay with them as long as I
wished, but the keeper persistently refused to ac-
cept a flight in return for his hospitality. I car-
ried only a handful of passengers that afternoon.
The flying territory around that part of the
country was fairly good and there were a num-
ber of fields available for planes to land in. Con-
sequently an airplane was no longer the drawing
attraction that it was farther in the interior.
I staked the plane down much earlier than
usual and went over to the clubhouse.
Evening came on with the clearness of a full
mqon and open sky. The landscape was illumi-
nated with a soft yellow light ; an ideal night for
flying. I decided to see what the country looked
hke from the air at night and jokingly asked
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 65
my host to accompany me. To my surprise he
willingly agreed. For some reason he had no
fear of a night flight although I had been unable
to persuade him to go up with me in the daytime.
What his reaction would have been, had he
known that I had never flown after dark before,
is a matter of speculation.
We untied the plane, removed the canvases
from engine and cockpit, and after a few
minutes spent in warming up the motor, taxied
down the field and took off for a moonlight flight
down the Mississippi and over Lake Village.
Later in the evening after the ship was again
securely staked to the ground and we were sit-
ting quietly in the clubhouse, my host stated that
he had never spent a more enjoyable quarter of
an hour in his life.
The next morning I was again heading to-
wards Texas against a strong westerly wind
which retarded the speed of the Jenny so greatly
that even with my double fjuel capacity it was
necessary to land at Farmerville, Louisiana, to
66 "WE"
replenish my supply. From there I flew to
Texarkana and landed between the stumps of
the 1923 airport.
On the following morning I left Texarkana
with a strong tail wind and after crossing the
western end of the Ozark mountains, landed near
a small town in north eastern Oklahoma where
I took on a fresh supply of fuel and again
headed north towards Lincoln, Nebraska.
My tanks began to run low about half way
through Kansas and I picked out a hillside near
Ahna. After flying low and dragging the field
several times I came in for a landing, but just
as the wheels were about to touch the ground I
discovered that it was covered with fairly large
rocks half hidden in the tall grass. I opened the
throttle to take off but the plane had lost too
much speed for the motor to take effect and as
it struck the ground the left wing hooked in the
rocks and groundlooped the ship to the left but
without doing serious damage. The landing
gear wires were strained and about two feet of
WORKING ON NAVIGATION CHARTS FOR FLIGHT
BAKNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 67
the rear spar on the lower left wing tip was
snapped off. Nothing was broken however
which would require immediate repairing.
The field was quite a distance from Alma and
in order to get an early start in the morning I
stayed with the ship that night. During the
heavy rains at Maben, Mississippi, I had con-
structed a hammock of heavy canvas which
could be suspended under the top wing.
I tied the corners of this hammock to the upper
strut fittings and crawled into the three blankets
inside which were sewn up to form a bag. Thus
I spent a comfortable night.
When I arrived over Lincoln the next day I
circled over the Lincoln Standard factory, and
after landing on the old flying field south of
town, waited for the car which was sent out to
bring in visiting airmen.
The remainder of the day was spent in
"ground flying" with my friends in the factory.
We had not been together for seven months and
Ijie usual exchange of experiences was necessary.
68 "WE"
I soon learned that Bud Gurney had made a
parachute for himself and was intending to test it
by the simple method of going up to an altitude
of fifteen himdred or two thousand feet and cut-
ting loose from the plane. If the chute opened
it was successful.
After a great deal of persuasion I prevailed
upon him to let me take him up in my ship while
we made the first test with a sand bag.
The tanks had just been filled with fuel but
I had unlimited confidence in my Jenny and we
lashed the parachute and a sandbag on the right
wing. Bud, who weighed one hundred and
sixty-five pounds himself, climbed into the front
cockpit and we started to take-off with a total
load of about six hundred pounds, to say nothing
of the resistance of the parachute and sandbag
which were directly in the slipstream from the
propeller.
Even with this load we cleared the nearest ob-
stacle by a safe margin and finally attained an
altitude of about two hundred feet. Then we
BAKNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 69
were caught by a descending current of air
which carried the plane down to within ten feet
of the ground, and try as I would I could not
get any higher. A wooded hill was directly in
front, and to avoid striking the trees I turned
down wind. A railroad tressle was then in front
of us and we stalled over it by inches. For five
minutes we dodged hills, trees, and houses. I
signaled Bud to cut the sandbag, but when he
started to climb out of the cockpit to reach it,
the added resistance brought the plane down
still lower. Then in front of us appeared a
row of trees, much higher than the rest, which
I knew it would not be possible to get over.
We were then passing over a grain field and
I cut the gun and landed down wind. The grain
was high enough to keep the ship from roll-
ing far and we unloaded the handbag before
taking off again. With the weight of the bag and
its resistance gone, we had no trouble in getting
out of the grain and back to the flying field.
A week later Bud carried out his original in-
70 *'WE"
tention of testing the chute. It was successful.
Before continuing the flight to Minnesota,
Bud and I made a short barnstorming trip
through eastern Nebraska. That territory had
been fairly well covered by other barnstormers,
however, and we did very little business.
At one place where we landed we were over-
taken by a violent thunderstorm combined with
a strong wind. It came up so suddenly that we
had only time enough to tail the ship into the
wind and lash the stick to keep the ailerons from
whipping before the wind struck us. We were
both holding on to the tail trying to keep the
plane from blowing away. Following the wind
was a heavy rain which covered the ground with
water and at each flash of lightning the elec-
tricity on the wires of the ship would pass to the
ground through our bodies with the intensity of
a booster magnet.
In an electric storm a plane acts as part of
a condenser, since it is insulated from the ground
by the rubber tires and wooden tailskid. It is
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 71
possible to receive a violent shock by standing
on wet ground and holding on to one of the
wires.
We were unable to let go of the ship in the
high wind and could only remain and take these
discharges as they came. Fortunately the storm
did not last long.
The night after our return to Lincoln we
slept on the field so that I could get a good start
in the morning. Bud was in the back of a Ford
truck, and I was in the hammock.
The next morning was overcast with local
showers which were visible in every direction.
I took oflp soon after daybreak and after flying
through several storms landed in a hajifield at
Forest City, Iowa, where I serviced the ship
between showers and took off on the final flight
to Shakopee, Minnesota, where I expected to
meet my father and carry him around on his
campaign.
I found Shakopee covered by a cloudburst and
in flying around waiting for the storm to pass
72 "WE"
so that I could land I got into a heavy shower
near Savage. One of the cylinders cut out, and
I was circling preparatory to landing in a clover
field when two more stopped firing. I was fly-
ing at less than a two hundred foot altitude and
loosing that rapidly. It was necessary to land
immediately but the only choice of landing places
lay between a swamp and high trees. I took the
swamp and cut the throttle. When the wheels
touched earth they rolled about twenty feet, sank
into the spreader bar and we nosed over.
The rudder did not quite touch the swamp
grass and the plane stopped after passing
through three-quarters of a semi-circle, with the
radiator cap and top wing resting on the ground.
I was hanging on the safety belt but when I tried
to open the clasp with one hand, holding on with
the other to keep from falling out on my head,
I foimd it to be jammed. After several futile
attempts to open it I reverted to the two strap
buckles at the end of the belt to release myself
from the cockpit.
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 73
AU this required not more than two or three
minutes.
After getting out of the cockpit I inspected
the plane carefully. Again there was little actual
damage. The propeller was badly cracked and
would have to be replaced; there was a crack
in the spreader board which required winding
with strong cord. Otherwise the plane was in
perfect condition although splashed with mud.
For once there was no one in sight and I made
my way through the swamp to the nearest farm-
house. On the way I found that there was solid
ground along the edge of the swamp less than
100 yards from the plane from which I could
take off.
The farmer had seen the plane pass over in
the rain and was on his way down towards the
swamp when I met him. He informed me that it
was not possible to get horses through the mire
out to the ship and that he had no idea of how
I was to get it back to hard sod again.
I borrowed a rope from him to use in pulling
74 "WE"
the tail back to a normal position and we started
back to the swamp.
Meanwhile it seems that two boys had seen
me land, and when I did not emerge from the
cockpit immediately, had run to Savage with the
news that "an aviator had landed upside down
in the swamp" and that they had "gone up and
felt of his neck and that it was stiff and he was
stone dead."
I had flown over the town in the rain only a
few minutes before, and as in those days it was
not difficult for any one to believe anything about
an airplane, the town promptly locked its doors
and came crawling and wading through the
swamp. The older inliabitants followed the
railroad track around its edge and by the
time I returned with the farmer and a rope
there were enough townspeople to solve my
problem by carrying the ship back onto solid
ground.
They were undoubtedly much disappointed at
having come so far on a false alarm but turned
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 75
to willingly to help me get the ship out of the
swamp.
The next edition of one of the MinneapoHs
papers carried the following item which typically
exemplifies what has been the average man's
knowledge of aeronautics.
AIRPLANE CRASHES NEAR
SAVAGE
Charles A. Lindbergh, son of ex-
Congressman Lindbergh, crashed near
Savage, JNIinnesota, this morning. He
was flying in his plane three hundred
feet above the ground when it suddenly
went into a nose dive and landed on its
propeller in a swamp. Lindbergh says
he will be flying again in three days.
After reading this and similar accounts of
equally minor accidents of flight, it is little won-
der that the average man would far rather watch
some one else fly and read of the narrow escapes
from death when some pilot has had a forced
76 "WE"
landing or a blowout, than to ride himself. Even
in the post-war days of now obsolete equipment,
nearly all of the serious accidents were caused
by inexperienced pilots who were then allowed
to fly or to attempt to fly — without license or re-
striction about anything they could coax into
the air — and to carry any one who might be be-
guiled into riding with them.
My next move was to wire to Little Falls for
a propeller which Wyche had expressed from
Americus and two days later joined my father
in his campaign at Marshall.
My father had been opposed to my flying from
the first and had never flown himself. How-
ever, he had agreed to go up with me at the first
opportunity, and one afternoon he climbed into
the cockpit and we flew over Redwood Falls to-
gether. From that day on I never heard a word
against my flying and he never missed a chance
to ride in the plane.
After the campaign was over I spent the re-
mainder of the summer barnstorming through
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 77
Minnesota, northern Iowa and western Wiscon-
sin. Most of the time I was alone, but I took one
student around with me for a few weeks while I
was teaching him to fly, and then I barnstormed
southern Minnesota with my mother for ten days.
My mother had never objected to my flying, and
after her first flight at Janesville, Minnesota, she
became an enthusiast herself.
We had been together constantly up to the
start of my flying career and had both looked
forward to flying around together. Consequently
when the opportunity presented itself I wired
her to meet me at Janesville.
My mother enjoyed flying from the first and
has made a number of flights with me ; including
a round trip between Chicago and St. Louis in
the mail compartment of my plane.
Some weeks I barely made expenses, and on
others I carried passengers all week long at five
dollars each. On the whole I was able to make a
fair profit in addition to meeting expenses and
depreciation.
78 "WE"
One evening while I was waiting for chance
passengers at a field in southern Minnesota, a
car drove up with several young fellows in it, one
of whom was a graduate of the Army Air Serv-
ice Training Schools. He asked me why I did
not apply for enlistment as a cadet at Brooks
Field and explained that by writing to the Chief
of Air Service at the War Department in Wash-
ington I could get enrollment blanks and full in-
formation on the course and its requirements.
I had always wanted to fly modern and pow-
erful planes. Ever since I had watched a group
of fourteen DeHavilands with their four hun-
dred horsepower Liberty motors come into the
field at Lincoln in my flying school days, I had
longed to fly one of them. The Army offered
the only opportunity, for there were no Liberty
engines flying around barnstorming. Conse-
quently at the hotel that night I wrote my letter
to the Chief of Air Service, and a few days later
when I received my next mail forwarded from
Minneapolis, a letter from Washington with
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 79
the enrollment blanks was included. The letter
informed me that a candidate must be between
twenty and twenty-seven years of age inclusive,
unmarried, of good physical condition, and must
have a high school education or its equivalent.
I completed and returned the forms, and a
short time later received another message author-
izing me to appear before an examining board
at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, in January,
1924.
Toward the end of September I began to
work south. Cold weather was coming on in
Minnesota and most people did not enjoy flying
in an open cockpit in winter.
I barnstormed over into Wisconsin but found
that some one had been carrying passengers for
half price there. I had always conformed to the
rule in use among most pilots at that time, of
giving a good ride for five dollars but not carry-
ing any one for less. So I left southern Wiscon-
sin and turned towards Illinois. After taking
oflp I decided to take in the International Air
80 "WE"
Races at St. Louis, which were then in progress ;
so instead of sizing up each town I passed over
for its passenger possibilities, I flew towards St.
Louis until the gasoline ran low, then landed,
took on a fresh supply from a passing gas truck,
and pressed on to Carlinville, Illinois. There
I picked up more fuel, and a twenty-five dollar
passenger for St. Louis.
As we neared Lambert Field where the races
were being held we passed over the race course
while the bombers' contest was in progress. I
landed on a hill east of Lambert in order to keep
out of the way of the races, and waited until
evening before hopping over and staking my
ship down at the end of one of the long rows of
civilian planes.
A large number of my old friends were at-
tending the races and soon after landing I met
Bud Gurney who, together with one of the flying
students at Lincoln, had managed to get to the
races without buying a Pullman ticket. He
had brought his chute with him and was entered
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 81
in the parachute spot landing contest, in which
he was to be the last attraction of the meet by
staging a double drop.
In the evening, after the races were over for
the day, I carried a few passengers and looked
over the different types of planes. I would have
given the summer's barnstorming profits gladly
in return for authority to fly some of the newer
types, and I determined to let nothing interfere
with my chance of being appointed a Flying
Cadet in the Army. This appeared to be my
only opportunity to fly planes which would roar
up into the sky when they were pointed in that
direction, instead of having to be wished up over
low trees at the end of a landing field.
When I went to St. Louis it was with the ex-
pectation of pressing on still farther south when
the races were over, but with Bud's assistance I
sold my Jenny to his friend, flying instruction
included. Marvin Northrop who had flown a
Standard down from Minneapolis had sold his
ship in St. Louis also; together with a course in
82 "WE"
flying. Since it was necessary for him to return
home immediately, I agreed to instruct his
student while mine was learning on the Jenny.
I had promised to carry Bud for his last jump,
and towards evening on the final day of the races
he packed his two chutes and tied them together
with the only rope he could find. It was rather
old but we decided that it would hold and if it did
not the only consequence would be a little longer
fall before the second chute opened.
I coaxed the old Jenny up to seventeen hun-
dred feet and as we passed to the windward of
the field Bud cut loose. The first chute opened at
once, but in opening, the strain on the old rope
was too great and it snapped releasing the second
chute which fell another two hundred feet before
opening.
Planes were circling all around the parachute
and flying in every direction without apparent
regard for one another. The air was kept in con-
stant motion by their propellers, and the chute
swung from side to side in the rough currents
Wide World Photos
(TRTISS FIELD, L. I. PATSY, THE MASCOT FOR " THE SPIRIT OF
ST. LOfls"
BARNSTORMING EXPERIENCES 83
with the result that Bud broke an arm as he
landed among the crowd on the side of a ditch.
This was the only accident in which any one was
injured during the entire meet.
For the next few weeks I instructed my two
students and made a short barnstorming tour
through Illinois.
IV
HEADING SOUTH
WHEN the period of instruction was
completed I flew the old Jenny up to
my student's home in Iowa and, after
watching him make a few solo flights from his
home field, I left on a train for Lincoln. My
last sight of the old Jenny was as it passed two
hundred feet over the station near the center of
town — and my parting instruction had been to
keep a safe gliding angle when over the city and
under no circumstances to come below fifteen
hundred feet.
I went to Lincoln to get an S.V.A., which is
a two-place Italian pursuit plane, and fly it back
to St. Louis. But on arriving I learned that it
was in the old Pulitzer Field near Omaha and
84
HEADING SOUTH 85
in questionable condition. It was reported that
some cows had eaten aU the fabric off the rudder.
Cows and mules are fond of the fabric covering,
and it is not uncommon to hear of a plane being
completely stripped by these animals in a few
minutes. On the other hand, I have left a ma-
chine unguarded in the same pasture with cattle
for days without having them touch it. And dur-
ing the two weeks I spent at Maben, Mississippi,
there had been a number of mules in the same
pasture with my ship yet they apparently never
came near it.
We filled the back of a touring car with a new
rudder and other spare parts, and drove to
Omaha the next morning.
The S.V.A. was in even worse condition than
had been represented. In addition to needing
a new rudder, part of the lock-stitching had
broken in the wings and as a result, the fabric was
very loose. The radiator had developed a num-
ber of leaks which some one had attempted to
stop by dumping in a pailful of bran. And when
86 "WE"
we eventually did get it started the engine
skipped badly and would not "rev" up over
1100 R.P.M.
At last we decided to attempt to fly the ship
to Lincoln where it would be much more con-
venient to work on it, and I took off with a
sputtering motor and with the centigrade five
degrees below boiling. At the end of five
minutes the needle was crowding the peg at 115°,
and in fifteen minutes the water expansion tank
exploded. I landed in a stubblefield and hired
the farmer to hitch his team to the ship and haul
it to a fence corner next to his house, where I
left it to be taken apart and hauled to Lincoln
by truck.
I passed the month of December barnstorm-
ing in Ilhnois, and in January went to Chanute
Field to take the entrance examinations for a
Flying Cadet.
On one occasion while at Lambert Field I
had made a short flight into the Ozark foothills
with Leon Klink, an automobile dealer who had
HEADING SOUTH 87
bought a Canuck that fall and was just learn-
ing to fly it. After I returned from Chanute
Field and was waiting for the results of my ex-
aminations, we decided to make a pleasure flight
through the south, barnstorming only enough to
make current expenses, if possible. Klink
wanted to learn to fly, and at the same time take
a vacation, while my only objective was to keep
flying and at the same time be ready to enter the
next class at Brooks Field which commenced in
March, providing my examinations had been
passed satisfactorily.
Accordingly on the twenty-third of January
we took off from Lambert Field in five below
zero weather and headed for the Sunny South.
Our first stop was at Perryville, Missouri,
where we visited with some of Klink's friends
for several days, and carried nineteen pass-
engers. After leaving Perryville we flew to
Hickman, Kentucky, and landed in a soft field
east of town. We had passed out of the ex-
tremely cold weather and the wheels of our
88 "WE"
plane sank several inches into the southern mud.
When we had refueled and attempted to take-off,
it was impossible to get enough speed to hft the
tires out of the mud. So Klink got out and I
tried to take-off alone. On the third attempt
the ship gained enough speed for the wings to
begin to carry a portion of the load and keep the
wheels from sinking so deeply; then it was only
a matter of a few more feet before I was off.
I picked out a hayfield a little further from
town, which appeared to be a little more solid
than the first, and landed. By that time it was
too late to make another hop before dusk, and as
even the new field was too soft to make it ad-
visable to carry any passengers, we left the
Canuck tied to a fence and went into Hickman
for the night.
The first effort to take-off the following morn-
ing was unsuccessful, also the second. We could
not gain a speed of over five miles an hour over
the soft ground. Finally, with the assistance of
several men pushing on each wing, we got the
HEADING SOUTH 89
ship to the top of a gentle rise which gave us
enough of a start to take-off without serious
difficulty. We stopped once in Tennessee for
fuel; then at Friar Point, JNIississippi, where we
landed in an old cotton field and tied down for
the night.
The Canuck had only one fuel tank with a
capacity of twenty-three gallons or enough to
last for two and a half hours. By leaving half
an hour for locating a landing field, which was
quite difficult at times, we had enough gasoline
remaining for about one hundred and twenty-five
miles in still air. If we were bucking a head wind
it would be just that much less.
We spent the night with one of the plantation
hands near the field and the next day in seeing
the country and carrying a handful of pass-
engers. In the evening w^e visited a "banted"
house with a party of the younger residents but
were unable to find any "hants."
Our next stop was at Hollandale, then Vicks-
burg, where we landed in a httle field six miles
90 "WE"
north of town by slipping in down the side of
a small mountain and ground-looping before
striking a stump. After a day seeing Vicksburg
we flew to Clinton where the passenger trade
was quite lively and another day passed making
sightseeing flights.
We refueled at Hattiesburg and Mobile, then
landed at the Naval Air Station near Pensacola,
Florida, where the Commanding Officer showed
us every courtesy during our visit.
At last I received notice from the War Depart-
ment to the effect that my examination had been
satisfactorily passed, along with an order to ap-
pear at Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas, in
time to enter the March fifteenth class of Flying
Cadets.
Khnk and I decided to cut short our stay at
Pensacola and to work our way as far west as
time would allow before it was necessary for me
to leave for Brooks Field.
We had promised to take one of the ladies of
the post for a short hop before leaving, and on the
HEADING SOUTH 91
morning of our departure I took off for a test
flight before taking the lady over Pensacola. Just
after the ship had left the field and was about
two hundred feet high over the bay, the motor
"reved" down to about five hundred. I banked
around in an attempt to get back to the field but
lacked by about fifteen feet enough altitude
to reach it, and was forced to land in the sand
hills less than a hundred feet from the edge
of the flying field. The first hiU wiped off my
landing gear and one wheel went up through the
front spar on the lower left wing, breaking it off
about two feet from the fuselage.
A quick survey of the plane showed that we
would require a new landing gear and propeller
in addition to the material required to spHce the
spar.
The Navy hauled the plane into one of its
large dirigible hangars and allowed us to make
use of its equipment in repairing the damage.
We purchased a spare landing gear and a
propeller, then built a box frame around the
92 "WE"
broken spar and after gluing all the joints,
screwed it in position and wound the splice with
strong cord, which was then shrunk tight by sev-
eral coats of dope. In this way the splice was
made stronger than the original spar had ever
been.
When we were not working on the ship we
made several trips to the old Spanish forts which
protected the city during the days when Florida
still belonged to Spain. These are in an ex-
cellent state of preservation and contain a num-
ber of passageways, one of which is supposed to
lead underground between the two fortifications,
but although we searched carefully for the open-
ing to this tunnel we never found it.
In all we spent about a week repairing the
plane and when it was ready to fly once more I
tested it with an Irving parachute borrowed from
one of the officers of the station. That was
the first service type of chute I had ever worn and
I experienced the unique feeling of not caring
particularly whether the ship held together dur-
HEADING SOUTH 93
ing the tests or not. I put that Canuck through
maneuvers which I would never have dreamed
of doing with it before, yet with the confidence
of absolute safety.
The advent of the service parachute was a tre-
mendous step forward in the advance of aviation.
It gave the test pilot a safe means of escape in
most cases when all else had failed. It permitted
formations to fly closer in comparative safety
and in short allowed flyers to learn more about
their planes than ever before. All this contri-
buted to the ever increasing knowledge of practi-
cal flying which makes possible the safety of
present air commerce.
The airplane parachute has developed with the
rapidity of the planes themselves. For years
descents with chutes were made from balloons,
but the first jump from a plane was by Capt.
Berry at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1912. His para-
chute was a comparatively crude affair and of
no use in an emergency. Ten years later, service
type parachutes had been perfected which were
94 "WE"
strong enough to stand any strain the weight of
a man's body falling through the air could place
on them, no matter how many thousand feet he
fell before releasing the parachute from its pack ;
and today, fifteen years after Capt. Berry made
the first jump from an airplane, every army and
air mail pilot is required to wear a parachute.
The test flight over, we lashed a five gallon
can of gasoline on each wing and followed along
the Gulf of Mexico to Pascagoula, Mississippi.
There was a small crack half way down the back
of the Canuck's gasoline tank and when the gas
no longer oozed out through the crack we knew
that the tank was half empty. By carrying the
two gas cans we obtained an extra hour's cruising
range, and when the main tank became low I
would pour their contents into it through a short
length of steam hose. In this way we expected
to make longer flights between landing fields and
partially make up for the time lost at Pensacola.
From Pascagoula we went to New Orleans,
landing in the race track north of the city. Then
HEADING SOUTH 95
to Lake Charles and from there to Rice Field at
Houston, Texas. At Rice Field we installed
three fuel tanks under the top wing and center
section, which gave us twenty-seven gallons extra
capacity, or, in addition to the five gallon cans
lashed on the wings, a cruising range of about
four hundred miles.
The field was covered with water and as our
next stop was to be Brooks Field, which is just
a few miles south of San Antonio, we only filled
the wing and main tanks, leaving the five gallon
cans empty.
At Brooks I obtained definite instructions to
report not later than March fifteenth.
It was then the end of February but we de-
cided to push on as far west as the intervening
time would allow. Then I would return by rail
and Klink would continue alone.
We filled all of our tanks and after running
along the gi'ound for half a mile, stalled into the
air; but after three circles of Brooks Field were
completed and the plane was less than fifty feet
96 "WE"
high we landed and left one of the cans. Klink
held the other in his lap in the rear cockpit.
We had no more trouble in attaining several
hundred feet of altitude with the lessened load
and greatly lessened resistance, which counted for
much more than the weight of the gasoline, but an
hour later, when the elevation of the ground be-
low us increased as the mountains were approach-
ed, we were again just skimming the mesquite
and cactus. At last it was necessary for KUnk to
heave his gas can over the side and for me to turn
the ship down a ravine to keep from striking the
ground. It was disappointing enough to leave
the first can at Brooks Field but I do not believe
Klink will ever forget the sight of the second
as it burst on the ground below us.
§ Sometime later we came to the West Nueces
River and, mistaking it for the Rio Grande,
turned north. We had been cutting across coun-
try but had hardly flown long enough to have
reached the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande was
the only river, according to my map, with a rail-
HEADING SOUTH 97
road running along the northeast bank. We
followed the West Nueces to Camp Wood
where the rails ended. By that time I knew
that the map was in error and we were on the
wrong course, but as there was insufficient
fuel remaining to warrant our cutting across the
mountains to the west, we landed in a small sheep
pasture near Barksdale. This pasture was not
large enough for us both to take off together so
I flew the ship over to Camp Wood alone and
landed in the town square. With the wind blow-
ing from the right direction, and by taking off
under two telephone lines and over one road,
the square afforded a long enough runway, pro-
vided the wind was blowing from the proper
direction.
The next day conditions were ideal but Klink
wanted to go to a dance that evening, and the
day after, the wind was blowing from the oppo-
site direction. Our remaining time was passing
rapidly and we were both anxious to get to Cali-
fornia before my return to Brooks Field. If we
98 "WE"
could get the plane to a larger field six miles
south of Camp Wood we would have room to
take-off with a full load of gasoline.
One of the town streets was wide enough to
take-off from, provided I could get a forty-four
foot wing between two telephone poles forty-six
feet apart and brush through a few branches on
each side of the road later on. We pushed the
ship over to the middle of the street and I at-
tempted to take-off. The poles were about fifty
feet ahead and just before passing between them
there was a rough spot in the street. One of the
wheels got in a rut and I missed by three inches
of the right wing tip. The pole swung the plane
around and the nose crashed through the wall of
a hardware store, knocking pots, pans and pitch-
forks all over the interior.
The merchant and his son thought that an
earthquake was in progress and came running out
into the street. He was highly pleased to find
an airplane halfway into his place of business
and not only refused to accept anything for dam-
:Ci ]Vidr Worh! Phntns
CURTISS FIELD, L. I. CAPTAIN RENE FONCK WISHES ME THE BEST OF LUCK
HEADING SOUTH 99
ages, but would not even allow us to have the wall
repaired. He said the advertising value was
much more than the destruction.
The greatest damage to the plane was a broken
propeller, although from that time on it always
carried left rudder. We wired for a new pro-
peller and a can of dope from Houston and in
a few days were hedgehopping the mountain tops
in true Canuck fashion on our way west.
A Canuck, or J.N.4C is nothing more or
less than a Canadian Jenny and while it is
lighter and performs a little better than a
Jenny, it is subject to the same characteristic
of being able to just miss most everything it
passes over.
We passed over the Rio Grande and cut
through a corner of Mexico, then landed on one
of the Army emergency fields at Pumpville and
induced the section boss to sell us enough gasoline
to continue our flight.
Dusk overtook us near Maxon, Texas, and we
landed between the cactus and Spanish dagger
100 "WE"
west of the town, which consisted of a section
house and three old box cars of the type used
throughout the Southwest for housing the Mexi-
can section hands.
The section boss was Hving alone. He was soon
to be relieved and stationed in some more popu-
lated locahty. We spent the night with him
and in the morning cleared a runway for the
ship. Maxon was quite a distance above sea
level and as the air was less dense, an airplane
required a longer distance to take-off in. There
was a small mountain on the east end of the field
and the land sloped upwards toward the west.
We worked until midday cutting sagebrush and
cactus. There was a light breeze from the west
and the air was hot and rough. After using
three quarters of the runway the Canuck rose
about four feet above the ground but stopped
there, and when the end of the runway was passed
the wings and landing gear scraped along on the
sagebrush. As soon as we picked up a Httle ex-
tra flying speed, another clump of sagebrush
HEADING SOUTH 101
would slow the ship down again until, after we
had gone about two hundred yards, a large Span-
ish dagger plant passed through the front spar
of the lower left wing. After being cut off by the
internal brace wires, it remained firmly planted
in the center of the outer bay. We landed im-
mediately and found the plane to be undam-
aged except for a fourteen inch gap in the spar
and a number of rips in the wing fabric.
The engineer on a passing freight train had
seen us go down and stopped long enough for
Klink to climb on board. It was agreed that
Khnk would go to the nearest place where he
could get the material to make repairs, while I
remained with the plane. We were thirty-two
miles from the nearest store and as the section
boss was leaving that day for his new location,
I walked a mile and a half to a ranch house,
where I arranged for accommodations until we
were ready to fly again.
Klink went all the way to El Paso before he
could get any dope and wing fabric. Meanwhile
102 "WE"
I spent the day with the plane, and a large part
of the night following the ranchers' hounds in
their search for wildcats and panthers. They
had treed a large cat the night before while we
were staying in the section house, but were un-
able to duplicate their performance for my bene-
fit. About all I succeeded in accomplishing
after following them for hom-s, was to pull one
dog out of a wire fence which had caught his
foot as he jumped over.
Klink returned with a can of pigmented dope,
two lengths of crating board, some nails and
screws, a can of glue, several balls of chalkline,
and enough fabric to replace the torn wing cover-
ing. We borrowed a butcher knife, a needle and
thread, and an axe from the rancher, and set
in to make the Canuck airworthy once more.
We hued the crating down roughly to size, cut
it into proper lengths with an old hacksaw blade
from our toolkit, and finished it off with the
butcher knife. In a short time we had con-
structed a second box splice similar to the one at
HEADING SOUTH 103
Pensacola, but a few feet farther out on the
spar.
We had just enough dope to cover the splice,
so the fabric in the outer bay was left undoped;
and after we had sewed up the longer rents
caused by the sagebrush, we were once more
ready to take the air.
It was too near the fifteenth of March to con-
tinue west, so we decided to take the Canuck back
to San Antonio where we would finish off the
repairs and Klink would continue on to Cali-
fornia alone.
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD
IAKRIVED at Brooks Field on March
15th, 1924, but was not enhsted as a Flying
Cadet until March 19th. Ordinarily a cadet
enlists at the nearest station to his home and is
given free transportation to his post of service
and back to the enlistment point after his dis-
charge. By enlisting at Brooks I was entitled
to no transportation allowance except possibly
bus fare back from Kelly where I graduated a
year later.
There were one hundred and four of us in all,
representing nearly every state in the Union.
We filled the cadet barracks to overflowing.
There were two cots to each window and some
of us were even quartered in the recreation hall.
104
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 105
We were a carefree lot, looking forward to a
year of wonderful experiences before we were
graduated as second lieutenants and given our
wings. Nearly all of us were confident that we
would be there to graduate a year later. We
had already passed the rigid physical and mental
entrance examinations which so many of the
other apphcants had failed. We had no doubt
of our ability to fly although most of us had
never flown before, and we had yet to get our
first taste of the Hfe of a flying cadet.
By the time we had been in the barracks a few
hours stories began circulating around which
originated from conversations with the last class
of cadets who were waiting to be transferred to
the advanced flying school at Kelly.
Rumors of "Benzine Boards" and "wash-outs,"
"academic work" and "eight-hour examina-
tions," "one eighty's," and "check pilots," "walls
with ears" and "cadet etiquette" — ^these and a
hundred other strange terms were condescend-
ingly passed down to us by the old cadets of six
106 "WE"
months experience. Someone remarked that less
than forty per cent of us could expect to finish
the primary training at Brooks and that prob-
ably half of those would be washed out at Kelly.
By bed check that night we had already begun
to feel the apprehension which is a part of a fly-
ing cadet's life from his first day at Brooks until
he has received his pilot's wings at Kelly.
Our actual flying training was to begin on the
first of April. Two weeks were required to be-
come organized and learn the preliminary duties
of a cadet. During these two weeks we were in-
oculated against typhoid and small-pox at the
hospital, taught the rudiments of cadet etiquette,
given fatigue duty, required to police the
grounds surrounding our barracks, inspected
daily, and instructed and given examinations in
five subjects. In our spare time we were allowed
to look around the post or take the bus to San
Antonio, provided, however, that we were back
in bed not later than ten o'clock on Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 107
Friday nights. At all other times we could stay
out as late as we desired.
When we did have a few spare moments in the
afternoon, they were usually spent in trjdng to
"chizzle" a hop from one of the instructors on
the line.
Early one morning we were allowed to take
the training ships out and push them to the line
for the old cadets to fly. But when one of the
planes nosed over after eight husky rookies
heaved up on the hundred and fifty pound tail,
it was decided to put us to work moving hydro-
gen cyhnders for a balloon ascension.
As the first of April approached we were
looking forward to the start of actual flying with
great anticipation. Coupled with this was the
anxiety of waiting for the returns from our ex-
amination papers, the failure of any two of which
would be snfficient cause for their owner to be
washed out from the courses.
The flying instruction was carried on from two
stages or different sections of the field. I was
108 * WE"
assigned to B stage which was about a half mile
out in the field from the cadet barracks. Each
instructor had about six cadets assigned to him,
and early in the morning on the first day of
April, our instruction commenced. I was as-
signed to Sergeant Winston, together with five
other cadets. We pushed his instruction plane
out from the hangar to the line. Sergeant Win-
ston picked out one of us, told him to get into
the rear cockpit and was off. The rest of us
walked over to B stage, watching for tarantulas
along the road on the way.
In 1924, the Curtiss Jenny was still used by
the Army for a training plane, although the 90
H.P. Curtiss OX-5 engines had been replaced
by 150 H.P. Hispano-Suizas. The more modem
types of planes for training were still in the ex-
perimental stage. The Jennies had been de-
signed during the war and they were becoming
obsolete, but it is doubtful whether a better train-
ing ship will ever be built, although undoubtedly
the newest type is much safer. Jennies were
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 109
underpowered; they were somewhat tricky and
they splintered badly when they crashed hard;
but when a cadet learned to fly one of them, well,
he was just about capable of flying anything on
wings with a reasonable degree of safety.
I had been particularly fortunate in my as-
signment of an instructor. Sergeant Winston
held the record for flying time in the army with
about thirty-three hundred hours. He was an
excellent pilot and knew how to instruct if he
wanted to. When my turn came he asked me
how much flying time I had had and after I told
him about three hundred and twenty-five hours
he tiuned the controls over to me with orders to
take the ship around and land it. I had some
difficulty in flying with my right hand. The
wartime ships which I was accustomed to were
built to be flown with the left, but after the Ar-
mistice it was decided to change the throttle over
to the other side on the theory that the right hand
was the natural one to fly with. After three
landings, however. Sergeant Winston got out of
110 "WE"
the cockpit and told me to fly around for thirty
minutes and try to get used to right handed
piloting.
When we were not flying we were gathered
around the stage house watching the progress
of our classmates and learning how to turn the
propellers over in starting the engine without
placing ourselves in a position to be struck in
case it kicked backwards. To a pilot, the pro-
peller is the most dangerous part of his plane,
and is a constant source of worry to him
when his ship is on the ground among people
who vie with each other in seeing how close they
can stand to the whirring blade while the motor
is still running. Then there is usually a contest
to see who can be first to move it up and down
after it stops turning over.
A cadet is usually given about ten hours of
dual instruction before he is allowed to solo. The
instructor first takes him up and after flying
around for a few minutes, allows the student to
take hold of the controls to get an approximate
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 111
idea of the amount and direction of movement
necessary for gentle banks and turns. Then the
instructor throws his hands up in the air in full
view of the student — the signal that he has
turned over entire control of the ship. The cadet
is given the opportunity suddenly to realize that
flying is not a simple operation of pulling the
stick back to go up and pushing it forward to
come down, but that an instinctive and synchro-
nized movement of all controls is necessary even
to keep the machine in level flight.
For a moment after the pilot turns over the
controls the plane keeps on a straight course, then
the nose begins to lose its normal position on the
horizon, a wing dips down, and a blast of air
rushes in from one side of the cockpit. Care-
fully learned instructions are forgotten and the
controls serve only to move the earth still farther
from its proper position. All this time the in-
structor's hands are gripping the top of the cowl-
ing. The cadet realizes that it is up to himself
in some manner to level the plane out into a nor-
112 "WE"
mal flying position once more, not realizing for
an instant that his instructor can operate the
stick nearly as well with his knees as with his
hand and that he has probably already saved
the plane from falling into a spin several times.
After splashing around the sky in this man-
ner for several minutes the pilot brings his ship
back into position and pulling up into a stall
with a throttled motor, roars back his instruc-
tions at a cadet who is much more absorbed in
watching the approaching ground below than in
listening to his instructor. When forty-five
minutes have passed, the ship is flown back and
landed near the stage house where the next cadet,
with helmet and goggles adjusted, is waiting for
his turn in the air. The first climbs out and takes
his place on the bench surrounding the base of
the building and the plane is off to repeat the
performance over again.
At the end of ten hours, if the cadet is not cap-
able of soloing he is in grave danger of being
washed out as a flyer. However, if the in-
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 113
structor believes that a little more time will be
sufficient and that the student has shown signs
of eventually becoming a military pilot, the dual
instruction may be continued for three or four
more hours.
At Brooks when an instructor came to the
conclusion that one of his students would never
master the art of flying quickly enough to keep
up with the standard of the class, he turned the
cadet over for a check hop with the stage com-
mander who was always a pilot of long experi-
ence. Few cadets ever passed this check ; if the
stage commander believed that any cadet had
been misjudged, however, he had authority to
place him back on flying status for further in-
struction. If the commander concurred with the
decision of the instructor, he recommended the
cadet for a final check on headquarters stage
with the chief check pilot. The decision of this
officer was final and to be returned to flying after
a flight with him was an occurrence seldom
recorded in cadet history. After failing his final
114 "WE"
check flight a cadet was ordered to appear before
a board of officers known as the "Benzine
Board." If he was reporting for misconduct or
academic deficiency there was still some slight
hope of beating the board, but if it was for in-
ability to fly, the decision of "washout" was a
foregone conclusion.
The washing out for our class commenced in
earnest with the approach of solo flights and the
returns from our examinations. I was fortunate
enough to have passed them and my pre-
vious flying experience kept me from worrying
on any other account during the first part of our
training.
There was no disgrace in washing out. It
simply meant in the majority of cases, that the
cadet was not especially adapted to flying and
he was sent back to his point of enlistment with
an honorable discharge and the advice to take up
some other form of occupation.
Our first "Benzine Board" met about a month
after the start of school and reconvened more or
2 f-'
O
© Wide World Photos
CURTISS FIELD, L. I. JUST BEFORE STARTING ON THE BIG ADVENTURE
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 115
less regularly from that time until we were ready
to be graduated from the primary school and
transferred to Kelly for instructions on ser\dce
types of planes.
With the washing out process our barracks
became less congested. It was not unusual to
see the fellows on both sides pack up and cheer-
fully depart for destinations in different corners
of the United States. After a few weeks there
would be one bunk standing where eight had
been — this in some part of the barracks on
which the decisions of the "Benzine Board" had
fallen hardest. In another case an entire bay was
washed out and left entirely vacant. We never
knew who would be next to go, and we could only
continue to plug along as best we could with our
flying and study a little harder on our ground-
school work while we waited for the almost
weekly hst of washouts to be published on our
bulletin board. We were in the full swing of
cadet life and under the constant apprehension
which accompanies it.
116 "WE"
Along with our trials and worries went the
fascination of flying together with the priceless
goal before us of graduation with an Air Service
commission. The wings of the service would be
for those of us who were able to survive the rigid
training and discipline of a year in the United
States Army flying schools.
Always there was something new to look for-
ward to. The start of actual flying; the first
solo; learning various stunts and maneuvers;
transitions from Jennies to faster and quicker
ships; and finally our transfer to Kelly Field,
the alma mater of Army fliers.
The Army Air Service was an exacting in-
structor. There was no favoritism shown and no
amount of politics could keep a cadet from being
washed out if he fell down in flying. As a result,
only a small per cent of those entering Brooks
ever graduate from Kelly. In our class of one
hundred and four, thirty-three finished their pri-
mary training and only eighteen of us received
our wings. This appears on the surface to be an
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 117
unusually low number but as a result of the rigid
requirements and careful instruction, our Air
Corps schools rank among the best in the
world today. They have an extremely low fa-
tality list, not one man in our class being seriously
injured.
Probably the most exciting period in our fly-
ing training was when the soloing began. The
instructor would climb out of his cockpit, tie a
white handkerchief on the rudder as a danger
signal, indicating that the ship was usually out of
control, and signal his student to take off. In
some cases the plane would take off nicely, circle
the field and make a comparatively good landing.
In others the landing would amount to a series
of bounces, resulting in the necessity of a second
or third attempt before the wheels would hold
contact with the ground more than a fraction of
a second at a time. In one particular instance,
after several futile attempts to get down, the
cadet began circling around overhead. His ap-
parent idea was to clinch the chances of landing
118 "WE"
on his next attempt by waiting until the gasohne
ran out. His instructor was out in the field try-
ing to flag him down without the slightest suc-
cess and for half an hour we watched the ship
intently for the first signs of a lowering gas sup-
ply; hoping that the fuel would not hold out
much longer as the morning flying period was
nearly over and we were all anxious to see him
land. After half an hour, however, he appar-
ently regained enough courage and determina-
tion to make a last attempt at a landing, which
turned out much more successfully than the
others.
When the solo flights were more or less suc-
cessfully completed the flying instruction was
divided into two periods of forty-five minutes
each. One of these was used for dual and the
other for solo practice.
|, The instructor would attempt to smooth out
the rough points in his students' flying and dem-
onstrate the method of going through new
maneuvers so that the cadet could be given the
© Wide World Photos
PARIS, FRANCE A SALUTATIOX FROM M. liLEHlOT
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 119
opportunity to go up alone and try out the
maneuvers for himself.
One of the first lessons was the "three sixty" —
so named because its completion required a total
change in direction of three hundred and sixty
degrees. The cadet would take off and climb to
eight hundred or a thousand feet. The higher
he went the less difficulty he had in properly com-
pleting the maneuver. Then he would fly into
the wind directly over a landing "T" in the center
of the field. As the plane passed over the "T"
he throttled his motor and made a quick bank
either to the right or left depending upon his pre-
liminary instructions. The object was to make
a complete circle and land without using the
motor, bringing the plane to a stop beside the
"One eightys" were the next requirement and
they were probably the cause of more crashes
than any other maneuver. They were started in
the same manner as the "three sixty," but with
the plane heading down wind and at only five
120 "WE"
hundred feet altitude. They required quick
manipulation of controls and a steep bank into
the field just before landing.
Next came acrobatics. Loops, spins, barrel
rolls, Jenny Immelmans, figure-eights, wing-
overs, and reversements, every one of which each
cadet had to master thoroughly during his course
at Brooks.
After the first few weeks had passed we be-
came more or less accustomed to life in the cadet
detachment, and found a little time now and then
to look around the country and even spend a
night in San Antonio. Our examinations were
purposely given on Saturday morning so that we
would not spend the week end studying. It was
well known that too much studying affected a
cadet's flying and the school schedule was ar-
ranged with that in mind.
Our day began with first call at five forty -five
and flying started about seven. At eleven we re-
turned to the barracks and from one to five
o'clock was devoted to ground school. After
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 121
supper we could study until bed check at ten
o'clock. Plenty of sleep is a necessity for the
student pilot, and that fact is recognized nowhere
more than in the army schools. Every week
night at ten p.m. the cadet officer of the day
checks each bunk and turns in the names of any
vacant ones. Some of our academic subjects,
such as aerodynamics and machine guns required
nearly all of our time after school because of
approaching examinations, whereas others were
comparatively easy and the classroom instruction
was sufficient in itself. When we were not study-
ing there were always plenty of other things to
attract our attention. If one of the boys left the
post, as sometimes happened, he often returned
to find his belongings heaped together in the
middle of the floor with the army cots piled on
top. Several times some cadet returned at mid-
night to find his equipment carefully transferred
and set up on the roof or in the mess-hall. An-
other one of the favorite sports was to put a hose
in the bed of a sound sleeper at two a.m. or, if
122 "WE"
he slept with his mouth open, to fill it from a tube
of shaving cream or hair grease.
One of the fellows found a scorpion in his bed
and each night for a week thereafter looked
through the bedding for another, but finally be-
came careless and forgot to look. His nearest
neighbor promptly placed a number of grasshop-
pers between the sheets near the foot of the bed.
Another evening it was reported that three
pole-cats had crawled into a culvert in front of
the barracks. For an hour we attempted to
smoke them out. When that failed the fire de-
partment was called and we washed them out.
The smoke had evidently taken effect, however,
and soon three dead pole-cats came floating out
from the culvert. The next problem was how to
make use of such possibilities. That question
was worthy of a most careful consideration.
After a survey of the barracks we found that
our cadet first sergeant was in San Antonio.
There was scarcely one of us who did not have
some small score to settle with him so we took
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 123
one of the pillows from his bed and after remov-
ing the pillow case, placed it behind one of the
pole-cats. The desired results were then obtained
by stepping on the back end of the cat, and after
cautiously inserting the pillow back in its case,
we replaced it on the first sergeant's bunk. The
results were far above expectation. One by one
the occupants of that bay arose and carried their
cots outside, until by midnight, when our ser-
geant returned, there were only a half dozen
bunks left including his own. By that time the
odor had permeated through the other bedding
and he was unable to locate the pillow as being
the primary cause of offense. Any night for
nearly two weeks thereafter our first sergeant
and his cot might be located out behind the bar-
racks, and the inspection of quarters, which was
to have been held the following morning, was
postponed indefinitely.
During our last six weeks at Brooks, life be-
came much less difficult. Most of us who had
survived the check pilots and "Benzine Board"
124 "WE"
were reasonably sure of graduating and although
our studies were just as exacting as ever, we were
able to absorb them much more easily. Also we
had passed our primary flying tests and were
making cross country flights in T.W.S's; and
learning formation flying in Voughts. And
finally we were given a few hours in De Havi-
lands in preparation for the advanced training at
Kelly.
We were paired up for the cross country
flights. One of us flew on the way out, while the
second acted as observer. On the return flight we
traded about, so that each achieved an equal
amount of experience, both as an observer and
as a pilot. These trips were usually laid out in
a triangular course, and included landing at each
corner of the triangle.
While on one of our first trips from the home
airdrome, we landed in the designated field
alongside of a road just as a load of watermel-
lons was passing by, so we carried several of them
back to the Detachment in our plane.
TRAINING AT BROOKS FIELD 125
Always there was some new experience, al-
ways something interesting going on to make the
time spent in Brooks and Kelly one of the ban-
ner years in a pilot's life. The training is rigid
and difficult but there is none better. A cadet
must be willing to forget all other interest in liFe
when he enters the Texas flying schools and he
must enter with the intention of devoting every
effort and all of the energy during the next
twelve months towards a single goal. But when
he receives the wings at Kelly a year later he has
the satisfaction of knowing that he has graduated
from one of the world's finest flying schools.
VI
EECEIVING A PILOT^S WINGS
IlSr September, 1924, we were transferred to
Kelly. The time we had looked forward
to for half a year had arrived. We were
through the period of just learning how to fly
and were entering a new experience; that of
learning how to make use of our flying abihty
in actual service. We would no longer be float-
ing around the airdrome in machines whose only
purpose was to stand up under the hard knocks
of inexperienced pilots ; but we were going to fly
planes which had an actual military value in
warfare.
We were old cadets and felt the importance of
our experience. We were no longer treated as
rookies but as potential officers. Before leaving
Brooks we had conformed with cadet traditions
126
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 127
and allowed groups of the new class to gather
around us while we gravely spoke of examina-
tions, check pilots, "Benzine Boards," and
"washouts." We thoroughly enjoyed the awe in-
spired by our seventy-five hours of flying experi-
ence.
At Kelly our difficulties set in with renewed
vigor. The De Havilands did not maneuver like
the training Jennies, and we were required to fly
as we had never flown before. If a cadet was not
able to handle his ship in a maneuver which was
at least equal to the standard, he was usually
heading towards home within a week.
We were allowed a few days to become accus-
tomed to flying the new type of plane, then an in-
structor would go up with us to see if our pro-
gress had been satisfactory. If so we were sent
to the next stage ; if not we went up with a check
pilot.
From landings we went to the "eight" stage,
where were assigned two landmarks such as a
tree and a haystack several hundred feet apart.
128 "WE"
and required to do figure eights around them.
Then came the spot landing stage, when we
throttled our engine at about a thousand feet and
were required to land in a large white circle with-
out using our motor. On this stage we were
graded on our take-off, climb, approach, landing,
roll, distance from mark, and method of handling
the ship. In fact at Kelly we were constantly
under observation and our only method of re-
laxation while flying was when the sky was
cloudy and we could get above the clouds.
On one occasion we were flying with a low
ceiling and the visibility was not very good. In
fact it was an ideal day to do the things we were
not supposed to. I was hedgehopping along
over the country when I saw another D.H. play-
ing around on my right. I flew over, and after
chasing each other around for a while we pro-
ceeded to do chandelles, vertical banks, wing
overs, and everything else we could think of; all
within a few feet of the ground as the clouds
themselves were only about three hundred feet
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 129
high. At last I decided to go up close to the other
plane for a little low formation flying, but as I
approached I saw that there were two men in the
ship and that I had been breaking every rule
ever established about low flying with an in-
structor watching me from another ship. I left
that locality with wide open motor and for sev-
eral days expected to be called on the carpet be-
fore the commanding officer on a washout
offense. That instructor must have been a good
sport, however, because I never heard from him
and never was able to find out who he was.
On another occasion, near the end of my
course, I came very near being washed out for
something I knew nothing about. I had been
practicing landings in an S.E.-5 on one corner
of Kelly Field. When my time had expired, I
landed on the pursuit stage, taxied up to the line,
and turned the ship over to the mechanics. That
afternoon I was called from class and ordered
to report to the operations officer ; whereupon he
informed me that my flying days were over and
130 "WE"
that as I knew why, there was no use in explain-
ing further. I was then ordered to report back
to my studies.
It came out of a clear sky. I knew of a num-
ber of offenses I had committed but none of
them at that time. I had actually no idea of what
the operations officer was talking about.
When school was over I returned to the oper-
ations hut and requested an account of the al-
leged offense. It appeared that the propeller on
my S.E.-5 was cracked, and the spreader-board
broken on the landing gear. The crew chief had
reported this together with a statement that there
were corn stalks hanging on the landing gear,
and as there was no corn growing on Kelly Field,
that was a sure sign that I had landed away from
the airdrome without reporting the fact. A
washout offense. We drove to the pursuit stage
and found conditions exactly as stated, except
that the corn stalks turned out to be weeds, and
it was decided that the damage had been caused
by a stake left standing in the corner of Kelly
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RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 131
Field where I had been landing, although I had
not felt the ship strike anything. The cadet who
flew the plane earlier in the morning was using
the same part of the field and said that he felt
it strike a bump on one of his take-offs but did
not believe any damage had been done. Who
was flying the ship made little difference, how-
ever, because as long as he had not landed away
from the airdrome without authority, the slight
damage was of no consequence. I had come very
close to the "Benzine Board" for an offense of
which I knew nothing, but it was probably only
the open-mindedness and sense of fair play of
the operations officer that kept me from being
washed out as a result.
One day during the beginning of our term at
Kelly, someone decided that the cadets should
stand reveille. How it came about or who
caused the decision was never known by the de-
tachment, but there was a strong rumor circu-
lated to the effect that our beloved Cadet Ser-
geant had not forgotten the episode of the pole-
132 "WE"
cats. It was an unheard of thing for the cadets
of Kelly to stand formations. We had gradu-
ated from that when we left Brooks, and the
thought of continuing it in our advanced status
was, we concluded, degenerating to the morale
of the detachment.
Consequently, when our first sergeant himself
delighted us with verbal visions of being tum-
bled out of bed at first call if we were not up
at the blast of his whistle, we decided that
if it were in the combined power of the detach-
ment, the first call should not sound the next
morning. We could not disobey an order ; army
training banishes even the remotest thought of
that; but we might prevent that order from be-
ing given. The Cadet Captain and first ser-
geant were assigned to a private room together.
The rest of us were given cots in the barracks.
While supper was in progress that night the
hands on the sergeant's alarm clock were so
manipulated that the alarm would sound exactly
one hour after the time set. At two o'clock the
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 133
next morning a padlock was placed on the hasp
outside of his door, and when first call blew a few
hours later the cadet detachment slept soundly
on.
From spot landings we passed to hurdles.
Hurdles require the ship to be brought down
without assistance from the engine, and after
just passing over a line stretched about eight
feet above the ground, to be landed as close as
possible to the hurdle. This gave us excellent
practice for landing over a fence in a small field.
One of the traditions at Kelly was that anyone
knocking down the hurdle must treat the rest to
a case of refreshments. It often happened that
a pilot was so intent on getting over the hurdle
string that he did not notice that his plane was in
a stall, and about the time he was over the hurdle
the bottom would fall out from under him and
his plane would pancake into the ground. Al-
most every class had one or two minor crack-ups
as a result of stalling over the hurdle string.
The De Havilands were not considered safe
134 "WE"
for hard stunting and as a result we were only-
allowed to do wing-overs and split air turns.
Diving in excess of one hundred and fifty miles
per hour was also forbidden. Consequently only
air work allowing us to be thorough^ accus-
tomed to the plane was included in the flying
schedule before our formation training began.
The strange field landing training was one of
the most interesting parts of our schooling. An
instructor would lead a number of planes and
land in some field we had never seen before.
Then each cadet was required to land and
take-off after the instructor. Some of the
fields were small and full of obstructions.
Yet we had comparatively few even minor crack-
ups. Later each cadet was given an opportunity
to lead the rest and pick out a field for them to
land in while the instructor trailed.
At Kelly we were given more and longer
cross country trips than at Brooks. One of the
most important parts of flying training is cross
country experience. We made flights to Corpus
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 135
Christi, Galveston, Laredo and a number of
other places.
Each class spent about two weeks on a gun-
nery expedition at Ellington Field between
Houston and Galveston. Ellington Field was
one of the few double fields built during the war,
but was later abandoned and, except for a Na-
tional Guard squadron, was entirely deserted.
We set up our mess in the club house and
made the old building which had served as offi-
cers' quarters as comfortable as possible. This
was in winter and the weather was cold, even in
Texas, unusual though it might have been.
There were no stoves available so we contrived
all sorts of makeshifts to hold a httle fire in. If
nothing better was obtainable, we shovelled sev-
eral inches of earth on the floor and devised a
hood of some kind leading through a few lengths
of tin pipe to the chimney. Of course these fires
could not be left unguarded, so it was necessary
to put them out in the morning to be rekindled
at the close of operations for the day.
136 "WE"
Our gunnery work was divided into three
parts: ground targets, shadow targets and tow
targets. The ground targets were large sheets
of paper similar to those used on a rifle range
and were set up at a.n angle on the ground. We
shot at these with both the Browning and Lewis
machine guns.
The Browning guns on a De Haviland were
mounted rigidly in front of the pilot and were
sjTichronized with the engine to shoot between
the blades of the propeller. They were capable
of firing up to twelve hundred rounds a minute,
depending on the motor R.P.M. when they were
fired.
Several of us would form a large circle with
our planes, and starting our dive from about one
thousand feet, would fire short bursts into the
target on the ground. After completing our
bursts we would zoom back up into the circle
while the next ship started its dive. Each plane
had its individual target.
After emptying the Browning guns we gave
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 137
our observers a chance with their Lewises by
circling low around the targets. On the next
flight the pilot and observer traded places.
The Lewis gun is mounted on a turret on the
rear cockpit. Two guns were usually used to-
gether and they could be pointed in any direc-
tion.
After a few days on ground targets we were
sent out over Trinity Bay for shadow targets.
One plane is flown fairly high over the water
while another fires at its shadow. The splashes
from the bullets are easily seen and the accuracy
of marksmanship very apparent.
The tow targets are by far the most difiicult
of the three varieties, and require skillful man-
euvering and excellent marksmanship. They
consist of a cloth sleeve similar to a wind sock
which is towed a few hundred feet behind a De
Haviland flj^ng at sixty or sixty-five miles an
hour.
When the forward or Browning guns were
used, the attacking ship approached the tow tar-
138 "WE"
get head on, firing one or two short bursts as it
j)assed. In this way there was no danger of the
occupants of the towing plane being struck by
a wild shot. The De Havilands were much too
large to use the forward guns effectively on a
tow target. Any accurate shooting required the
quick maneuverability of a pursuit ship.
The Lewis guns were used while flying paral-
lel with the target and were very effective.
Wlien we were close enough we could often
see the tracers pass directly through the cloth
sleeve.
After returning from Ellington Field we
were given a few hours in each of the various
types of service airplanes. The M.B.-3 and
the S.E.-5 scouts; the Martin Bombers with
their twin Liberty engines; the T.W.-5 two-
place transition planes; and the little Sperry
messengers. In this way we obtained experience
in each branch: pursuit, attack, observation and
bombardment. Later we were given our choice
of which we desired to specialize in. If our wishes
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 139
corresponded with the judgment of the instruc-
tors we were assigned to that branch.
Together ^vath three other cadets and four stu-
dent officers, I was sent to the pursuit stage,
where we spent the few remaining weeks of our
course, piloting the S.E.-5 and the M.B.-3 single
seaters.
Pursuit combines a little of every branch of
the air corps. In addition to formation combat,
dog fighting, and ground straffing, the pursuit
pilot is often called upon to make observations
and do light bombing.
A great deal of our time was devoted to forma-
tion flying. Air combat of the future will prob-
ably often be between large formations rather
than individual pilots, and it is accordingly of
utmost importance for the pursuit pilot to hold
his place in formation instinctively, so that his
entire attention can be devoted to the enemy
rather than to his own formation.
We often maneuvered our flights while the
individual planes were less than ten feet apart and
140 "WE"
it was not unusual to dive vertically for several
thousand feet in a fairly close formation.
We learned the use of Lufberry circles, cross
over turns, and other formation tactics. Our
formations were often tight, it is true, but strange
as it may seem, very few accidents occur from
too close flying. A pilot is constantly alert when
his plane is only a short distance from the one
in front and nothing is allowed to distract his
attention. On the other hand, when there is
quite some distance separating them he is often
more engrossed in lighting a cigarette or watch-
ing some object on the ground than in his own
formation.
In pursuit flying we came to have great con-
fidence in our parachutes. The planes we were
flying were kept in excellent condition and none
ever failed, notwithstanding the fact that we
placed them under every conceivable strain imag-
inable. But the knowledge that we did not have
to concern ourselves about whether they did fall
apart or not was an invaluable factor in building
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WIXGS 141
up our morale. Our formations were tighter, the
combats faster, and our flying better as a result.
We had a number of close calls but considering
the amount of flying we had done, and that all of
it was military flying, which cannot be ever com-
pared to commercial traffic as far as safety is con-
cerned, our accidents were remarkably few and
none resulted seriously.
ISTo one knows of the risk he takes better than
the pursuit pilot and no one is less concerned
about it. Every move, although at lightning
speed, is made with a coolness bom of experience
and love of flying. The army Air Corps is built
up of men who fly for the love of flying. Their
only mission in life is to build up the finest air
corps in the world, and their greatest desire is
to be given the opportunity to do so without re-
striction. If an officer is lost in duty he would
be the last one to wish for resulting restrictions
on his conu-ades.
A week of our pursuit training was spent on
a gunnery expedition at Galveston. We flew
142 "WE"
there from Kelly Field in M.B.3A. machines
and fired on tow targets exclusively. Our field
was close to the Gulf, and when the day's opera-
tions had been completed we were free to go
about as we chose. Consequently a large part of
the evening was spent along the rocky beach.
On the night of our last day at Galveston sev-
eral of us were holding a contest to decide which
could reach the most distant rock between the
breakers, before the next wave rolled in. One of
the fellows was outstanding in his accomplish-
ments. In fact he was so dextrous that none of
us could compete, so we were all loud in our
praises and unanimously agreed that there was
not a rock in the gulf too obscure for him. There
was, however, a rock a number of feet beyond the
most distant point any of us had attained, which
was visible only for an instant as the last breaker
receded and before the next arrived. Even this
was possible, we confidently assured him.
He watched that rock intently for several
minutes; then bolstered up by our praise and
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 143
his own confidence, he stood poised and ready.
At the proper moment he nimbly leaped from
boulder to boulder after the retreating surf but
just before the final rock was touched a large
wave towered above it. Too late! The chance
of retreat had never been considered and its op-
portunity had passed. With do or die deter-
mination he leaped onto the boulder and into the
breaking wave. This incident would not have
been serious or its consequences important had
we been able to carry any extra equipment in
our pursuit planes, but as it was, extra clothing
was a scarce article, and when we took off for
San Antonio and Kelly the following morning,
it was necessary for him to send his wet clothes
back in a De Haviland and make his flight in a
bearskin flying suit without insulation against
the bearskin.
In warm weather these suits acquired an odor
similar to that of a goat which has been in the
barn all winter and the fur itself was far from
comfortable. On the trip back a piston froze in
144 "WE"
the engine. For two days the cadet was alter-
nately roasting in the southern sun and freezing
in the Texas nights while he guarded his ship
and waited for a new engine.
After our return from Galveston while we
were practicing formation attack on two seaters,
I experienced one of the incidents of the military
pilot's hfe. I made my j&rst emergency para-
chute jump. "When an Army plane crashes, the
pilot is required to write a detailed report of
the crash. My account was as follows:
"A nine-ship SE-5 formation, commanded by
Lieut. Blackburn, was attacking a DH4B, flown
by Lieut. Maughan at about a 5,000 foot altitude
and several hundred feet above the clouds. I
was flying on the left of the top imit, Lieut. Mc-
Allister on my right, and Cadet Love leading.
When we nosed down on the DH, I attacked
from the left and Lieut. McAUister from the
right. After Cadet Love pulled up, I continued
to dive on the DH for a short time before pull-
ing up to the left. I saw no other ship nearby.
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 145
I passed above the DH and a moment later felt
a slight jolt followed by a crash. My head was
thrown forward against the cowling and my
plane seemed to turn aromid and hang nearly
motionless for an instant. I closed the throttle
and saw an SE-5 with Lieut. McAllister in the
cockpit, a few feet on my left. He was appar-
ently unhurt and getting ready to jump.
"Our ships were locked together with the fu-
selages approximately parallel. My right wing
was damaged and had folded back shghtly, cov-
ering the forward right-hand corner of the cock-
pit. Then the ships started to mill around and
the wires began whistling. The right wing com-
menced vibrating and striking my head at the
bottom of each oscillation. I removed the rubber
band safetying the belt, unbuckled it, climbed
out past the trailing edge of the damaged wing,
and with my feet on the cowhng on the right
side of the cockpit, which was then in a nearly
vertical position, I jumped backwards as far
from the ship as possible. I had no difficulty in
146 "WE"
locating the pull-ring and experienced no sensa-
tion of falling. The wreckage was falling nearly
straight down and for some time I fell in line
with its path and only slightly to one side. Fear-
ing the wreckage might fall on me, I did not pull
the rip cord until I dropped several hundred feet
and into the clouds. During this time I had
turned one-half revolution and was falling flat
and face downward. The parachute functioned
perfectly; almost as soon as I pulled the rip
cord the riser jerked on my shoulders, the leg
straps tightened, my head went down, and the
chute fully opened.
"I saw Lieut. McAllister floating above me
and the wrecked ships pass about 100 yards to
one side, continuing to spin to the right and leav-
ing a trail of lighter fragments along their path.
I watched them until, still locked together, they
crashed in the mesquite about 2000 feet below
and burst into flames several seconds after
impact.
"Next I turned my attention to locating a
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 147
landing place. I was over mesquite and drifting
in the general direction of a plowed field which
I reached by slipping the chute. Shortly before
striking the ground, I was drifting backwards,
but was able to swing around in the harness just
as I landed on the side of a ditch less than 100
feet from the edge of the mesquite. Although
the impact of landing was too great for me to re-
main standing, I was not injured in any way.
The parachute was still held open by the wind
and did not collapse until I pulled in one group
of shroud lines.
"During my descent I lost my goggles, a vest
pocket camera which fitted tightly in my hip
pocket, and the rip cord of the parachute."
During the descent all the other planes broke
formation and arched around us. Every ship
within sight proceeded at full speed to the spot
and before long the air was full of machines.
Several of the De Havilands landed in the plow-
ing and within half an hour two planes with
extra parachutes were sent to take us back to
148 "WE"
Kelly, About an hour after the crash we had
two new S.E.-5's and were back in the air again.
The parachute is a marvelous invention, ex-
perimented with as early as the 16th century by
Leonardo da Vinci.
The first parachute was built by a Frenchman
in 1784. This parachute was a rigid structure
covered with very strong paper and fabric. It
was used in a jump from a building in Paris.
About a year later the same type of parachute
was dropped from a hot air balloon in England.
Soon jumps began to be made from balloons with
other types of rigid parachutes.
Abdut 1880, Captain Thomas Baldwin made a
name for himself by jumping from hot-air bal-
loons with a chute which was a forerunner of
the present type. He was the first really suc-
cessful jumper, but success in those days was
judged by how long a man lived in this profes-
sion.
In 1912, the first parachute jump from an
airplane was made. The container was attached
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 149
to the plane and the man who did the jumping
pulled the parachute out as he fell.
The war really proved that the parachute is
a life saving apparatus for use with airplanes.
Early in 1918 the aUied pilots reported that Ger-
man pilots were using parachutes to escape from
their planes whenever they were out of control
or set on fire. This was the beginning of insist-
ent demands on the part of our alhed pilots for
parachute equipment. The A.E.F. tried to pro-
duce a satisfactory parachute by combining the
good feature of several chutes already in exist-
ence. All of these, however, were very bulky
and hea\'y and hard to get on the plane.
Dm-ing the summer of 1918, the U. S. Air
Service officials appealed to Washington for
good airplane parachutes. A large number of
tests were made. Finally, after combining all
the good points of foreign and American chutes,
a satisfactory free type of parachute was de-
veloped. By free type I mean the kind of para-
chute which is entirely independent of the plane.
150 "WE"
Stories often come out in the newspapers
about parachutes that fail to open. What prob-
ably really happens is that men who make jumps
from planes are killed before they are able to pull
the rip cord which opens the parachute. In the
past there was always a great deal of danger in
testing out a new type of chute, but now they
have been developed to such a high degree of effi-
ciency that there are practically no fatalities.
Each parachute that is used by the government
is repacked every month and tested every six
months.
Altogether, about 57 lives have been saved by
parachutes in government service. In every in-
stance the jump took place because of fog, en-
gine failure while flying over unfavorable coun-
try, collision of planes or other very definite
emergencies. They say in the service that any
flyer who jumps to save his life becomes a mem-
ber of the "Caterpillar Club." This is because
the parachute is made entirely of silk, and silk
comes from caterpillars. All the 57 members
RECEIVING A PILOT'S WINGS 151
of this club feel that their lives have been saved
by the silkworm caterpillar!
There is a saying in the service about the para-
chute: "If you need it and haven't got it, you'll
never need it again!" That just about sums up
its value to aviation.
For two of the last days we were on tacti-
cal maneuvers with the other branches. Half
of our number were assigned to defend the bomb-
ers and observation planes while the other half
attacked them. When we met, a lively combat
ensued and the air would be full of pursuit
planes in every conceivable position, each trpng
to get on the tail of an enemy plane without be-
ing first shot down itself.
At night in the barracks we would argue about
which side won the war, but whenever one of us
would demonstrate to the enemy that he had
been shot down in battle, another would inter-
pose the claim that he had put the attacking ship
out of commission several minutes previous to
the combat.
152 "WE"
When graduation day arrived eighteen of us
remained of the hundred and four cadets who
started the course at Brooks a year before. We
were presented with our wings and commissioned
second heutenants in the Air Service Reserve
Corps. That night we gave a farewell dinner
in San Antonio and for the last time assembled
together.
The next day we departed from Kelly.
VII
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL
I WENT by rail to St. Louis and took an
0.X.-5 Standard out for a barnstorming
trip in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. The
Post Office Department had just advertised a
number of contract air mail routes for bid, one of
which was between St. Louis and Chicago by way
of Springfield, 111. I decided to barnstorm
around the country until it was determined which
bidder would be assigned the contract. The
Robertson Aircraft Corp. had placed a bid and
offered me the position of chief pilot if they were
successful in getting the contract.
After returning from Iowa I flew on several
flying circus dates and made a few short cross
country flights to nearby cities.
153
154 "WE"
On June second, while testing a commercial
plane built at Lambert Field, I was forced to
make a second emergency jump. I had flown
the ship for a few minutes the previous week and
on this occasion was testing it for various man-
euvers. I had completed everything except
tailspins, but when I attempted a right spin the
plane refused even to start, so after a second at-
tempt with the same result I gave that up and
tried one to the left. The ship fell in easily and,
when I reversed the controls after a half turn,
came out at once. I then put it into a second
left spin and held the controls in a spinning posi-
tion during two complete turns. When I re-
versed them they had no apparent effect and
using the engine was of no assistance. After
trying for fifteen hundred feet to bring the ship
out of the spin, I rolled over the right side of
the cockpit and, since I had jumped only about
three hundred and fifty feet above the ground,
I pulled the rip cord as soon as the stabilizer
had passed. The chute opened quickly but while
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 155
it was functioning, I had fallen faster than the
spinning ship. On its next revolution the plane
was headed directly towards the chute. How
close it passed will never be known, for the risers
leading up from my harness were twisted and
swung me around as the ship passed. However,
less than twenty-five feet intervened between the
wing and my parachute.
I watched the plane crash in a grainfield and
turned my attention to landing. A strong wind
was drifting me towards a row of high tension
poles and it was necessary to partially collapse
the chute in order to hasten the descent and land
before striking the wires. I landed rather solid-
ly in a potato patch and was dragged several
feet and over a road before several men arrived
and collapsed the chute. In addition to the
strong wind and rough air, collapsing or "cut-
ting" the chute so close to the ground had caused
a very rapid descent, and my shoulder had been
dislocated in landing.
In July I went on two weeks active duty at
156 "WE"
Richards Field, Missouri, where I instructed on
Jennies and D.H.-4's. In August I flew a Cur-
tiss Oriole to Nevada, Missouri, to carry passen-
gers during the Missouri National Guard en-
campment.
While at Nevada I received a proposition to
fly in a circus in Colorado and, as there was no
immediate prospect of starting work on the mail
route, I accepted and when the encampment
ended I flew the Oriole back to St. Louis and
took a train west.
On arriving at the field a few miles east of
Denver, I discovered the plane I was to fly to be
the same Lincoln Standard that Lynch and I had
flown to Montana three years before. We did
a little barnstorming along the eastern slope of
the Rockies preliminary to the start of our flying
circus. We had contracted to exhibit before a
number of fairs in Colorado and there was noth-
ing barred in the exhibitions. We put on every-
thing the committee was willing to pay for. At
the smaller places we used only one plane, but
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 157
at the more important exhibitions two were
required.
We flew to the town where a fair was taking
place about one day before we were to exhibit.
In that way everything was in readiness for the
circus and the next morning there was no delay
in our performance.
We started with wing-walking. The per-
former would climb out of the cockpit and walk
along the entering edge of the wing to the outer
bay strut, where he climbed up onto the top wing,
and stood on his head as we passed the grand-
stand. After finishing his stunts on the wing he
would go to the landing gear and from there to
the center section, where he sat while the plane
looped and did Jenny Immelmans. From the
center section he went to the tail and then, unless
it was an unusual occasion, the wing- walking ex-
hibition was over.
After wing-walking came the breakaway.
This was accomplished by fastening a cable to
the landing gear. The performer went out to
158 "WE"
the wingtip, fastened his harness to the loose end
of the cable and to all appearances fell off the
wing. No one on the ground could see the cable
and a breakway always produced quite a sensa-
tion. Iron loops were clamped along the cable
for use in climbing back up.
One of our feature attractions was the plane
change. A rope ladder was attached to the wing
of a plane and as one ship flew past the grand-
stand with the performer standing near the tip
of the top wing, a second plane with the ladder
attached, passed over the first, so that the ladder
was in easy reach of the performer. We usually
made two fake attempts to effect the change and
actually counted on the third for success. In this
way the feat looked more difficult.
A parachute was attached to the opposite wing
from the rope ladder. After the plane change
was completed, the performer jumped off with
the chute and the show was over.
In the evening we made a night fireworks
flight. A series of candles, which when lighted
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 159
emitted a trail of fire for several hundred feet be-
hind the ship, was attached to each wing. After
these candles had burned out, two magnesium
flares started burning, lighting up the comitry
below well enough to read a book very clearly.
The display was set off by an electric battery in
the cockpit.
"V^Tien the plane reached an altitude of two or
three thousand feet, a number of bombs were
dropped to attract attention ; then the switch was
thrown in to start the trails and colored lights,
and the ship looped and shunted around the
comet-like trail of fire.
Our greatest difficulty in night flying lay in
lighting the landing fields from which to operate.
Sometimes a number of cars were on the field
and I landed and took off across the beams of
their headlights. Under such conditions the
ground was well illuminated and landing very
simple. On other occasions there would not be
more than one car available and in one instance,
on a dark night, I took off and landed by the
160 "WE"
light of a pocket flashlight which one of the men
flashed constantly while I was in the air, to en-
able me to keep track of the landing field.
At one town in Colorado, we were booked for
a fireworks exhibition to be given between dark-
ness and midnight. We had been barnstorming
during the day and on our way to this town we
ran short of lubricating oil. By the time we had
replenished our supply it was too late to get in
before dark, and I had never landed at that town
before. The owner of the plane, however, was
sure that he could easily locate the landing field,
even in darkness. He had been there many times
and he knew that the field was "right next to the
golf links."
We arrived over the town and after circling a
few times, I throttled the motor and shouted
"Where's the field?"
The reply was immediate and full of confi-
dence, "Right next the golf links."
"Well, where are the golf links?"
"I don't know!"
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 161
I was up against another of the very amusing
but equally serious incidents in barnstorming life.
We were over strange territory on a dark night
and with a rapidly diminishing fuel supply. It
was imperative to land within a very few
minutes, yet it was not possible to tell one field
from another, and even the line fences were not
visible.
I flew around until the outline of a strawstack
appeared in the field below us. This field was
outlined on one side by the lighter color of the
pasture adjoining it and a dumber of trees were
discernible along the end. There was no way
of telling whether it contained posts or ditches,
but we had no alternative, and I landed beside
the strawstack in the center.
A hasty examination of the field showed it to
be suitable for night flying and we hailed the first
car passing for a ride into the town. We had
difficulty in locating our fireworks and, as the
stores were all closed, still more time was lost
before we obtained the bailwire, nails and boards
162 *'WE"
used in building the framework for the flares and
candles and attaching it to the plane.
It was nearly midnight when the ship was at
last ready for the display. Only one car remained
on the field. We ran this machine out beside
the strawstack and placed it in a position to show
up on one side of the stack, in addition to throw-
ing most of its light on the field. I was about
to take-off when the headhghts on the car became
so dim that they were entirely useless. One of
the men had a pocket flashlight and I took-off
while he threw its beam on the strawstack.
It was eleven-forty when I left the ground and
eleven-fifty seven when the last flare had burned
out. Our contract had been fulfilled with three
minutes to spare.
I located the field by the flashing of the
spothght and levelled off and landed by its beam.
If the position of a light is known and the field
is fairly level, it is not necessary to see the ground,
but a plane can be stalled in and landed on the
darkest night. Pilots often bring their ships
Wide World Fnotos
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM WITH CROWN PRINCE LEOPOLD DURING THE
OFFICIAL RECEPTION
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 163
down when only the outline of a field is visible.
For this reason it is imperative that no obstruc-
tions such as farm machinery, or live stock, be
allowed to remain on a landing field at night.
Locating a strange flying field by its position
in relation to an equally strange golf course, is
just one of the many instances in a pilot's life
where comedy goes hand in hand with the most
serious situations.
In one instance, the story is told of a young
pilot who had just learned to fly. He was taking
the owner of his plane for a short flight and was
demonstrating the various maneuvers he had
learned. Finally he put the machine into a spin,
but after several turns, discovered that he was
not able to come out, and after trying vainly in
every way he could remember hearing of from his
instructor, he leaned forward in the cockpit and
tensely informed his passenger that they were
about to crash. Not realizing the seriousness of
the situation, the owner replied, "What the
do you care, it's not your ship!"
164 "WE"
It was usually the case that a person inexperi-
enced in the art of flying became quite disturbed
over some trivial thing that was of little import-
ance, yet was perfectly at home and enjoying
life tremendously at a time when the pilot was
straining every effort to avoid disaster.
People would argue indefinitely, trying to per-
suade one of us to overload the plane past its
danger point by carrying more than two pas-
sengers at a time from a small field, and it was
of no consequence to them whether the plane
cleared the nearest trees by a safe margin,
or stalled over the uppermost branches by
inches. Explanations on our part were next to
useless.
If we refused to overload the ship someone
cited an example where a plane had carried
several passengers at one time and it made no
difference what kind of a machine it was, or
how large an airport it was operating from.
The fact that it carried more passengers than we
did indicated that it was operated by a better
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 165
pilot, and that our plane was not as safe to ride
in.
We could struggle along close to the ground
trying to get a little altitude and our passengers
would have the time of their Hves, waving at the
people below, but let the motor start to miss, al-
though the plane might be several thousand feet
high, with several large fields in sight, and they
would glance nervously back at the pilot wishing
that they had never considered taking a ride in
an airplane.
The International Air Races were to be held,
that year, at New York during the first part of
October and, since our fair contracts were over
by the last of September, we decided to enter in
the "On to New York" competition, which was
for civilian planes only, and was decided by
points given for distance, speed, number of pass-
engers carried, and the size of the engine used.
We had our motor overhauled at Denver and
expected to fly from there to San Francisco for
the start. Some of the repair parts for the en-
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gine were delayed and we were several days late
in leaving Denver. Even then it was only
through night work and leaving a number of
things undone that we got away. A fifty-gallon
center section gasoline tank had been installed
which, in addition to the regular fuselage tank,
gave us a capacity of one hundred and seven
gallons.
We installed the engine one night and idled it
for several hours before daybreak in order to
work in the bearings; then we took off for San
Francisco.
Our first stop was at Rawlins, Wyoming,
where the highest field on the transcontinental air
mail route is located. We refilled at Rawlins and
made Evanston that night.
At Evanston we were starting the engine pre-
paratory to taxi-ing over and tying down for
the night, when our carburetor caught fire. In
the haste to get started we had neither put a fire
screen on the intake, nor a drain pipe do\^Ti
from the bowl. The engine was covered with oil
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 167
and the gasoline overflowing from the bowl car-
ried the flames down around it. Soon the entire
nose of the ship was ablaze and although we shov-
elled earth over the motor, it appeared that the
wings would soon catch fire. If the fabric began
to burn, the ship was gone. I had just finished re-
moving all loose equipment from the cockpit
when a small hand extinguisher arrived and with
its aid the fire was soon put out.
All of the ignition wire insulation was burned
off but otherwise very little damage had been
done.
We were delayed twenty-four hours rewiring
the engine and cleaning out the dirt shovelled on
in the attempt to put out the fire.
After Rawhns we stopped at Salt Lake City,
and from there we flew over the Great Salt Lake
Desert to Battle Mountain, Nevada, where we
spent the night.
We took off from Battle Mountain with full
gas tanks and after following the passes until
part of the fuel was consumed, and the load cor-
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respondingly lightened, we passed over the Sierra
Nevada Range at eight thousand five hundred
feet, and landed at Oakland, California. The
same evening, without refilling, we flew over San
Francisco Bay to Crissey Field.
The following day we took off from Crissey
Field on the start of our race to New York. One
of the rules of the contest was that each plane
should carry a log with the starting point and
number of passengers carried attested to by two
witnesses. By the time we had made out the
log and serviced our plane, it was afternoon and
darkness overtook us at Lovelocks, Nevada.
The next night was spent in Rawlins, Wyo-
ming, after a stop at Salt Lake City for fuel.
We arrived in Rawlins with a valve blowing
badly and were delayed a day in pulling the
bank and grinding in another valve.
We were far behind our schedule due to the
late start from Denver; the delay at Evanston,
and again at Rawlins; but without further
trouble we would still be able to reach New
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 169
York on time. Another valve began blowing,
however, soon after leaving Rawlins, and when
we took-off from our next stop at Sidney,
Nebraska, the motor had lost a number of revo-
lutions.
We flew to Lincoln from Sidney and after
taking the short remaining time into considera-
tion, we decided to abandon the race and start
barnstorming.
We overhauled the engine at Lincoln and
worked over towards St. Louis, where we arrived
about the end of October.
At St. Louis we decided to tie up for the
winter and I began instructing students for
the Robertson Aircraft Corporation on OX-5
Standards. The Corporation had been awarded
the air mail contract but actual operation was
not to start until the next spring, so during
the winter months I spent my time instructing
and test flying in their commercial service.
For the first time in my flying career I was
to be in one plane longer than a few months, so
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in November, 1925, I enlisted in the 110th Ob-
servation Squadron of the 35th Division Missouri
National Guard, and was commissioned a First
Lieutenant soon afterward.
The squadron was stationed on Lambert Field.
Every Sunday was spent in flying. We had a
number of J.N. training planes and one T.W.-3
which was the commanding officer's personal ship.
The organization was composed mainly of
pilots who had flown during the war, but
after the Armistice had gone back to civilian life.
Their only method of keeping in training
was by flying National Guard planes in their
spare moments and attending camp two weeks
each year.
Two nights and one day each week were de-
voted to military service by these officers and
the enlisted men under them. Their pay was
small and most of them lost more from neglect
of their business than they received for their mili-
tary services. The remuneration was hardly con-
sidered. However they joined the Guard for two
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 171
reasons: first, because of the opportunity it
offered to keep in flying training, and second,
because they considered it a patriotic duty to
keep fit for immediate service in case of National
emergency.
Appropriations were not large and often in-
sufficient but, although at times it required part
of the squadron's pay checks, the ships were kept
in the air.
The National Guard squadrons offer an excel-
lent opportunity for young men to get a start in
aviation. Instruction is given each week, cover-
ing practically every branch of military aero-
nautics, and practical flying experience is ob-
tained both in the air and on the ground under
actual operating conditions. Each year a few
members of the squadron are sent to the army
schools at San Antonio for flying training, and
upon returning these men take their places in the
commissioned personnel of the organization.
The inauguration of our Air Mail service was
to take place on April fifteenth, and as spring
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drew near we were kept busy making preliminary
preparations. The De Havilands were to be
completed and tested; a ground organization
built up ; the terminal airports decided upon and
facilities for taking on and discharging the mail
arranged for; in addition to the untold detail
arrangements which go to make up the organiza-
tion of a successful airline.
Contract air mail routes are located by the
Post Office Department and are so arranged that
the mail service can be improved by use of
air transportation over other means of communi-
cation.
The route is opened for bid and the contract
awarded to the lowest bidder who is responsible
and in a position successfully to carry on opera-
tions.
The contractor can bid any amount up to three
dollars per pound of mail and is paid by the
pound for the actual amount carried over his
route.
Our route, between St. Louis and Chicago was
I JOIN THE AIR MAIL 173
operated on a schedule which saved one business
day over train service to New York. A letter
mailed in St. Louis before three-thirty p.m. was
rushed to Lambert Field by a fast mail truck,
transferred to the plane which was waiting with
engine turning over, landed on the Air Mail field
at Maywood, Illinois at seven-fifteen, transferred
to one of the Chicago-New York overnight
planes, retransferred at Cleveland, Ohio, and was
in the Post Office in New York in time for the
first morning delivery.
An answer could be mailed at New York in
the evening and be delivered in St. Louis before
noon on the following day. If sent through the
ordinary mail it would not arrive until one day
later.
The advantages of air transportation are most
apparent over long distances. The air mail flies
from New York to San Francisco in thirty-six
hours, whereas a train requires nearly four days
to make the same trip.
The L^nited States, through the efforts of the
174 "WE"
Post Office and the Department of Commerce,
is being covered with a network of air mail routes,
and it is only a matter of the public using this
service before nearly every city in the country
will be served by airlines.
VIII
TWO EMERGENCY JUMPS
BY the first of April our organization was
well under way and about a week before
the inauguration day we took two planes
over the route to make any final arrangements
necessary.
On April fifteenth at 5:50 a.m. I took-off
from the Air Mail Field at Maywood on the first
southbound flight, and that afternoon we sent two
ships north with the inauguration mail from St.
Louis, Springfield and Peoria.
During the summer months most of our route
was covered during dayhght, but as "winter ap-
proached the hours of night flying increased
until darkness set in a few minutes after we left
the field at St. Louis.
With night flying and bad weather our troubles
175
176 "WE"
began. Our route was not lighted at first and
the intermediate airports were small and often in
poor condition. Our weather reports were un-
reliable and we developed the policy of taking off
with the mail whenever local weather conditions
permitted. We went as far as we could and
if the visibility became too bad we landed and
entrained the mail.
One of the worst conditions we met with was
in flying from daylight into darkness. It was
not difficult to fly along with a hundred foot
ceiling in the daytime, but to do so at night was
an entirely different matter, and after the night
set in, if the weather became worse, it was not
possible to turn around and return to daylight.
With all of our difficulties, however, the mail
went through with surprising regularity. During
the first five months of operation we made con-
nections on over ninety-eight per cent of our
trips.
There are only two conditions which delay
the air mail: fog and sleet. If the fog is light
EMERGENCY JUMPS 177
or local, and the sleet not too heavy, the planes
continue even then. But when the ground be-
comes invisible and the fog covers the terminal
fields, or when sleet freezes thickly on wings and
wires, the planes cannot continue. In such cases
the mail is entrained and usually reaches its des-
tination at least as soon as it would have if sent
by train in the first place.
Almost every day, in some section of the
United States, mail pilots are flying over fog
and through storms and rain to bring their ships
through on schedule time. The mail plane is sel-
dom delayed and then only by impossible weather
conditions. In the future these delays will be-
come fewer as radio navigation and instruments
for blind flying improve, xmtil it will be possible
for the pilots to keep to their schedules under the
worst conditions and in comparative safety.
Another hazard, during certain times of year,
is the formation of ice. This will gather on all
parts of the plane but mainly on the wires, pro-
peller, and entering edge of the wings. If it
178 "WE"
forms slowly from a fog or light rain, a plane
may be able to continue on its course for some
time, but if a heavy sleet storm is encountered
the ice may form so rapidly that a ship cannot
stay in the air over five minutes before it is so
loaded down that the pilot will be unable to keep
from losing altitude even with his motor wide
open.
The actual weight of ice is not as important as
the loss in efficiency of the wing, due to the
changed airfoil caused by ice gathering on the
entering edge.
Still more loss is caused from the ice forming
on the propeller itself. The blades take on a
thick coating which continues to increase in
depth until the ice from one of the blades is
thrown off by centrifugal force. When this
happens an excessive vibration sets in and con-
tinues until the opposite blade has thrown off its
coating.
One of the dangers which a mail pilot faces in
flying at night through bad weather and low
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LONDON, ENGLAND " AT CROYDEN FIELD I ESCAPED TO THE TOP OF THE
OBSERVATION TOWER OVERLOOKING THE CROWD "
EMERGENCY JUMPS 179
visibility is in suddenly losing track of the
ground due to a fog bank lower than the rest.
If he has been flying very close to the ground it
is not advisable to go lower, and often the only
alternative is to climb up through the fog and
attempt to find a hole somewhere to spiral down
through.
Being caught in a fog at night was the cause
of two of my forced jumps, the official reports of
which follow:
"I took off from Lambert-St. Louis Field at
4 :25 P.M., September 16, 1926, and after an un-
eventful trip arrived at Springfield, 111., at 5 :10
P.M., and Peoria, 111., at 5 :55 p.m.
**I left the Peoria Field at 6:10 p.m. There
w^as a light ground haze, but the sky was prac-
tically clear with but scattered cumulus clouds.
Darkness was encountered about 25 miles north-
east of Peoria, and I took up a compass course,
checking on the lights of the towns below until
a low fog rolled in under me a few miles north-
east of Marseilles and the Illinois River.
180 "WE"
"The fog extended from the ground up to
about 600 feet, and, as I was unable to fly under
it, I turned back and attempted to drop a flare
and land. The flare did not function and I
again headed for Maywood (Chicago's air mail
port) hoping to find a break in the fog over the
field. Examination disclosed that the cause of
the flare failure was the short length of the re-
lease lever and that the flare might still be used
by pulling out the release cable.
"I continued on a compass course of 50 de-
grees until 7:15 p.m. when I saw a dull glow on
top of the fog, indicating a to^n below. There
were several of these light patches on the fog,
visible only when looking away from the moon,
and I knew them to be towns bordering May-
wood. At no time, however, was I able to locate
the exact position of the field, although I imder-
stand that the searchlights were directed up-
ward and two barrels of gasoline burned in an
endeavor to attract my attention. Several times
I descended to the top of the fog, which was 800
EMERGENCY JUMPS 181
to 900 feet high, according to my altimeter.
The sky above was clear with the exception of
scattered clouds, and the moon and stars were
shining brightly. After circHng around for 35
minutes I headed west to be sure of clearing
Lake Michigan, and in an attempt to pick up
one of the lights on the Transcontinental.
"After flying west for fifteen minutes and see-
ing no break I turned southwest hoping to strike
the edge of the fog south of the Illinois River.
My engine stopped at 8 :20 p.m.^ and I cut in the
reserve. I was at that time only 1,500 feet high,
and as the engine did not pick up as soon as I
expected I shoved the flashlight in my belt and
was about to release the parachute flare and
jump when the engine finally took hold again.
A second trial showed the main tank to be dry,
and accordingly a maximum of twenty minutes'
flying time left.
"There were no openings in the fog and I de-
cided to leave the ship as soon as the reserve tank
was exhausted. I tried to get the mail pit open
182 "WE"
with the idea of throwing out the mail sacks, and
then jumping, but was unable to open the front
buckle. I knew that the risk of fire with no gaso-
line in the tanks was very slight and began to
climb for altitude when I saw a hght on the
ground for several seconds. This was the first
light I had seen for nearly two hours, and as
almost enough gasoline for fifteen minutes' fly-
ing remained in the reserve, I glided down to
1,200 feet and pulled out the flare release cable
as nearly as I could judge over the spot where
the light had appeared. This time the flare func-
tioned but only to illuminate the top of a solid
bank of fog, into which it soon disappeared with-
out showing any trace of the ground.
"Seven minutes' gasoline remained in the grav-
ity tank. Seeing the glow of a town through the
fog I turned towards open country and nosed
the plane up. At 5,000 feet the engine sput-
tered and died. I stepped up on the cowling and
out over the right side of the cockpit, pulling
the rip cord after about a 100-foot fall. The
EMERGENCY JUMPS 183
parachute, an Irving seat service type, func-
tioned perfectly; I was falling head downward
when the risers jerked me into an upright posi-
tion and the chute opened. This time I saved
the rip cord. I pulled the flashlight from my
belt and was playing it down towards the top
of the fog when I heard the plane's engine pick
up. When I jumped it had practically stopped
dead and I had neglected to cut the switches.
Apparently when the ship nosed down an addi-
tional supply of gasoline drained to the carbure-
tor. Soon she came into sight, about a quarter
mile away and headed in the general direction
of my parachute. I put the flashhght in a
pocket of my flying suit preparatory to slipping
the parachute out of the way if necessary. The
plane was making a left spiral of about a mile
diameter, and passed approximately 300 yards
away from my chute, leaving me on the outside
of the circle. I was undecided as to whether
the plane or I was descending the more rapidly
and glided my chute away from the spiral path
184 "WE"
of the ship as rapidly as I could. The ship
passed completely out of sight, but reappeared
in a few seconds, its rate of descent being
about the same as that of the parachute. I
counted the five spirals, each one a little further
away than the last, before reaching the top of
the fog bank.
"When I settled into the fog I knew that the
ground was within 1,000 feet and reached for the
flashlight, but found it to be missing. I could
see neither earth nor stars and had no idea what
kind of territory was below. I crossed my legs
to keep from straddling a branch or wire,
guarded my face with my hands and waited.
Presently I saw the outline of the ground and a
moment later was down in a cornfield. The corn
was over my head and the chute was lying on
top of the corn stalks. I hurriedly packed it
and started down a corn row. The ground visi-
bility was about 100 yards. In a few minutes
I came to a stubble field and some wagon tracks
which I followed to a farmyard a quarter mile
EMERGENCY JUMPS 185
away. After reaching the farmyard I noticed
auto headlights playing over the roadside.
Thinking that someone might have located the
wreck of the plane I walked over to the car. The
occupants asked whether I had heard an air-
plane crash and it required some time to explain
to them that I had been piloting the plane, and
yet was searching for it myself. I had to dis-
play the parachute as evidence before they were
thoroughly convinced. The farmer was sure, as
were most others in a 3-mile radius, that the
ship had just missed his house and crashed near-
by. In fact, he could locate within a few rods
the spot where he heard it hit the ground, and
we spent an unsuccessful quarter hour hunting
for the wreck in that vicinity before going to
the farmhouse to arrange for a searching party
and telephone St. Louis and Chicago.
"I had just put in the long distance calls when
the phone rang and we were notified that the
plane had been found in a cornfield over two
miles away. It took several minutes to reach
186 "WE"
the site of the crash, due to the necessity of slow
driving through the fog, and a small crowd had
already assembled when we arrived. The plane
was wound up in a ball-shaped mass. It had
narrowly missed one farmhouse and had hooked
its left wing in a grain shock a quarter mile be-
yond. The ship had landed on the left wing and
wheel and skidded along the ground for 80
yards, going through one fence before coming
to rest in the edge of a cornfield about 100 yards
short of a barn. The mail pit was laid open
and one sack of mail was on the ground. The
mail, however, was uninjured.
"The sheriff from Ottawa arrived, and we took
the mail to the Ottawa Post Office to be en-
trained at 3:30 a.m. for Chicago.'*
When the wreck was inspected a few days
later it was discovered that a mechanic had re-
moved the 110 gallon gasoline tank to repair a
leak and had replaced it with an 85 gallon tank
without notifying anyone of the change. Conse-
quently instead of being able to return to our
EMERGENCY JUMPS 187
field at Peoria, 111., and clear visibility, I ran out
of fuel while still over the fog bank.
The circumstances surrounding my fourth
emergency parachute jump were almost similar
to those of the third. I took off from the
Lambert-St. Louis Field at 4:20 p.m., made a
five minute stop at Springfield, 111., an hour
later to take on mail, and then headed for
Peoria. Weather reports telephoned to St.
Louis earlier in the afternoon gave flying con-
ditions as entirely passable. About twenty-five
miles north of Springfield darkness was encoun-
tered, the ceiling had lowered to around 400 feet
and a light snow was falling. At South Pekin
the forward visibility of ground lights from a
150 ft. altitude was less than half a mile, and
over Pekin the town lights were indistinct from
200 ft. above. After passing Pekin the plane
was flown at an altimeter reading of 600 feet
for about five minutes, when the hghtness of the
haze below indicated that it was over Peoria.
Twice I could see lights on the ground and I
188 "WE"
descended to less than 200 feet before they dis-
appeared from view. I tried to bank around one
group of lights, but was unable to turn quickly
enough to keep in sight.
After circling in the vicinity of Peoria for 30
minutes, I decided to try and find better weather
conditions by flying northeast towards Chicago.
I had ferried a ship from Chicago to St. Louis
in the early afternoon, at which time the ceiling
and visibility were much better near Chicago than
anywhere else along the route. Enough gaso-
line for about an hour and ten minutes' flying
remained in the gas tank, and 20 minutes in the
reserve, hardly enough to return to St. Louis
even had I been able to navigate directly to
the field by dead reckoning and flying blind
the greater portion of the way. The terri-
tory towards Chicago was much more favorable
for a night landing than that around St.
Louis.
For the next half hour the flight northeast was
at about 2000 feet altitude and then at 600 feet.
EMERGENCY JUMPS 189
There were now numerous breaks in the clouds
and occasionally ground lights could be seen
from over 5O0 feet. After passing over the light
of a small town a fairly clear space in the
clouds was encountered. I pulled up to about
600 feet, released the parachute flare, whipped
the ship around to get into the wind and under
the flare which lit at once. Instead of floating
down slowly, however, it dropped like a rock.
I could see the ground for only an instant and
then there was total darkness. Meantime the
ship was in a steep bank, and being blinded by
the intense light I had trouble righting it. An
effort to find the ground with the wing lights
was in vain as their glare was worse than useless
in the haze.
When about ten minutes of gas remained in
the pressure tank and still not the faintest out-
line of any object on the ground could be seen,
I decided to leave the ship rather than attempt
to land blindly. I turned back southwest toward
less populated country and started climbing in
190 "WE"
an attempt to get over the clouds before jump-
ing. The main tank went dry at 7:50 p.m. and
the reserve twenty minutes later. The altimeter
then registered approximately 14,000 feet, yet
the top of the clouds was apparently several thou-
sand feet higher. Rolling the stabilizer back,
I cut out the switches, pulled the ship up into a
stall and was about to go over the right side of
the cockpit when the right wing began to drop.
In this position the plane would gather speed
and spiral to the right, possibly striking the
parachute after its first turn. I returned to the
controls, righted the plane and then dove over
the left side of the cockpit while the air speed
registered about 70 miles per hour and the alti-
meter 13,000 feet. The rip cord was pulled im-
mediately after clearing the stabilizer. The Irv-
ing chute functioned perfectly. I left the ship
head first and was falling in this position when
the risers whipped me around into an upright
position and the chute opened. The last I saw
of the DH was as it disappeared into the clouds
EMERGENCY JUMPS 191
just after the chute opened. It was snowing and
very cold. For the first minute or so the para-
chute descended smoothly and then commenced
an excessive oscillation which continued for
about five minutes and which could not be
checked. The first indication of the nearness of
the chute to the ground was a gradual darken-
ing of the space below. The snow had turned
to rain and, although the chute was thoroughly
soaked, its oscillation had greatly decreased. I
directed the beam from my 500 ft. spotlight
downward, but the ground appeared so sud-
denly that I landed directly on top of a barbed
wire fence without seeing it. The fence helped
to break the fall and the barbs did not penetrate
my hea\y flying suit. The chute was blown
over the fence and was held open for some time
by the gusts of wind before collapsing.
After rolling the chute into its pack I started
towards the nearest light. I soon came to a
road, walked about a mile to the town of Covell,
111., and telephoned a report to St. Louis. The
192 "WE"
only information I could obtain in regard to the
crashed plane was from one of a group of farm-
ers in the general store, who stated that his
neighbor had heard the plane crash but could
only guess at its general direction. An hour's
search proved without avail. I left instructions
to place a guard over the mail in case the plane
was found before I returned and went to Chi-
cago for another ship. On arriving over Co veil
the next morning I found the wreck with a small
crowd gathered around it, less than 500 feet
back of the house where I had left my parachute
the night before. The nose and the wheels had
struck the ground at the same time, and after
sliding along for about 75 feet it had piled up in
a pasture beside a hedge fence. One wheel had
come off and was standing inflated against the
wall on the inside of a hog house a hundred yards
further on. It had gone through two fences
and the wall of the house. The wings were
badly splintered, but the tubular fuselage, al-
though badly bent in places, had held its gen-
EMERGENCY JUMPS 193
eral form even in the mail pit. The parachute
from the flare was hanging on the tailskid.
There were three sacks of mail in the plane.
One, a full bag from St. Louis, had been split
open and some of the mail oil-soaked but legible.
The other two bags were only partially full and
were undamaged.
It was just about at this time, or shortly after,
that I first began to think about a 'New York-
Paris flight. But before discussing the events
leading up to that flight, it might be well to say
a few words about the future possibilities of
commercial aviation.
In comparing aviation to other forms of
transportation it should be born in mind that the
flying machine has been in existence less than
twenty-five years. The Wright Brothers made
their first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carohna,
in 1903. Yet in 1927 air liners are operating
regularly over long distances and imder all
conditions.
The first airplane was a frail machine capable
194 "WE"
of operation only in good weather. Even with
the utmost care, flying in the early days of avia-
tion was a dangerous profession at best.
Today the properly operated commercial air-
line compares favorably in safety with any other
means of transportation.
Shipping has reached its present stage after
thousands of years of development. Railroads,
less than a century ago, stopped their trains at
night on the grounds that operation in darkness
w^as unsafe. Automobiles, after nearly forty
years of progress, are still dependent on good
roads.
The airplane, in less than quarter of a cen-
tury, has taken its place among the most impor-
tant methods of travel and now, where time is
paramomit and territory inaccessible, it stands
at the head of its competition.
Development up to the present time has been
largely military. The cost of aeronautical en-
gineering and construction has been so great that
commercial companies have not been able to af-
EMERGENCY JUMPS 195
ford to experiment with their own designs.
While the airplane was still an experiment the
financial returns from aeronautical projects were
only too often less than the cost of operation.
Consequently the early development was largely
sponsored by the government, with the result
that the planes were designed for use in warfare
rather than for safety and economy of operation.
Extreme safety, in the military machine, must be
sacrificed for maneuverability. Economy of
operation was replaced by military design.
Commercial aviation, in the United States, has
been retarded in the past by lack of government
subsidy, but the very lack of that subsidy will be
one of its greatest assets in the future. A sub-
sidized airline is organized with the subsidy as p
very large consideration. The organization ex-
ists on the subsidy and its growth is regulated
by the subsidy. Years will be required before
the point of independence is reached and the re-
ceipts become larger than the expenditures.
On the other hand, an airline organized with-
196 "WE"
out regard to an external income is in a position
to expand along with the demands for service.
If the traffic becomes great enough to require
more or bigger planes, a larger profit ensues,
instead of an increased subsidy being required or
the fare being raised to hold down the demand.
The airplane has now advanced to the stage
where the demands of commerce are sufficient to
warrant the building of planes without regard
to military usefulness. And with the advent of
the purely commercial airplane comes an econ-
omy of operation which places operating organ-
izations on a sound financial basis.
Undoubtedly in a few years the United States
will be covered with a net work of passenger,
mail and express lines.
Trans-Atlantic service is still in the future.
Extensive research and careful study will be re-
quired before any regular schedule between
America and Europe can be maintained. Multi-
motored flying boats with stations along the
route will eventually make trans-oceanic air-
EMERGENCY JUMPS 197
lines practical but their development must be
based on a solid foundation of experience and
equipment.
IX
SAN DIEGO ST. LOUIS NEW YOEK
THE trans-Atlantic non-stop flight be-
tween Xew York and Paris was first
brought into pubhc consideration by-
Raymond Orteig who, in 1919, issued a challenge
to the Aeronautical world by offering a prize of
$25,000 to the first successful entrant. Details
of the flight were placed in the hands of the
National Aeronautic Association and a com-
mittee was appointed to form and administer
the rules of the undertaking.
I first considered the possibility of the New
York-Paris flight while flying the mail one night
in the fall of 1926. Several facts soon became
outstanding. The foremost was that with the
modern radial air-cooled motor, high lift airfoils,
198
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 199
and lightened construction, it would not only be
possible to reach Paris but, under normal condi-
tions, to land with a large reserve of fuel and
have a high factor of safety throughout the en-
tire trip as well.
I found that there were a number of public
spirited men in St. Louis sufficiently interested
in aviation to finance such a project, and in De-
cember 1926 I made a trip to New York to obtain
information concerning planes, motors, and other
details connected with the undertaking.
In connection with any important flight there
are a number of questions which must be de-
cided at the start, among the most important of
which are the type of plane and the number of
motors to be used. A monoplane, although just
coming into general use in the United States, is
much more efficient than a biplane for certain
purposes due to the lack of interference between
wings, and consequently can carry a greater load
per square foot of surface at a higher speed. A
single motored plane, while it is more liable to
200 "WE"
forced landings than one with three motors, has
much less head resistance and consequently a
greater cruising range. Also there is three times
the chance of motor failure with a tri-motored
ship, for the failure of one motor during the first
part of the flight, although it would not cause a
forced landing, would at least necessitate drop-
ping part of the fuel and returning for another
start.
The reliability of the modern air-cooled
radial engine is so great that the chances of an
immediate forced landing due to motor failure
with a single motor, would in my opinion, be more
than counterbalanced by the longer cruising
range and consequent ability to reach the objec-
tive in the face of unfavorable conditions.
After careful investigation I decided that a
single motored monoplane was, for my purpose,
the type most suited to a long distance flight, and
after two more trips to the east coast and several
conferences in St. Louis, an order was placed
with the Ryan Airlines of San Diego, Cahfornia,
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 201
on February 28, 1927, for a plane equipped with
a Wright Whirlwind J. 5. C. 200-H.P. radial
air-cooled motor and Pioneer navigating instru-
ments including the Earth Inductor Compass.
I went to San Diego to place the order and
remained in California during the entire con-
struction of the plane.
The personnel of the Ryan Airhnes at once
caught the spirit of the undertaking, and during
the two months of construction the organization
labored as it never had before. Day and night,
seven days a week, the structure grew from a
few lengths of steel tubing to one of the most
efficient planes that has ever taken the air. Dur-
ing this time it was not unusual for the men to
work twenty-four hours without rest, and on one
occasion Donald Hall, the Chief Engineer, was
over his drafting table for thirty-six hours.
I spent the greater part of the construction
period working out the details of navigation and
plotting the course, with its headings and varia-
tions, on the maps and charts. After working
202 "WE"
out the track on the gnomonic and Mercators
charts, I checked over the entire distance from
New York to Paris with the nautical tables.
The flight from San Diego to St. Louis and from
St. Louis to New York was comparatively-
simple, and I took the courses directly from the
state maps.
From New York to Paris I worked out a great
circle, changing course every hundred miles or
approximately every hour. I had decided to re-
place the weight of a navigator with extra fuel,
and this gave me about three hundred miles ad-
ditional range. Although the total distance was
3610 miles, the water gap between Newfound-
land and Ireland was only about 1850 miles, and
under normal conditions I could have arrived on
the coast of Europe over three hundred miles off
of my course and still have had enough fuel re-
maining to reach Paris; or I might have struck
the coastline as far north as Northern Scandi-
na\'ia, or as far south as Southern Spain and
landed without danger to myself or the plane.
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 203
even though I had not reached my destination.
With these facts in view, I beheved the additional
reserve of fuel to be more important on this flight
than the accuracy of celestial navigation.
For the flight from San Diego to St. Louis
and New York I carried maps of the individual
states and one of the United States with the
course plotted on each. For the flight from New
York to Paris I had two hydrographic charts of
the North Atlantic Ocean containing the great
circle course and its bearing at interv^als of one
hundred miles. In addition to these charts, I had
a map of each state, territory and country passed
over. This included maps of Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, Newfound-
land, Ireland, England and France. Also a map
of Europe.
I expected to be able to locate my position ap-
proximately on the coast of Europe by the ter-
raine. Ireland is somewhat mountainous; Eng-
land rather hilly on the southern end; France is
a lowland along the coast ; Spain is mountainous.
204 "WE"
Therefore the coasthne should indicate the coun-
try, and my accurate position could be obtained
by the contours of that coastline and by the posi-
tion of towns, rivers and railroads.
During the time of construction it was neces-
sary to arrange for all equipment to be carried on
the flight; including equipment for emergency
use in a forced landing. After the first few hours
there would be enough air in the fuel tanks to
keep the ship afloat for some time. I also carried
an air raft which could be inflated in several
minutes and which could weather a fairly rough
sea.
In addition to food for the actual flight, I car-
ried five tins of concentrated Army rations each
of which contained one day's food and which
could be made to last much longer if necessary.
I carried two canteens of water; one containing
a quart for use during the actual flight and the
other containing a gallon for emergency. In
addition to this water, I had an Armburst cup
which is a device for condensing the moisture
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 205
from human breath into drinking water. The
cup is cloth covered and contains a series of baffle
plates through which the breath is blown. The
cup is immersed in water and then removed and
blown through. The evaporation of the water
on the outside cools the cup walls and baffle
plates on which the breath moisture collects and
runs down to the bottom of the cup.
The following is a list of the equipment car-
ried on the flight :
2 Flashlights
1 Ball of string
1 Ball of cord
1 Hunting Knife
4 Red flares sealed in rubber tubes
1 Match safe with matches
1 larger needle
1 Canteen — 4 qts.
1 " —1 qt.
1 Armburst Cup
1 Air Raft with pump and repair kit
5 Cans of Army emergency rations
2 Air cushions
1 Hack saw blade
206 "WE"
Near the end of April the factory work was
completed and early one morning, the 46 ft.
wing was taken out of the second floor of the
factory onto the top of a freight car and then
lowered to a waiting truck by means of a gas-
oline crane. A few days later the plane was
completely assembled in its hangar, and on April
28th, or sixty days after the order had been
placed, I gave "The Spirit of St. Louis" her test
flight. The actual performance was above the
theoretical. The plane was off the ground in
six and one-eighth seconds, or in 165 feet, and
was carrying over 400 lbs. in extra gas tanks
and equipment. The high speed was 130 M.P.H.
and the climb excellent.
The load tests were made from the old Camp
Kearney parade grounds near San Diego. At
daybreak, one foggy morning. I took off from
the field at Dutch Flats and headed for the
Army's three kilometer speed course along Co-
ronado Strand. The visibility became extremely
bad over San Diego harbor and I was forced to
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 207
land at Rockwell Field, TsTorth Island, and wait
for the fog to lift before running the speed tests.
The sun soon dispelled the fog and I took the
plane four times over the speed course at an aver-
age of 128 M.P.H. in a slight cross wind. I
was carrying about 25 gals, of gasoline and over
400 lbs. of extra tanks and equipment. On the
way to Camp Kearney I ran a number of tests
on the relation of motor R.P.M. to air speed, and
by the time I reached the old parade-grounds'
field I had collected quite a bit of valuable test
data.
I decided to run one more test before landing
and had it about half way completed when I
allowed the data board to come too close to the
window where a gust of air carried it out of the
cockpit. I was flying over mesquite, over five
miles from Camp Kearney, at about a 1200-foot
altitude at the time, and could only spiral around
and watch the board flutter down into the top
of a mesquite bush. There was a small clearing
about 200 yards from the bush, in which it was
208 "WE"
possible to land a slow ship. I landed at Camp
Kearney and sent for one of the cabin Hisso
Standards used by the Ryan Airlines for their
passenger service between San Diego and Los
Angeles. When the Standard arrived I flew
over and landed in the clearing near the lost
board which was clearly visible from the air ; but,
after a fifteen minute search, I was unable to
locate it from the ground in the thick mesquite.
So I took off my coat and spread it over the
top of another bush, then took the air again with
the Standard to locate the board in relation to
the coat.
I had no difficulty in locating them both and
found them to be about fifty yards apart. I
landed again but could not locate the board, so
moved my coat to the spot where I thought it
should be and took off again. This time I had
placed the coat within twenty feet of the data
board, but it required several minutes' search in
the thick mesquite to finally locate it.
After I returned to Camp Kearney with the
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 209
Standard, we made preparations for the weight
tests of the Spirit of St. Louis.
The tests were to be made starting with a
light load and increasing the weight carried by
about fifty gallons of fuel for each test up to
three hundred gallons, which was to be the maxi-
mum load tested. The plane passed its tests
easily and took off with three hundred gallons
in twenty seconds or 1026 feet, and made a maxi-
mum speed of 124 miles per hour. The tests
were made in a quartering wind varying from
two to nine miles per hour and at an elevation
of about six hundred feet above sea level.
The final flight ended at dusk and the plane
was left under guard on the field over night.
The next morning, after most of the gasohne
had been drained, I flew it back to Dutch Flats
where final preparations were made for the flight
to St. Louis.
I was delayed four days at San Diego by a
general storm area over the United States that
would greatly jeopardize the success of an over-
210 "WE"
night non-stop flight to St. Louis. From this
flight I expected to obtain some very important
data for use on the final hop from New York.
On the afternoon of May 9th, Dean Blake,
Chief of the San Diego Weather Bureau, pre-
dicted favorable flying conditions for the suc-
ceeding day. The next morning I took the plane
to Rockwell Field and at 3 :55 p.m. Pacific time,
I took off from North Island with 250 gallons of
gasoline for the flight to St. Louis, escorted by
two Army observation planes and one of the
Ryan monoplanes. We circled North Island
and San Diego, then headed on a compass course
for St. Louis.
The ship passed over the first ridge of moun-
tains, about 4,000 feet, very easily with reduced
throttle. The escorting planes turned back at
the mountains and I passed on over the desert
and the Salton Sea alone. And at sunset I was
over the deserts and mountains of Western
Arizona.
The moon was well above the horizon and with
•7,
w E
SAN DIEGO— NEW YORK 211
the exception of a short period before dawn I
was able to distinguish the contour of the coun-
try the entire night. I jflew a compass course,
passing alternately over snow-capped ridges,
deserts, and fertile valleys. One of the mountain
ranges was over 12,000 feet high and completely
snow covered. I cleared this range by about 500
feet and went on over the plains beyond.
The mountains passed quickly and long before
daybreak I was flying over the prairies of West-
ern Kansas. At dawn I located my position
about twenty miles south of the course, just
east of Wichita, Kansas. At 8:00 a.m. Central
Standard time, I passed over Lambert Field
and landed at 8:20 a.m.. May 11th, fourteen
hours and twenty-five minutes after leaving the
Pacific Coast.
The weather during the entire distance had
been exactly as Dean Blake had predicted.
At 8:13 the next morning (May 12th) I took
ojff from Lambert Field for New York. The
wind was west and the weather clear for the
212 "WE'*
greater part of the distance. Over the Alle-
ghanys, however, the sky was overcast and some
of the mountain tops were in low hanging clouds
and I followed the passes.
At 5:33 P.M. T^ew York Daylight Saving
time, I landed at Curtiss Field, Long Island.
X
NEW YORK TO PARIS
AT New York we checked over the plane,
engine and instruments, which required
several short flights over the field.
When the plane was completely inspected and
ready for the trans-Atlantic flight, there were
dense fogs reported along the coast and over
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, in addition to
a storm area over the North Atlantic.
On the morning of May 19th, a light rain was
falhng and the sky was overcast. Weather re-
ports from land stations and ships along the
great circle course were unfavorable and there
was apparently no prospect of taking off for
Paris for several days at least. In the morning
I visited the Wright plant at Paterson, New
Jersey, and had planned to attend a theatre per-
213
214, "WE"
formance in New York that evening. But at
about six o'clock I received a special report from
the New York Weather Bureau. A high pres-
sure area was over the entire North Atlantic
and the low pressure over Nova Scotia and New-
foundland was receding. It was apparent that
the prospects of the fog clearing up were as good
as I might expect for some time to come. The
North Atlantic should be clear with only local
storms on the coast of Europe. The moon had
just passed full and the percentage of days with
fog over Newfoundland and the Grand Banks
was increasing so that there seemed to be no
advantage in waiting longer.
We went to Curtiss Field as quickly as pos-
sible and made arrangements for the barograph
to be sealed and installed, and for the plane to
be serviced and checked.
We decided partially to fill the fuel tanks in
the hangar before towing the ship on a truck to
Roosevelt Field, which adjoins Curtiss on the
east, where the servicing would be completed.
NEW YORK TO PARIS 215
I left the responsibility for conditioning the
plane in the hands of the men on the field while
I went into the hotel for about two and one-half
hours of rest ; but at the hotel there were several
more details which had to be completed and I
was unable to get any sleep that night.
I returned to the field before daybreak on the
morning of the twentieth. A hght rain was fall-
ing which continued until almost dawn; conse-
quently we did not move the ship to Roosevelt
Field until much later than we had planned, and
the take-off was delayed from daybreak until
nearly eight o'clock.
At dawn the shower had passed, although the
sky was overcast, and occasionally there would
be some sHght precipitation. The tail of the
plane was lashed to a truck and escorted by a
number of motorcycle police. The slow trip
from Curtiss to Roosevelt was begun.
The ship was placed at the extreme west end
of the field heading along the east and west run-
way, and the final fueling commenced.
216 "\VE'*
About 7 :4<0 a.m. the motor was started and at
7 :52 I took off on the flight for Paris.
The field was a Httle soft due to the rain dur-
ing the night and the heavily loaded plane gath-
ered speed very slowly. After passing the half-
way mark, however, it was apparent that I
would be able to clear the obstructions at the end.
I passed over a tractor by about fifteen feet and
a telephone line by about twenty, with a fair
reserve of flying speed. I believe that the ship
would have taken off from a hard field with at
least five hundred pounds more weight.
I turned slightly to the right to avoid some
high trees on a hill directly ahead, but by the
time I had gone a few hundred yards I had suf-
ficient altitude to clear all obstructions and throt-
tled the engine down to 1750 R.P.M. I took
up a compass course at once and soon reached
Long Island Sound where the Curtiss Oriole
with its photographer, which had been escorting
me, turned back.
The haze soon cleared and from Cape Cod
NEW YORK TO PARIS 217
through the southern half of Nova Scotia the
weather and visibihty were excellent. I was fly-
ing very low, sometimes as close as ten feet from
the trees and water.
On the three hundred mile stretch of water
between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia I passed
within view of numerous fishing vessels.
The northern part of Nova Scotia contained a
number of storm areas and several times I flew
through cloudbursts.
As I neared the northern coast, snow appeared
in patches on the ground and far to the eastward
the coastline was covered with fog.
For many miles between Nova Scotia and New-
foundland the ocean was covered with caked ice
but as I approached the coast the ice disappeared
entirely and I saw several ships in this area.
I had taken up a course for St. Johns, which
is south of the great Circle from New York to
Paris, so that there would be no question of the
fact that I had passed Newfoundland in case I
was forced down in the north Atlantic
218 "WE"
I passed over numerous icebergs after leaving
St. Johns, but saw no ships except near the coast.
Darkness set in about 8:15 and a thin, low fog
formed over the sea through which the white
bergs showed up with surprising clearness. This
fog became thicker and increased in height until
within two hours I was just skimming the top of
storm clouds at about ten thousand feet. Even at
this altitude there was a thick haze through which
only the stars directly overhead could be seen.
There was no moon and it was very dark. The
tops of some of the storm clouds were several
thousand feet above me and at one time, when I
attempted to fly through one of the larger clouds,
sleet started to collect on the plane and I was
forced to turn around and get back into clear air
immediately and then fly around any clouds
which I could not get over.
The moon appeared on the horizon after about
two hours of darkness ; then the flying was much
less complicated.
Dawn came at about 1 a.m. New York time
NEW YORK TO PARIS 219
and the temperature had risen until there was
practically no remaining danger of sleet.
Shortly after sunrise the clouds became more
broken although some of them were far above me
and it was often necessary to fly through them,
navigating by instruments only.
As the sun became higher, holes appeared in
the fog. Through one the open water was visible,
and I dropped down until less than a hundred
feet above the waves. There was a strong wind
blowing from the northwest and the ocean was
covered with white caps.
After a few miles of fairly clear weather the
ceiling lowered to zero and for nearly two hours
I flew entirely blind through the fog at an alti-
tude of about 1500 feet. Then the fog raised and
the water was visible again.
On several more occasions it was necessary to
fly by instrument for short periods ; then the fog
broke up into patches. These patches took on
forms of every description. Numerous shore-
lines appeared, with trees perfectly outlined
220 "WE"
against the horizon. In fact, the mirages were so
natural that, had I not been in mid- Atlantic and
known that no land existed along my route, I
would have taken them to be actual islands.
As the fog cleared I dropped down closer
to the water, sometimes flying within ten feet
of the waves and seldom higher than two hun-
dred.
There is a cushion of air close to the ground or
water through which a plane flies with less effort
than when at a higher altitude, and for hours at
a time I took advantage of this factor.
Also, it was less difficult to determine the wind
drift near the water. During the entire flight the
wind was strong enough to produce white caps on
the waves. When one of these formed, the foam
would be blown off, showing the wind's direction
and approximate velocity. This foam remained
on the water long enough for me to obtain a gen-
eral idea of my drift.
During the day I saw a number of porpoises
and a few birds but no ships, although I mider-
NEW YORK TO PARIS 221
stand that two different boats reported me pass-
ing over.
The first indication of my approach to the
European Coast was a small fishing boat which
I first noticed a few miles ahead and slightly to
the south of my course. There were several of
these fishing boats grouped within a few miles of
each other.
I flew over the first boat without seeing any
signs of life. As I circled over the second, how-
ever, a man's face appeared, looking out of the
cabin window.
I have carried on short conversations with peo-
ple on the ground by flying low with throttled
engine, shouting a question, and receiving the
answer by some signal. When I saw this fisher-
man I decided to try to get him to point towards
land. I had no sooner made the decision than the
futility of the effort became apparent. In all
likehhood he could not speak English, and even
if he could he would undoubtedly be far too
astounded to answer. However, I circled again
222 "WE"
and closing the throttle as the plane passed within
a few feet of the boat I shouted, "Which way is
Ireland?" Of course the attempt was useless,
and I continued on my course.
Less than an hour later a rugged and semi-
mountainous coastline appeared to the northeast.
I was flying less than two hundred feet from the
water when I sighted it. The shore was fairly
distinct and not over ten or fifteen miles away. A
light haze coupled with numerous local storm
areas had prevented my seeing it from a long
distance.
The coastline came down from the north,
curved over towards the east. I had very little
doubt that it was the southwestern end of Ireland
but in order to make sure I changed my course
towards the nearest point- of land.
I located Cape Valentia and Dingle Bay,
then resumed my compass course towards Paris.
After leaving Ireland I passed a number
of steamers and was seldom out of sight of a
ship.
NEW YORK TO PARIS 223
In a little over two hours the coast of Eng-
land appeared. My course passed over Southern
England and a little south of Plymouth; then
across the English Channel, striking France
over Cherbourg.
The English farms were very impressive from
the air in contrast to ours in America. They
appeared extremely small and unusually neat
and tidy with their stone and hedge fences.
I was flying at about a fifteen hundred foot
altitude over England and as I crossed the
Channel and passed over Cherbourg, France, I
had probably seen more of that part of Europe
than many native Europeans. The visibility
was good and the country could be seen for miles
around.
People who have taken their first flight often
remark that no one knows what the locality he
lives in is like until he has seen it from above.
Countries take on different characteristics from
the air.
The sun went down shortly after passing
224 "WE"
Cherbourg and soon the beacons along the
Paris-London airway became visible.
I first saw the lights of Paris a little before ten
P.M., or five P.M. New York time, and a few
minutes later I was circling the Eiffel Tower
at an altitude of about four thousand feet.
The lights of Le Bourget were plainly visible,
but appeared to be very close to Paris. I had
miderstood that the field was farther from the
city, so continued out to the northeast into the
country for four or five miles to make sure that
there was not another field farther out which
might be Le Bourget. Then I returned and
spiralled down closer to the lights. Presently I
could make out long lines of hangars, and the
roads appeared to be jammed with cars.
I flew low over the field once, then circled
around into the wind and landed.
After the plane stopped roUing I turned it
around and started to taxi back to the lights.
The entire field ahead, however, was covered with
thousands of people all running towards my ship.
NEW YORK TO PARIS 225
When the first few arrived, I attempted to get
them to hold the rest of the crowd back, away
from the plane, but apparently no one could
understand, or would have been able to conform
to my request if he had.
I cut the switch to keep the propeller from kill-
ing some one, and attempted to organize an im-
promptu guard for the plane. The impossibility
of any immediate organization became appar-
ent, and when parts of the ship began to crack
from the pressure of the multitude I decided to
climb out of the cockpit in order to draw the
crowd away.
Speaking was impossible; no words could be
heard in the uproar and nobody apparently cared
to hear any. I started to climb out of the cock-
pit, but as soon as one foot appeared through
the door I was dragged the rest of the way with-
out assistance on my part.
For nearly half an hour I was unable to touch
the ground, during which time I was ardently
carried around in what seemed to be a very small
226 "WE"
area, and in every position it is possible to be in.
Every one had the best of intentions but no one
seemed to know just what they were.
The French mihtary flyers very resourcefully
took the situation in hand. A number of them
mingled with the crowd; then, at a given signal,
they placed my helmet on an American corre-
spondent and cried : "Here is Lindbergh." That
helmet on an American was sufficient evidence.
The correspondent immediately became the cen-
ter of attraction, and while he was being taken
protestingly to the Reception Committee via a
rather devious route, I managed to get inside
one of the hangars.
Meanwhile a second group of soldiers and po-
lice had surrounded the plane and soon placed it
out of danger in another hangar.
The French ability to handle an unusual situa-
tion with speed and capability was remarkably
demonstrated that night at Le Bourget.
Ambassador Herrick extended me an invita-
tion to remain at his Embassy while I- was in
@ s
=: a
=5 z
NEW YORK TO PARIS 227
Paris, which I gladly accepted. But grateful as
I was at the time, it did not take me long to real-
ize that a kind Providence had placed me in
Ambassador Herrick's hands. The ensuing days
found me in situations that I had certainly never
expected to be in and in which I reHed on Am-
bassador Herrick's sympathetic aid.
These situations were brought about by the
whole-hearted welcome to me — an American
■ — that touched me beyond any point that any
words can express. I left France with a debt of
gratitude which, though I cannot repay it, I shall
always remember. If the French people had
been acclaiming their own gallant airmen, Nun-
gesser and Coli, who were lost only after fear-
lessly departing in the face of conditions insur-
mountably greater than those that confronted
me, their enthusiastic welcome and graciousness
could not have been greater.
In Belgium as well, I was received with a
warmth which reflected more than simply a pass-
ing curiosity in a trans -Atlantic flight, but which
228 "WE"
was rather a demonstration by the people of their
interest in a new means of transportation which
eventually would bring still closer together the
new world and the old. Their welcome, too, will
be a cherished memory for all time.
In England, I experienced one final unforget-
table demonstration of friendship for an Ameri-
can. That spontaneous wonderful reception
during my brief visit seemed typical of what I
had always heard of the good sportsmanship of
the English.
INIy words to all those friends in Europe are
inadequate, but my feelings of appreciation are
boundless.
Conclusion
When I was contemplating the flight to Paris
I looked forward to making a short tour of
Europe with especial regard to the various air-
ports and aeronautical activities.
After I arrived, however, the necessity for re-
NEW YORK TO PARIS 229
turning to America in the near future became
apparent and, after a consultation with Ambassa-
dor Houghton, who informed me that Presi-
dent Coohdge was sending the cruiser Mem-
phis to Cherbourg for my return journey to
America, I flew the "Spirit of St. Louis" to Gos-
port early one morning. There it was dismantled
and crated, through the courtesy of the Royal
Air Force which also placed a Woodcock pur-
suit plane at my disposal.
I returned to London in the Woodcock and a
few days later flew to Paris in another R.A.F.
machine of the same type.
I remained overnight in Paris, and early the
next morning flew a French Breguet to Cher-
bourg where the cruiser Memphis was wait-
ing.
Admiral Burrage met me at the dock, and
after going aboard the Memphis I became
acquainted with Captain Lackey and the officers
of the ship. During the trip across they
extended every courtesy and did everything
230 "WE"
within their power to make the voyage a pleasant
one.
A description of my welcome back to the
United States would, in itself, be sufficient to fill
a larger volume than this. I am not an author
by profession, and my pen could never express
the gratitude which I feel towards the American
people.
The voyage up the Potomac and to the Monu-
ment Grounds in Washington; up the Hudson
River and along Broadway ; over the Mississippi
and to St. Louis — to do justice to these occasions
would require a far greater wi-iter than myself.
Washington, New York, and finally St. Louis
and home. Each of these cities has left me
with an impression that I shall never forget, and
a debt of gratitude which I can never repay.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
When Lindbergh came to tell the story of his
welcome at Paris, London, Brussels, Washing-
ton, New York and St. Louis he found himself
up against a tougher problem than flying the
Atlantic.
He wanted to speak from his heart his appre-
ciation for all the kindness and enthusiasm that
had been shown him. But when he began to
write he found that fitting words would not come.
Somehow it wasn't a story for him to tell.
So the publishers agreed to his suggestion that
this part of the record be put in the third per-
son by a writer he might choose. As a result
much in the way of illuminating speeches and
other important matter is included that Lind-
bergh would have been loath to use.
231
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I have asked Fitzhugh Green to write a brief
account of my various receptions not only be-
cause I think he has caught the spirit of what I
have tried to do for aviation, but because I trust
his judgment in selection of material.
2S2
A LITTLE OF WHAT THE WORLD
THOUGHT OF LINDBERGH
BY
FiTZHUGH Green
PARIS
CHARLES A. LINDBERGH was the
"dark horse" of the New York to Paris
flight; also he flew alone. These two
facts, combined with the tragic disappearance of
the French trans-Atlantic fliers, Nungesser and
Coli, shortly before he left New York, empha-
sized the suspense with which Paris awaited his
arrival.
He landed safely on a dark night about on
schedule time. This was the culmination of what
might be called the mechanical aspect of his
success.
233
234 "WE"
In consequence of these unique but rather
simple circumstances it was natural that there
should follow a good deal of notoriety for the
flier. Already the so-called "trans- Atlantic Air
Race" had received much advertising. Several
planes had been grooming for the long flight;
and there had been much speculation about the
practicability of such an effort. Lindbergh's
landing figuratively rang the bell as the winner
came under the wire.
The first man over was bound to be recognized
as an audacious pioneer. Without regard for his
character, creed or aspirations the world was go-
ing to come forward and say "Well done!"
The first man to fly from New York to Paris
was bound to be feted and decorated. He would
tell the story of his flight and there would be
ephemeral discussion of its bearing on the future
of aviation. Wild speculation about the world
being on the brink of a great air age would follow.
The first man to fly from New York to Paris
was bound to excite the admiration of his own
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NEW YORK CITY RECEIVING THE ORTEIG PRIZE MEDAL. MR. ORTEIG IS
STANDING IN THE CENTRE BETWEEN COLONEL SCOTT AND MYSELF
PARIS 235
countrymen. He would be met on his return by
committees, have to make some speeches at ban-
quets and receive appropriate decorations for his
valor.
The first man to fly from New York to Paris
would write several magazine articles and a book.
He might make some money by lecturing. He
would be offered contracts for moving pictures,
jobs as manager of something or other, and hon-
orary memberships in a hundred organizations of
more or less doubtful value.
Then someone would break a homerun record
or commit a murder ; whereupon the world would
forget with pitiless promptness the first man to
fly the broad Atlantic.
Who, by the way, can name the dauntless
pilots that circled the globe by air not so many
months ago?
The reason Lindbergh's story is different is
that when his plane came to a halt on Le Bourget
field that black night in Paris, Lindbergh the
man kept on going.
236 "WE"
The phenomenon of Lindbergh took its start
with his flight across the ocean; but in its entirety
it was ahnost as distinct from that flight as
though he had never flown at all.
It is probable that in the three ensuing weeks
Lindbergh loosed the greatest torrent of mass
emotion ever witnessed in human history.
This narrative is a record of events, not an
analysis. It therefore cannot pretend to explain
the "phenomenon of Lindbergh." Whether it
was his modesty or his looks or his refusal to be
tempted by money or by fame that won him such
a following we cannot say. Perhaps the world
was ripe for a youth with a winning smile to
flash across its horizon and by the brilliance of
his achievement momentarily to dim the ugliness
of routine business, politics and crime. Many
said that his sudden meteor-like appearance from
obscurity was an act of Providence.
Whatever the reason for it all, the fact re-
mains that there was a definite "phenomenon of
Lindbergh" quite the like of which the world had
PARIS 237
never seen. This strange phenomenon is the
opening fact of our simple narrative of events
culled from a list far too long to include in the
space allowed.
All who followed press accounts of the flier's
adventures after landing agree that his "meteor"
did not glow in its full radiance at first. There
was a faint but unmistakable artificiality in the
news reports on this side of the Atlantic immedi-
ately following his arrival in Paris. To be sure,
unstinted praise was poured on his courage and
on the skill of his unprecedented flight. But the
true Lindbergh had not yet impressed itself
upon America.
His personality caught the French at the very
moment when their natural enthusiasm for his
deed was at its height. It was like pushing a
swing just when it has started downward.
Two French aviation officers extricated him
from the milling crowd at Le Bourget on arrival
night and succeeded in getting him to the Ameri-
can Embassy where newspaper men located him
238 "WE"
at 1:30 A.M. The journalists naturally found
the flier tired after having had practically no
sleep for nearly sixty hours. But he was far
from exhausted and he had no maudlin recital
for the pencil-pushers who so eagerly sur-
rounded him.
He awakened near noon next day. After
breakfast he went out on a balcony in response
to crowds, in the street and for the first time
after his triumph stood face to face in daylight
with citizens of France. There was a burst of
applause. As we have said, the first man to
have flown from New York to Paris, was bound
to get just this applause. Then something else
happened.
We talked to one of the Diplomatic Corps who
witnessed this first public appearance. He said :
"The people kept on cheering and clapping and
waving their hats or handkerchiefs; but I sud-
denly had a feeling they were applauding me-
chanically, as if their attention were rooted on
something that fascinated them.
PARIS 239
"I glanced up at Lindbergh to see if he were
doing anything he shouldn't do. No, he was
just smiling and his ruddy face was alight with
appreciation.
"I looked from Lindbergh to the crowd. Then
I realized that something was going on right be-
fore my eyes that I couldn't see. Lindbergh's
personality was reaching out and winning the
French just as surely as his flight had reached
out and found their city."
That was the beginning of the "phenomenon of
Lindbergh." It grew in a steady crescendo as
the days passed. We saw it full force in Wash-
ington- We saw it reach incredible heights in
New York.
Procession of events fitted into and abetted de-
velopment of the situation. There was the tele-
phone conversation from Paris to his mother in
Detroit four thousand miles away. His mother:
the world rolled the two words around its col-
lective tongue as might a wine connoisseur his
nectar.
240 "\VE"
He called on Madame Nungesser, another
mother, whose equally brave son had disappeared
but a few days before in the stormy wastes of
the same ocean he had crossed. Their exchange
was brief, but the whole world listened and wiped
away a tear. In simple compassion Lindbergh
told the mother not to give up hope. You have
to know the boy to feel a fraction of the reassur-
ance he must have conveyed.
He visited the blind and crippled veterans of
the great war. He smiled at them; which was
enough for those who could see, who in turn ran-
sacked their expressive tongue to explain ''le
joli Lindbergh"' to those who couldn't.
He called on the President of the Republic,
He was dressed in plain clothes but the meeting
was full of affability on both sides, with Sheldon
Whitehouse of the Embassy acting as inter-
preter. The President pinned the Cross of the
Legion of Honor upon the lapel of the boy's
borrowed suit and kissed him on both cheeks.
By this time France was alive to Lindbergh;
America was waking up.
PARIS 241
At the Aero Club of France he made his first
speech. His precise laconic diction was one more
step forward in the phenomenon of Lindbergh,
The speech was printed widely in America. The
Club was jammed that day and Minister of War
Paul Painleve, surrounded by fifty of the lead-
ing aviators of France, received the guest of
honor. When the time came Herrick quietly
leaned over and told Lindbergh he must respond.
Whereupon the latter rose and said that Nun-
gesser and Coli had attempted a far greater thing
than he when they took off from Paris for New
York. Their difficulties had far exceeded his.
In any event he urged France not to give up
hope. Nothing could have been more tactful.
Ambassador Herrick's speech which followed
emphasized the strengthened good-will between
France and America. "This young man from
out of the west brings you better than anything
else the spirit of America," he said. "His ex-
ploit shows you that the heart of the United
States beats for France. It was needed at this
242 "WE"
moment that the love of these two great people
should manifest itself, and it is this young boy
who has brought that about. After his Euro-
pean trip is over he will go back to America and
he will be able to tell them as no other man could
that France really loves the people of the United
States."
Thus was the idea of "ambassadorship without
portfolio" initiated. When press and people,
and especially statesmen, began to see how the
current strain between France and America was
slackening as a result of Lindbergh's visit, the
idea grew doubly strong.
On the following day he went to a large lunch-
eon of 600 Americans at the American Club.
On Wednesday he visited the French Chamber
of Deputies. There was no session in progress,
yet most of the members present followed him to
the reception room of the President's residence.
Like ferment in wine, Lindbergh's personality
was working hour by hour.
Here again the increased cordiality between
Wide World Photos
NEW YORK riTY RIDING T'P BROADWAY
PARIS 243
France and America became the keynote of the
interchange. The adored General Gouraud
said: "It is not only two continents that you
have united, but the hearts of all men everywhere
in admiration of the simple courage of a man
who does great things. . . . You and your
youth belong to that glorious band of which M.
Bleriot standing here beside you was one, and
which has opened the great spaces. We greet
you also in the name of those others of your
countrymen who, in the Lafayette Escadrille,
died here for France — who, like you, helped to
frame that unalterable fraternity, that indissolu-
ble friendship which unites our two peoples."
In like vein but with an eye to practicahty
Lindbergh replied:
"Gentlemen, 132 years ago Benjamin Frank-
lin was asked: 'What good is your balloon?
What will it accomplish?' He replied: 'What
good is a new born child?' Less than twenty
years ago when I was not far advanced from in-
fancy M. Bleriot flew across the English Channel
244 "WE"
and was asked 'What good is your aeroplane?
What will it accomplish?' Today those same
skeptics might ask me what good has been my
flight from New York to Paris. My answer is
that I believe it is the forerunner of a great air
service from America to France, America to
Europe, to bring our peoples nearer together in
understanding and in friendship than they have
ever been."
The speaker's abrupt but unmistakable sin-
cerity made a profound impression upon his
hearers.
It is impossible to do justice to the full
Paris visit. Yet it is not difficult even now to
sense the ever increasing aura of popularity and
affection that surrounded Lindbergh wherever
he went.
He lunched with Bleriot, the first man to fly
across the English Channel, who presented
him with a piece of the propeller of that famous
plane of early days. He had a notable visit with
Marshal Foch. He went to the Invalides sur-
PARIS 245
rounded by an admiring crowd. He went to the
home of Marshal Joffre. He attended a formal
lunch with Minister Briand.
Meanwhile a growing avalanche of mail was
descending upon the Embassy. There were
startling business offers running into millions of
dollars. Cables from all parts of the world urged
Lindbergh to write this or that, or agree to appear
at highly remunerative rates under any and all
circumstances. He did not handle this mail or ac-
cept any of these offers. He could not do the
former, and he would not do the latter. But he
was not cynical ; only gravely dubious about the
results of his original enterprise getting so far
out of his control.
On Thursday of that Paris week came the
official reception by the City. By this time the
popularity of the boy held full sway. It is said
that half a million people lined the streets
through which the flier drove in company with
his host, the Ambassador.
At the City Hall, Lindbergh received the Gold
246 "WE"
Medal of the Muncipality of Paris. In a brief
speech he told the Council that he believed his
flight was the forerunner of a regular commercial
air-service between the United States and
France. He added that Nungesser and Coli
would have voiced the same thought if they had
landed in America.
Ambassador Herrick then made one of his
finest and most widely quoted speeches. "I am
not a religious man," he said, "but I believe there
are certain things that happen in life which can
only be described as the interpretation of a Di-
vine Act. I would not be surprised if this flight
marks the beginning of a return of that sympathy
and affection which lasted 150 years between
France and America. Lindbergh brought you
the spirit of America in a manner in which it
could never be brought in a diplomatic sack."
Next morning Lindbergh got up at daybreak
and went to Le Bourget where he found a small
black Nieuport 300 H.P. fighting plane awaiting
him. To the dehght of the French fliers as well
PARIS 247
as the populace he went aloft and began stunt-
ing with a skill and ease that stamped him once
and for all an expert. Again he rose a peg in
French esteem. Nor was this a studied perform-
ance any more than his modesty in bearing or his
brevity in oratory were studied. It was only
another integral part of the "phenomenon of
Lindbergh."
At noon there was a luncheon at the Ministry
of War. Later he was received by the Senators
at the Luxembourg Palace. A reception and
official visits followed. In the evening he at-
tended a gala performance at the Champs
Elysees Theatre.
The very recital of his festivities and honors
grows monotonous.
Next day he left. About eight in the morning
he motored to Le Bourget and put in three hours
grooming his plane for its next flight. At noon
he hopped off for Brussels, circling the Eiffel
Tower and dropping a note of goodby and thanks
to Paris in the Place de la Concorde on his way.
II
BRUSSELS
THE Belgian reception was one of quiet
dignity. King Albert had given orders
that at all costs Lindbergh must come
off the field untouched.
The flier landed at the Evere Flying Field
near Brussels at exactly 3.15 p.m. The crowd
that greeted him was never out of hand. Prime
Minister Jasper came forward at once and said :
"I am happy and proud, my Captain, to be the
first man in the name of Belgium to extend to
you our warmest felicitations for your great ex-
ploit, which not only draws nearer our two con-
tinents, but the hearts of our people as well."
As Mr. Gibson, the new American Ambassa-
dor to Belgium, was in America at the time, his
248
BRUSSELS 249
place was temporarily occupied by Mr. Dunn,
Charge d' Affaires. By him Lindbergh was pre-
sented to the Duke of Brabant, heir to the throne,
who formally welcomed the visitor in the name of
King Albert. Meanwhile the plane had been
carefully wheeled upon a platform so that every-
one might take a look at it.
After motoring to the American Embassy to
change his clothes, Lindbergh laid a wreath on
the tomb of Belgium's unknown soldier.
It was at the reception at the Palace that
Lindbergh met his first king. King Albert
treated him with a kind informality character-
istic of that much-loved monarch.
Next morning, Lindbergh slept until nearly
nine. Then he went out to the Evere Airdrome,
where he showed his plane to King Albert and
Queen Elizabeth. King Albert in his turn took
the visitor to see some late types of Belgian
planes and personally explained their technical
features.
At noon came the civic reception at the Hotel
250 "WE"
de Ville. When Lindbergh arrived the square
was lined with troops. Burgomaster Max, with
the aldermen of Bi-ussels, was there to meet
him. There was also a welcoming delegation
known as the Old Volunteers of the Great War,
whose members, despite their fifty years or more,
had rushed in 1914 to join the colors.
Burgomaster Max made a speech in English,
saying that the flight was a wonderful sporting
performance. He added that because the non-
stop flight from New York to Paris had ap-
peared to be an undertaking beyond human
forces, the victory was really a victory of human-
ity. He concluded by declaring with great
feeling :
"In your glory there is glory for all men. An
apparently impossible task loomed before you.
You surmounted it. It is helpful and encourag-
ing for those who think we must never despair
of human effort. You must have heard many
times during these five days that in crossing the
ocean with your 'Spirit of St. Louis' you have
BRUSSELS 251
done more than all the diplomats to bring closer
together the different peoples. I repeat it my-
self. When a statement is being commonly
used, a Burgomaster should not hesitate to ex-
press it again, as his function when he speaks is'
jto reflect public opinion.
"In uniting by airway your young country
with the old soil of Europe you have drawn
nearer together these two continents and you
have the right to claim the title of Citizen of the
World. The way now open, others ^vill follow
you, as others tried in vain to precede you.
"I am thus certain, as we welcome you here, to
express your own sentiments in mentioning with
emotion the names of Nungesser and Coli who a
few days ago, with an assurance as great as
yours, started over the Atlantic but never reached
their goal.
"In you the symbol of daring and courage is
impossible not to admire.
"Heroes always consider what they have done
as a simple matter. This is precisely because
252 "WE"
they are heroes. I salute in you, dear Captain
Lindbergh, a noble son of your great nation
which at an hour when civilization was in danger
came to its help and with us conquered."
Lindbergh replied to this speech by saying
that there were two things he looked forward to
when he took off from New York — seeing
France and Belgium:
"This afternoon I must leave," he went on,
"I wish I could stay here weeks instead of hours.
I certainly will never forget your welcome.
"Less than twenty-five years ago, the first
flight was made in an airplane. It will not be
many years before we have regular trans-
Atlantic service. I congratulate Belgium on her
remarkable progress in aviation. You have a
wonderful air force here. Aviation will be one of
the great forces of the future to bring nations
together."
Then the Burgomaster took Lindbergh's hand
and presented him with a little leather case con-
taining a gold medal inscribed in English:
BRUSSELS 253
"To Captain Charles Lindbergh, the City of
Brussels, May 29th, 1927."
Lindbergh left Brussels for London in the
early afternoon. On his way over Belgium he
paid a tribute to the American soldiers who sleep
in the cemetery at Werington near Ghent. Cut-
ting off his motor, he flew low over the field, but
little above the rows of white crosses. He
dropped a wreath of flowers, circled the cemetery
twice, then headed out for England.
In a sense this visit to Belgium was a surer
test of the man than either of the other countries.
His stay was very brief; his hosts neither spoke
his tongue as did the English, nor had as natural
a reservoir of emotion to draw upon as did the
French. Yet Lindbergh's easy dignity, his
simple bearing, and always his ready smile, were
as quick to earn him the permanent friendship
of King and Queen as to excite the adulation of
the crowd.
It was said everywhere of him when he left:
"We hope he comes back some day." No traveller
receives higher praise than that.
Ill
LONDON
THE flight from Brussels was compara-
tively simple and there was little or no
strain on the plane. The pilot steered
straight across the Channel, reaching England
on the southeast corner.
The weather was nearly perfect ; in fact Lind-
bergh was never privileged during his stay in
England to see a real London fog.
It did not seem long before he found himself
throttling his motor above the great field at
Croyden on the outskirts of London. A tre-
mendous crowd had gathered — a crowd almost
as large as that which had watched him land that
memorable night at Le Bourget. And again no
254
LONDON 255
sooner had his wheels touched the ground than
this crowd, too, made a rush for his plane. For-
tunately, officials of the Royal Air Club dashed
up in a motor car and got the pilot aboard just
in time to rescue him from the uncontrollable en-
thusiasm of the throng.
As in Paris, all the carefully laid plans of the
reception committee were swept aside. Even
Secretary for Air, Sir Samuel Hoare, and
Ambassador Houghton were swallowed up by
the multitude. Later another crowd, almost as
large, was found waiting at the American Em-
bassy for a glimpse of the American air traveller.
Then came welcomed rest. Lindbergh dined
with some friends of the Ambassador and went
to bed early. Next morning he went direct to
Croyden and found that, despite his fears, very
little harm had been done to his ship save for one
little hole in the wing and a landing strut that
had lost two bolts.
INIonday was a comparatively quiet day.
There was a luncheon at the Embassy attended
256 "WE"
by many persons prominent in the government
and otherwise. One war hero was perhaps espe-
cially interesting to an air man. This was Lieut.-
Col. W. A. Bishop, the Canadian ace, who had
brought down 72 German planes.
In the afternoon a Memorial Day service was
held at St. Margaret's Chm'ch, Westminster.
This honoring in England of our Civil War dead
was a strange experience for the visitor. One
of the veterans present, Jabez Jrayell, aged 86,
had known President McKinley as a comrade
in arms. After the service and sermon a pro-
cession formed, which, headed by the Stars and
Stripes, moved slowly from the church to West-
minster Abbey. There, Ambassador Houghton,
with Lindbergh at his side, walked to a tomb
and laid a wreath on which was inscribed :
"In memory of England's unknown warrior
from the American people.'*
In the evening British newspaper men gave
Lindbergh a dinner in the Abraham Lincoln
room of the Savoy. On the speaker's table be-
LONDON 257
fore the guest of honor were five sandwiches
and a half gallon jar of water. The Chairman
gravely announced: "Captain Lindbergh will
now partake of his customary meal." After a
round of laughing applause the real dinner
began.
Next morning was the 31st of May. On this
day Lindbergh was received by the King of Eng-
land. King George talked to him alone for some
time about his flight, and by his conversation
showed he understood a great deal about flying.
Setting aside all precedent, he personally pre-
sented Lindbergh with the Royal Air Force
Cross. The only other Americans who ever re-
ceived this cross were the crew of the NC-4, the
United States Navy plane, which crossed the
Atlantic by way of the Azores.
After his conversation with the King, Lind-
bergh was presented to Queen Mary. From
Buckingham Palace he went to York House to
be received by the Prince of Wales. The Prince
wanted to know what he was going to do in the
258 "WE"
future, to which Lindbergh promptly replied:
"I am going to keep on flying."
He visited Prime Minister Baldwin at Num-
ber 10 Downing Street, the little house from
which so big a slice of this world is being run.
Mr. Baldwin took him out on the balcony to
watch the colorful ceremony known as the
Trooping of the Colors, which epitomizes the dig-
nity and power of the British empire.
At a luncheon given by the Air Council, Lind-
bergh was presented with the Daily Mail's gold
aviation cup, which was instituted many years
ago by the late Lord Northcliffe. Here Sir
Samuel Hoare was the principal speaker. After
complimenting Lindbergh on his flight he
continued :
"There are some foolish people — I am glad to
think there are very few of them — who are asking
you the question: 'Of what use to the world are
these efforts and sacrifices? Of what use to the
world is a flight hke Captain Lindbergh's?' If I
had time I should prove to them that from a tech-
) Xorlh American Photo Service
XEW YOKK CITY A JUXE SNOWSTORM
LONDON 259
nical point of view these long distant flights are
of great value. They stimulate progress; they
test reliability.
"Is it not of value to the technical progress of
aviation that a single air cooled engine of 220
H. P., consuming only 10 gallons of petrol an
hour, should have travelled over 3600 miles and
been fit for another lap at the end of this?
"Is not a long distance flight of this kind of
great value as a test of aerial navigation? Fly-
ing through fogs and storms, Captain Lindbergh
never seems to have deflected from his course.
Surely this experience is not only a testimony of
his great skill as a navigator but also a lesson in
the study of navigation. But I set aside these
technical justifications, for upon a flight of this
kind the world at large rightly reaches its verdict
upon broader grounds. The peoples of many
countries are today applauding Captain Lind-
bergh's achievement not so much because some
material gain will be obtained in this or that
way, but because it is a fine example of nerve and
260 ''AVE"
endurance, of skill, courage, enterprise and
adventure.
"The more drab the world becomes the more
gladly we welcome such fine achievements as his.
"Today therefore I ask you to drink to the
health of Captain Lindbergh as the pilot who
has broken the world's record, and as a worthy
representative of our close friends and war allies,
the pilots of the United States of America. Still
more, however, do I ask you to drink to his health
as a young man who embodies the spirit of ad-
venture and lights up the world with a flash of
courage and daring, and, I am glad to say, of
success."
In the late afternoon, at the invitation of Lord
and Lady Astor, Lindbergh had tea at the
House of Commons. That evening the Royal
Air Club gave him a dinner at the Savoy. From
there he went to a Swedish festival and at mid-
night attended the famous Derby Eve Ball at
Albert Hall. He arrived with the Prince of
Wales and as he entered the band struck up
LONDON 261
"Yankee Doodle." There he made his shortest
speech of many short ones. It was simply: "I
thank you for my reception tonight. It has been
one of the greatest of my life."
On June 1st Lindbergh saw his first Derby.
Three hundred thousand people had travelled to
Epsom Downs to see this great traditional spec-
tacle of horse racing. As the visiting flier was
guest of Lord Lonsdale he sat in a box sur-
rounded by royalty.
That evening was his last in England's capital.
The combined American societies of London en-
tertained him at a banquet. After many
speeches, Sir Samuel Hoare rose once more to
the occasion and expressed this parting thought :
"Perhaps before long, instead of a single
flight, we can induce you to make a regular habit
of it. The sooner air communications are es-
tablished between the two English speaking
nations, the better our relations will be. You
came to us as a great aviator, but I know you
leave as a real friend of England. I am not sure
262 "WE"
that the latter part of your trip has not been as
important as your first.
"It was a triumph of man over machinery, of
man over the brute forces of nature. The flight
was a tribute to the young men of the world —
of the new generation which has sprung up since
the war, determined to subdue the forces of na-
ture— determined in the near future to make the
air a gi-eat highway for intercourse between
your people and ours."
The day set for departure was misty. On
arrival at Kinnerly Airdrome Lindbergh found
conditions too difficult to fly to Paris. So there
he remained that night as the guest of the Royal
Air Force. But he had little sleep; for at 3:30
a messenger awakened him with word the weather
was clearing.
He hopped off at 6:20 a.m. but thirty-eight
minutes later, due to low visibility, he came down
at LjTnpnel, England. At eight o'clock a big
Handley Page mail and passenger plane flew
over. Whereupon Lindbergh quickly went
LONDON 263
aloft and used the big ship as a guide all the way
to Le Bourget.
In the afternoon he attended a ceremony at
the Swedish Church in Paris and the next morn-
ing— Saturday June 5th, — ^he took off for Cher-
bourg at 9 :22 accompanied by twenty planes.
Just as he was ready to go, Costes and Rignot,
the two French aviators who were leaving on their
eastward trip in an effort to beat the non-stop
record he had established, came over to say good-
by and he wished them Godspeed.
On the way to Cherbourg Lindbergh ran into
wind, rain, hail and fog. He landed there at
11:35 amid what seemed to be the entire popu-
lation of the port. He was cordially welcomed
by the full staff of city officials. After lunch
at the Mayor's chateau he was motored into the
city proper, and at the Gare Maritime a plaque
was unveiled commemorating the spot where
he had first flown over France on his way to Le
Bourget.
To avoid pressure of the crowd he jumped
264 "WE"
upon a Cunard tender at the dock and reached
the fast launch of Admiral Burrage which car-
ried him to the U.S.S. Memphis, ordered by-
President Coolidge to bring the flier home.
IV
WASHINGTON
IT is probable that when Lindbergh reached
America he got the greatest welcome any
man in history has ever received ; certainly
the greatest when judged by numbers; and by
far the greatest in its freedom from that unkind
emotion which in such cases usually springs from
one people's triumph over another.
Lindbergh's victory was all victory ; for it was
not internecine, but that of our human species
over the elements against which for thousands
of centuries man's weakness has been pitted.
The striking part of it all was that a composite
picture of past homecoming heroes wouldn't
look any more like Charles Lindbergh did that
day of his arrival in Washington than a hitching
post looks like a gi'een bay tree.
265
266 "WE"
Caesar was glum when he came back from
Gaul; Napoleon grim; Paul Jones defiant;
Peary blunt; Roosevelt abrupt; Dewey defer-
ential; Wilson brooding; Pershing imposing.
Lindbergh was none of these. He was a plain
citizen dressed in the garments of an everyday
man. He looked thoroughly pleased, just a
little surprised, and about as full of health and
spirits as any normal man of his age should be.
If there was any wild emotion or bewilderment in
the occasion it lay in the welcoming crowds, and
not in the air pilot they were saluting.
The cruiser Memphis, on which Lindbergh
travelled, passed through the Virginia Capes on
her way to Washington a few minutes after five
P.M. of the afternoon of June 10. Here Lind-
bergh got the first taste of what was to come.
A convoy of four destroyers, two army blimps
from Langley Field and forty airplanes of the
Army, Navy and Marine Corps accompanied
the vessel as she steamed up Chesapeake Bay.
As the night fell they wheeled toward their vari-
WASHINGTON" 267
ous bases and were soon lost to view. They
gave no salute; and, for all the casual observer
might have noted, they were merely investigating
this newcomer to their home waters. But they
left an indelible impression upon those in the
Memphis that the morrow was to be extraordi-
nary.
Saturday June 11, 1927, dawned hot and clear
in Washington. It was evident early in the day
that something far out of the city's peaceful
summer routine was going to happen. Streets
were being roped off. Special policemen were
going to their posts. Airplanes flew about over-
head. Citizens began gathering in little clumps
up and down Pennsylvania Avenue, many seat-
ing themselves on fruit boxes and baskets as if
for a long wait.
The din that greeted the Memphis off Alex-
andria, suburb of Washington, began the noisy
welcome that lasted for several hours. Every
roof top, window, old ship, wharf and factory
floor was filled with those who simply had to see
268 "WE"
Lindbergh come home. Factory whistles, auto-
mobiles, church bells and fire sirens all joined in
the pandemonium.
In the air were scores of aircraft. One large
squadron of nearly fifty pursuit planes maneu-
vered in and out of the heavy vaporous clouds
that hung over the river. Beneath them moved
several flights of slower bombers. The giant
dirigible airship, the U.S.S. Los Angeles,, wound
back and forth above the course of the oncoming
Memphis.
By eleven o'clock the saluting began. Vice
Admiral Burrage, also returning on the Mem-
phis^ received his customary fifteen guns from the
Navy yard. The President's salute of 21 guns
was exchanged. Firing from the cruisers' bat-
tery and from the shore stations lent a fine rhyth-
mic punctuation to the constantly increasing
noise from other quarters.
Just before noon the Memphis came along-
side the Navy Yard dock and a gangplank was
hoisted to her rail. On the shore v/ere collected
WASHINGTON 269
a notable group of cabinet officers and high offi-
cials. There were the Secretary of the Navy,
Curtis D. Wilbur; the Secretary of War,
Dwight F. Davis; Postmaster General Harry
S. New; and former Secretary of State, Charles
Evans Hughes. There were Admiral Edward
W. Eberle, Chief of Naval Operations; Major
General Mason W. Patrick and Rear Admiral
WiUiam A. Moffett, heads of the Army and
Navy air forces. There was Commander Rich-
ard E. Byrd who flew to the North Pole, and who
later followed Lindbergh's trail to France.
When the gangplank was in place Admiral
Bur rage came down it and a moment later re-
turned with a lady on his arm. This lady was
Mrs. Evangeline Lindbergh, the young pilot's
mother.
Instantly a new burst of cheering went up;
but many wept — they knew not just why.
For a few minutes mother and son disappeared
into a cabin aboard the Memphis. It was a nice
touch ; something more than the brass bands and
270 "WE"
cheering. And it somehow symbolized a great
deal of what was being felt and said that hot
morning in our country's great capital.
Next came brief and a somewhat informal
greeting by the dignitaries. In their glistening
high silk hats they surrounded Lindbergh and
for a bit shut him off from the pushing perspir-
ing crowd still held at bay ashore by the bayonets
of the marines.
Suddenly the crowd could hold its patience
no longer. With one frantic push it broke
through the ranks of "Devil Dogs" and swarmed
down upon the moored vessel. Trouble was
averted by the simple expedient of getting Lind-
bergh quickly into one of the waiting cars and
starting for the Navy Yard gate.
The parade escort had been lined up some
hours ahead of time. Now it got under way
toward the center of the city, leading the auto-
mobiles that carried the official party. Clatter-
ing hoofs of cavalrymen, blare of bands and
a rolling cheer along the ranks of waiting thou-
WASHINGTON 271
sands marked the progress of the young Ameri-
can flier who had so gloriously come home.
Here for the first time Lindbergh saw the
spirit in which his people were to greet him.
They were curious, yes; crowds always are on
such occasions. And they were gay with their
handclapping and flag-waving, shouting and con-
fetti throwing. But there was a note of enthusi-
asm everywhere that transcended just a chorus
of holiday seekers witnessing a new form of
circus. There was something deeper and finer
in the way people voiced their acclaim. INIany
of them wiped their eyes while they laughed;
many stood with expressionless faces, their looks
glued upon the face of the lad who had achieved
so great a thing and yet seemed to take it all so
calmly.
When the parade reached the natural amphi-
theatre of the Washington Monument the hill-
sides were jammed with a great gathering of
men, women and children. On the high stand
that had been erected, the President of the
272 "WE"
United States and Mrs. Coolidge waited to re-
ceive the man who but three weeks and a day
before had been a comparatively unknown ad-
ventui'er hopping off for Paris by air.
Ranged about the President were the ambassa-
dors of many foreign countries, members of the
diplomatic corps with their wives and daughters,
and nearly all the high officials of the government.
When Lindbergh mounted the stand the Presi-
dent came forward and grasped his hand. Those
closest to Mr. Coolidge say that rarely has he
shown the unrestrained cordiality he put into
that simple greeting.
The President now moved to the front of the
stand and waited for the applause to be stilled.
Presently, when the multitude again was quiet,
he began slowly to speak :
"My Fellow- Countrjrmen:
"It was in America that the modern art of fly-
ing of heavier-than-air machines was first de-
veloped. As the experiments became successful,
the airplane was devoted to practical purposes.
WASHINGTON 273
It has been adapted to commerce in the trans-
portation of passengers and mail and used for
national defense by our land and sea forces.
"Beginning with a limited flying radius, its
length has been gradually extended. We have
made many flying records. Our Army fliers have
circumnavigated the globe. One of our Navy
men started from California and flew far enough
to have reached Hawaii, but being off his course,
landed in the water. Another oflicer of the Navj?-
has flown to the North Pole. Our own country
has been traversed from shore to shore in a single
flight.
"It had been apparent for some time that the
next great feat in the air would be a continuous
flight from the mainland of America to the main-
land of Europe. Two courageous Frenchmen
made the reverse attempt and passed to a fate
that is as yet unknown.
"Others were speeding their preparatfons to
make the trial, but it remained for an unknown
youth to attempt the elements and win. It is
274 "WE"
the same story of valor and victory by a son of
the people that shines through every page of
American history.
"Twenty-five years ago there was born in De-
troit, Michigan, a boy representing the best tra-
ditions of this country, of a stock known for its
deeds of adventure and exploration.
"His father, moved with a desire for public
service, was a member of Congress for several
years. His mother, who dowered her son with
her own modesty and charm, is with us today.
Engaged in the vital profession of school-teach-
ing, she has permitted neither money nor fame to
interfere with her fidelity to her duties.
"Too young to have enlisted in the World
War, her son became a student at one of the big
State universities. His interest in aviation led
him to an Army aviation school, and in 1925 he
was graduated as an airplane pilot. In Novem-
ber, 1926, he had reached the rank of Captain in
the Ofiicers' Reserve Corps.
"Making his home in St. Louis, he had joined
o w
<;
« m
o f^
!S D
o
o 2
:;; Q
WASHINGTON 275
the 110th Observation Squadron of the Missouri
National Guard. Some of his qualities noted
by the Army officers who examined him for pro-
motion, as shown by reports in the files of the
Militia Bureau of the War Department, are as
follows :
" 'Intelligent,' 'industrious,' 'energetic,' 'de-
pendable,' 'purposeful,' 'alert,' 'quick of re-
action,' 'serious,' 'deliberate,' 'stable,' 'efficient.'
'frank,' 'modest,' 'congenial' 'a man of good
moral habits and regular in aU his business trans-
actions.'
"One of the officers expressed his belief that
the young man 'would successfully complete
everything he undertakes.' This reads like a
prophecy.
"Later he became connected with the United
States Mail Service, where he exhibited marked
ability, and from which he is now on leave of
absence-
"On a morning just three weeks ago yesterday
this wholesome, earnest, fearless, courageous pro-
276 "WE"
duct of America rose into the air from Long
Island in a monoplane christened *The Spirit
of St. Louis' in honor of his home and that of
his supporters.
"It was no haphazard adventure. After
months of most careful preparation, supported
by a valiant character, driven by an unconquer-
able will and inspired by the imagination and the
spirit of his Viking ancestors, this reserve officer
set wing across the dangerous stretches of the
North Atlantic.
"He was alone. His destination was Paris,
"Thirty-three hours and thirty minutes later,
in the evening of the second day, he landed at his
destination on the French flying field at Le Bour-
get. He had traveled over 3,600 miles, and estab-
lished a new and remarkable record. The execu-
tion of his project was a perfect exhibition of
art.
"This country will always remember the way in
which he was received by the people of France,
by their President and by their Government.
WASHINGTON 277
It was the more remarkable because they were
mourning the disappearance of their intrepid
countrymen, who had tried to span the Atlantic
on a western flight.
"Our messenger of peace and good-will had
broken down another barrier of time and space
and brought two great peoples into closer com-
munion. In less than a day and a half he had
crossed the ocean over which Columbus had trav-
eled for sixty-nine days and the Pilgrim Fathers
for sixty-six days on their way to the New
World.
"But, above all, in showering applause and
honors upon this genial, modest American youth,
with the naturalness, the simplicity and the poise
of true greatness, France had the opportunity to
show clearly her goodwill for America and our
people.
"With like acclaim and evidences of cordial
friendship our Ambassador without portfolio
was received by the rulers, the Governments and
the peoples of England and Belgium. From
278 "WE"
other nations came hearty messages of admira-
tion for him and for his comitry. For these mani-
fold evidences of friendship we are profoundly
grateful.
"The absence of self -acclaim, the refusal to
become commercialized, which has marked the
conduct of this sincere and genuine exemplar of
fine and noble virtues, has endeared him to every
one. He has returned unspoiled.
"Particularly has it been dehghtf ul to have him
refer to his airplane as somehow possessing a per-
sonality and being equally entitled to credit with
himself, for we are proud that in every particular
this silent partner represented American genius
and industry. I am told that more than 100
separate companies furnished materials, parts or
service in its construction.
"And now, my fellow-citizens, this young man
has returned. He is here. He has brought his
unsulHed fame home. It is our great privilege
to welcome back to his native land, on behalf of
his own people, who have a deep affection for
WASHINGTON 279
him and have been thrilled by his splendid
achievement, a Colonel of the United States Offi-
cers' Reserve Corps, an illustrious citizen of our
Republic, a conqueror of the air and strength for
the ties which bind us to our sister nations across
the sea.
"And, as President of the United States, I be-
stow the Distinguished Flying Cross, as a symbol
of appreciation for what he is and what he has
done, upon Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh."
Upon completing this address the President
then conferred upon Lindbergh the Distin-
guished Flying Cross.
A new burst of cheering went up as the medal
was being pinned on by the President. It was
at this point in the proceedings that the Secre-
tary of the Navy, ordinarily most placid of men,
is alleged to have waved his arm in the air like
a college cheer leader and hurrahed as loudly as
any. When quiet came again Lindbergh rose
and replied to the President. What he said was
brief. But had he uttered a hundred times as
280 "WE"
many words, he could scarcely have conveyed a
more important message to those about him.
He said: "On the evening of May 21, I ar-
rived at Le Bourget, France. I was in Paris for
one week, in Belgium for a day and was in Lon-
don and in England for several days. Every-
where I went, at every meeting I attended, I was
requested to bring a message home to you. Al-
ways the message was the same.
" 'You have seen,' the message was, 'the af-
fection of the people of France for the people of
America demonstrated to you. When you re-
turn to America take back that message to the
people of the United States from the people of
France and of Europe."
"I thank you."
This is no place to dwell upon the minutias of
that great day. The picture must be sketched
in with bold strokes and stippled background.
But it is impossible to pass this one short speech
of Lindbergh's and not cajole the reader to
gather something of its significance. In a sen-
WASHINGTON 281
tence it tells the story of the flight ; it gives what
the speaker considered his immediate and out-
standing achievement; and it phrases that
achievement in words so touching and so elo-
quent that France and America, half -estranged
.through wretched debt, rang with them for days.
The final touch of the miracle was that this
speech was extemporaneous.
Just as when Lincoln finished his Gettysburg
address his listeners sat stunned at the very brev-
ity of it, so was there a curious silence immedi-
ately following Lindbergh's utterance. Then
came long applause. Hats were not thrown in
the air. But men and women clapped until their
palms were numb. Again many wept. A radio
announcer whose stock-in-trade was routine emo-
tional appeal, broke down and sobbed.
More and more people were beginning to rea-
lize that something was happening far greater
than just the celebration of a mechanical triumph
over the ocean separating Europe from America.
The ceremony ended as simply and quickly
282 "WE"
as it had begun. The President's own car
whisked Lindbergh away to the temporary White
House in Dupont Circle. A curious and eager
crowd lingered there behind police lines through-
out the afternoon. From time to time their
demanding cheers could be silenced only by Lind-
bergh's smiling presence at the door or balcony.
President and Mrs. Coolidge entertained
members of the Cabinet and their wives that
night. Lindbergh sat on Mrs. Coolidge's right.
He wore conventional evening dress and was dis-
tinguished by the ease and simplicity with which
he met both sallies and inquiries of the imposing
guests.
It is one of the cruelties of social lionization
that we search for the peculiarities of our speci-
men. In Lindbergh's case his peculiarity lay in
the fact that neither by word, nor look, nor deed
was he in any way grotesque. His eyes were
clear, his smile quick; like a practised diplomat
he eluded entangling discussion; and he had a
ready reply for every intelligent inquiry put to
WASHINGTON 283
him within his range of knowledge or experience.
It is at risk of dampening the ardor of our
narrative that we repeatedly point to this trait of
simplicity that lies in Lindbergh. We do so be-
cause it was from close within the nucleus of this
trait that there sprung the incredible emotional
reaction towards his personality.
After the President's dinner Lindbergh at-
tended a meeting of the National Press Club in the
Washington Auditorium. This was his first pub-
lic appearance "under roof " in America. Six thou-
sand people risked imminent heat stroke by crowd-
ing into every seat and cranny of the building.
The program opened with an address on behalf
of the Press Club by Richard V. Oulahan. Be-
cause this address illuminated the feelings of the
"Fourth Estate," proverbially cynical toward
notoriety, we give it here in full:
"In your journalistic flight of the past three
weeks," said Mr. Oulahan, you must have
learned that much may be read between the lines
of what is printed in newspapers. So even a
284, "WE"
novice in newspaperdom like yourself would have
no trouble in reading between the lines of this
journalistic expression an intimate note of sin-
cere affection.
"We of the press rub elbows with all manner
of mankind. We see much of good but we see
much of self-seeking, of sordid motive, as we sit
in the wings watching the world's procession pass
across the stage. If it is true that through our
contacts we are sprinkled with a coating of the
dry dust of cynicism, that dust was blown away
in a breath, as it were, when our professional
brethren who greeted you overseas broadcast the
news of your peerless exploit. To Americans it
brought a spontaneous feeling of pride that you
were of their nationality.
"The whole world was carried off its feet by
an accomphshment so daring, so masterful in
execution, so superb in achievement, by the pic-
ture presented of that onrushing chariot of
dauntless youth, flashing across uncharted heav-
ens straight through the storm's barrage.
WASHINGTON 285
"But if the press, with such an inspiration,
performed its mission well, it found equal in-
spiration. It performed as fine a mission in
chronicling the subsequent conduct of our young
Ambassador of Good Will. His words and bear-
ing dissipated vapors of misunderstanding. He
personified, to a Europe amazed at the revela-
tion, the real spirit of America.
"The press should be proud then, if in telling
the story of this later phase in the career of the
American boy, it brought to the peoples of the
world a new realization that clean living, clean
thinking, fair play and sportsmanship, modesty
of speech and manner, faith in a mother's pray-
ers, have a front page news value intriguing
imagination and inviting emulation, and are still
potent as fundamentals of success."
Postmaster General New then stepped for-
ward and gave Lindbergh the first special air-
mail stamp. As he handed it to the flier he said :
"It is as a pilot in the service of the Air Mail
that I greet you. There is no public service de-
286 "WE"
voted to the peace time of the public whose past
and present are attended by the romance that are
attached to the history of the Post Office Depart-
ment of the United States.
"From the single couriers of the early days,
who followed the uncertain trails through wood
and fen on horseback and on foot, the picturesque
riders of the pony express of a later day, who
risked their lives at the hands of savage foes in
the wilderness, the drivers who serve amid the
rigors of the frozen North with dog teams and
sleds, to those intrepid pilots who pierce the night
with the air mail and of whom you are a worthy
representative, the whole story is set in an atmo-
sphere of most engaging romance.
"It has no titles to bestow — ^no medal it can
add to those that have been given in recognition
of your splendid achievement. There is one
thing, however, it can do that will everywhere
be regarded as most appropriate. It has issued
a stamp designed for special use with the air
mail which bears your name and a representation
.WASHINGTON 287
of the other member of that very limited partner-
ship in which you made your now famous jour-
ney across seas. It is the first time a stamp has
been issued in honor of a man still living — a
distinction which you have worthily won.
*'It is my great pleasure to be privileged to pre-
sent to you, and to the mother who gave you to
this service, the first two copies of this issue as
the best evidence of the enduring regard of the
Post Office Department of the United States."
These speeches are quoted because better than
almost any other capturable entity of those
days they reflect the wide scope of the effect
Lindbergh's success had on both governmental
and business routine. Surely it is difficult to
conceive of a military victor shaking so many
foundations, no matter what the might of his
mailed fist.
Secretary of State Kellogg next presented
Lindbergh with a memorial volume consisting of
a compilation of diplomatic exchanges between
the State Department and the Foreign Offices
288 "WE"
of the world in connection with the flight. His
words lined in a little more of the bewildering
picture of the world's admiration enfolding be-
fore Lindbergh's frankly astonished gaze.
"Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh," he slowly
and ponderously began, staring hard at the ob-
ject of his eulogy. "On May 20th and 21st, 1927,
the world was electrified by the news of your
non-stop flight from New York to Paris. It
was a marvelous accomplishment requiring the
highest courage, skill and self-reliance. Prob-
ably no act of a single individual in our day has
ever aroused such universal enthusiasm and ad-
miration. Your great deed is a mile-stone mark-
ing scientific advancement.
"You have been congratulated by Kings and
Presidents. You have listened to the plaudits of
thousands and thousands in Europe and you
know the tributes which have been justly paid to
you by millions more. You do not now realize
the thousands who have expressed their congratu-
lations in letters and telegrams. I have had
WASHINGTON 289
printed in this little volume only the official tele-
grams which passed through the Department of
State and I take pleasure in presenting to you
this volume in commemoration of your epochal
achievement.
"Along the highway of human progress, as we
look back over the last half century we marvel
at the progress in science, the arts and invention.
iTruly this is a marvelous age and your daring
feat will pass into the pages of history."
Then came Dr. Charles G. Abbott, Acting
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute who in-
formed Lindbergh that the Institute had decided
to award him the Langley "Medal of Pioneers."
This honor has in the past been bestowed upon
a small but distinguished group such as Orville
[Wright, Glenn H. Curtiss and Gustave Eiffel.
^Thus was added to the tribute of press and state
the commendation of one of the oldest and finest
scientific bodies in the world.
Followed next a medley of messages from
special organizations. Greetings from cities
290 "WE"
touched by Lindbergh in his historic flight from
San Diego to Paris were read. St. Louis sent
a moving reminder that her people were "waiting
for you now impatiently . . . waiting since that
gray morning when you launched out over the
clouds and the sea for Paris."
There was one from the British Government,
something almost without precedent when it is
considered that its recipient was a private citizen
on a private enterprise. The official bearer read:
"I have been desired by the British Govern-
ment to express to Colonel Lindbergh on this
occasion in behalf of all the people of Great
Britain their warm congratulations on the safe
return home after his historic flight across the
Atlantic. The British people regard Colonel
Lindbergh with special admiration and affection
not only for his great courage and resource, but
also for his equally great modesty in success and
generosity in giving their due to other aviators
who have gone before."
At the end of this bewildering array of ora-
t6
WASHINGTON 291
tions and gifts the speaker of the evening was
announced. One has only to put oneself in
Lindbergh's place after reading some of the elo-
quence listed above to admire the moral courage
it took to face that huge audience and once more
speak with directness and precision of the things
nearest his heart — things often furthest from the
burden of the discourse:
"I want to express my appreciation of the
reception I've met in America and the welcome
I have received here tonight." It was plain the
flier was going to cover another field than the
infinitely delicate one he had touched earlier in
the day. "When I landed at Le Bourget a few
weeks ago, I landed with the expectancy and
hope of being able to see Europe. It was the
first time I had ever been abroad. I had seen
a number of interesting things when I flew over
Ireland and Southern England and France. I
had only been gone from America two days or
a little less, and I wasn't in any particular hurry
to get back.
292 "WE"
"But by the time I had been in France a week,
Belgium a day and England two or three days
— by that time I had opened several cables from
America and talked with three Ambassadors and
their attaches and found that it didn't make
much difference whether I wanted to stay or not ;
and while I was informed that it was not neces-
sarily in order to come back home, there was a
battleship waiting for me.
"The Ambassador said this wasn't an order,
but advice," the aviator added.
"So on June 4 I sailed on the Memphis froiii
Cherbourg and this morning as I came up the
Potomac I wasn't very sorry that I had listened
to it.
"There were several things I saw in Europe
that are of interest to American aviation. All
Europe looks on our air mail service with rever-
ence. There is nothing like it anywhere abroad.
"But, whereas we have air lines, they have pas-
senger lines. All Europe is covered with a net-
work of lines carrying passengers between all
WASHINGTON 293
the big cities. Now it is up to us to create and
develop passenger lines that compare with our
mail routes. For this we have natural advan-
tages in the great distances here that lend them-
selves to rapid transportation by air. Moreover,
we can make these long trips without the incon-
venience of passing over international boun-
daries.
"The question comes up, 'Why has Europe
got ahead of us in commercial air lines?' The
reason is, of course, that the Governments over
there give subsidies. I don't think we want any
subsidies over here. Of com'se, if we had them
they would create passenger lines overnight, so to
speak, but in the long run the air lines, the dis-
tance they covered and the routes would be con-
trolled entirely by the subsidies.
"What we need now more than any other one
thing is a series of air ports in every city and
town throughout the United States. Given
these airports, in a very few years the na-
tions of Europe would be looking toward our
294 "WE"
passenger lines as they now look at our mail
routes."
Sunday was another full day. Under able
guidance of the Chief Executive, Lindbergh
did the things every good American would ex-
pect him to do. And, as one who has seen the lad
at close range, we can say that he did them gladly
and with profound appreciation for the privi-
lege of doing them. After you come to know
him you find out that's the kind he is.
He went to church with President and Mrs.
Coolidge. Accompanied by his mother he laid a
wreath upon the tomb of the Unknown Soldier
in the great memorial amphitheatre in Arlington
Cemetery. He drove to Georgetown and visited
the wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital.
He attended a celebration in honor of the 150th
anniversary of the American flag, for which serv-
ices were held on the steps of the Capitol and
presided over by Charles Evans Hughes.
It was at this last ceremony that Lindbergh
received the Cross of Honor. His response to
WASHINGTON 295
the honor was brief and typically to the point.
He declared that credit for his flight should "not
go to the pilot alone but to American science and
genius which had given years of study to the ad-
vancement of aeronautics."
"Some things should be taken into considera-
tion in connection with our flight that have not
heretofore been given due weight. That is just
what made this flight possible. It was not the
act of a single pilot. It was, the culmination of
twenty years of aeronautical research and the
assembling together of all that was practicable
and best in American aviation. It represented
American industry.
"In addition to this consideration should be
given the scientific researches that have been in
progress for countless centuries. All of this
should have consideration in apportioning credit
for the flight. Credit should go not alone to the
pilot, but to the other factors that I have briefly
enumerated. I thank you."
This was the day well worthy of what Lind-
296 "WE"
bergh had done and what he stood for. And
again, by the spiritual values it comprised, it
struck the inspirational note which had domi-
nated almost everything the lad has done or said
from the moment of his landing at Le Bourget
to the moment of this writing.
Is it any wonder that the populace responded
as it did?
V
NEW YOEK
OK Monday morning, June 13, Lindbergh
rose at dawn and reached the May-
flower Hotel at 6 :45 a.m. for breakfast
with the National Aeronautical Association,
which conferred a lifq membership upon him.
He reached Boiling Field outside Washington
at about 7 :30 a.m. Here rose the only incident
to mar his otherwise flawless happiness in the
welcome he had received. His plane refused to
"mote." It didn't actually rebel. But there was
sufficient irregularity in its engine to discour-
age him from risking delay when 'New York
City was almost every minute voicing its impa-
tience that he hurry to the celebration awaiting
him there. A pursuit plane was quickly obtained
from an army field and he was soon in the air
with his escort of more than a score of ships.
297
298 "WE"
The course of the group led them over Balti-
more, Wilmington and Philadelphia. Eyewit-
nesses later reported that demonstrations took
place at every one of these places as the air caval-
cade went by. Of course those in the planes,
thousands of feet in the air and deafened by the
roar of their motors, heard nothing of the bells
and whistles that saluted them as they passed.
Lindbergh arrived at Mitchel Field about
noon. As he had flown in a land plane and was
to be met in the lower harbor by the mayor's
yacht, he had to make a quick change to an
amphibian. This ship happened to be the San
Francisco which had but recently returned from
her "good will" flight to South America.
She took off from dry land and a few minutes
later volplaned down to the water just above the
Narrows.
Here a sight met Lindbergh's eyes that old
harbor inhabitants declare was absolutely with-
out precedent in the marine annals of New York.
Even the famous Hudson-Fulton Exposition
with its vast water parades and maneuvers was
exceeded.
In the sparkling sunshine of a perfect June
NEW YORK 299
morning was gathered half a thousand vessels
of every kind and description. Excursion boats,
yachts, tugs, motor boats, launches, fireboats,
even dredges, formed the spectacular array of
shipping gathered to meet the man who had made
the proudest of surface craft, the ocean hner,
a back number on the sea.
A police launch swung up to the San Fran-
cisco and took Lindbergh aboard. He was
brought to the Macom, yacht of the Mayor of
New York, amid a deafening chorus of whistles.
Indeed, so great was the din that conversation
among the welcoming committees was quite im-
possible and remained so throughout the hour's
voyage to the Battery.
As the Macom moved forward the huge dis-
orderly fleet of crowding vessels s^vung into
rough column behind her. Massive ocean going
tugs and fireboats clung close aboard to guard
her from too curious craft who sought to wedge
their way in toward the yacht for a better look
at the bare-headed boy standing atop her pilot
house.
As in Washington, the air was well filled with
planes. Their motors' roar lent a sort of solemn
300 "WE"
undertone to the shrieking chorus of whistles
and sirens.
There was an interview below decks. It was
not very successful. The whistles made too
much noise and Lindbergh very properly refused
to discuss his^ "feehngs", which are meat and
drink to the writing man.
It was estimated that 300,000 people were
massed in the vicinity of the Battery when the
M acorn hove alongside. Lining the streets clear
to Central Park was a multitude that was vari-
ously estimated from 3,000,000 to 4,500,000.
Scores of people were in their places before eight
A.M. on upper Fifth Avenue. Lindbergh did
not pass them until three p.m. Traffic was dis-
rupted. Police control was strained to its utmost.
As evidence of the almost unanimous turnout
for the occasion the Police Department of the
City issued special instructions to all citizens
about leaving their houses protected against
thieves, something that hadn't been done for a
generation.
When the cavalcade with Lindbergh leading
started up Broadway there came the famous
New York "snow storm" consisting of a myriad
NEW YORK 301
paper bits and confetti streamers floating down-
ward from the skyscrapers. Photographs do
scant justice to the spectacle.
At the City Hall Mayor Walker expressed the
city's sentiments with a fehcity that deserves
their record here. He spoke more informally
than most had spoken in Washington; by the
same token he echoed through his easily forgiv-
able eloquence much that the inarticulate thou-
sands waiting without the lines would hke to
have said.
He struck right at the heart of things when he
began:
"Let me dispense with any unnecessary official
side or function, Colonel, by telling you that if
you have prepared yourself with any letters of
introduction to New York City they are not
necessary.
"Everybody all over the world, in every lan-
guage, has been telhng you and the world about
yourself. You have been told time after time
where you were born, where you went to school,
and that you have done the supernatural thing of
an air flight from New York to Paris. I am
302 "WE"
satisfied that you have become convinced of it
by this time.
"And it is not my purpose to reiterate any of
the wonderful things that have been so beauti-
fully spoken and written about you and your
triumphal ride across the ocean. But while it
has become almost axiomatic, it sometimes seems
prosaic to refer to you as a great diplomat, be-
cause after your superhuman adventure, by your
modesty, by your grace, by your gentlemanly
American conduct, you have left no doubt of that.
But the one thing that occurs to me that has been
overlooked in all the observations that have been
made of you is that you are a great grammarian,
and that you have given added significance and
a deeper definition to the word 'we.'
"We have heard, and we are famihar with, the
editorial 'we,' but not until you arrived in Paris
did we learn of the aeronautical 'we.' Now you
have given to the world a flying pronoun.
"That 'we' that you used was perhaps the only
word that would have suited the occasion and the
great accomphshment that was yours. That
all-inclusive word 'we' was quite right, because
you were not all alone in the solitude of the sky
NEW YORK 303
and the sea, because every American heart, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, was beating for you.
Every American, every soul throughout the
world, was riding with you in spirit, urging you
on and cheering you on to the great accompHsh-
ment that is yours.
"That 'we' was a vindication of the courage,
of the inteUigence, of the confidence and the
hopes of Nungesser and Coli, now only alive in
the prayers and the hearts of the people of the
entire world. That 'we' that you coined was
well used, because it gave an added significance
and additional emphasis to the greatest of any
and all ranks, the word of faith, and turned the
hearts of all the people of the civilized world to
your glorious mother, whose spirit was your
spirit, whose confidence was youi* confidence,
and whose pride was your pride ; the 'we' that in-
cludes all that has made the entire world stand
and gasp at your great feat, and that 'we' also
sent out to the world another message and
brought happiness to the people of America, and
admiration and additional popularity for Amer-
ica and Americans by all the peoples of the
European countries.
304 "WE"
"Colonel Lindbergh, on this very platform are
the diplomatic corps, the diplomatic representa-
tives of all the countries of the civilized world ; but
before you and around you are the peoples them-
selves of all the countries of the civilized world,
foregathered in this city, the greatest cosmopoli-
tan institution in all the world; the peoples
who have come from the forty-eight States of
the Union and from every country of the civilized
world; and here today, as Chief Magistrate of
this city, the world city, the gateway to Amer-
ica, the gateway through which peoples from
the world have come in the search for liberty and
freedom — and have found it — here today let it
be written and let it be observed that the Chief
Magistrate of this great city, the son of an immi-
grant, is here to welcome as the world's greatest
hero, another son of an immigrant.
"Wliat more need I call to your attention, in
view of the busy life that you have been leading
and have the right to expect to lead? What
more can we say as we foregather in the streets
of this old city? And today, not by the words
alone of the Mayor, or the beautifully written
words of a scroll, as you stand here I am sure you
IN^EW YORK 305
hear something even more eloquent and glorious.
You can hear the heart-beats of six millions of
people that hve in this the City of New York.
And the story they tell is one of pride, is one of
admiration for courage and intelligence; is one
that has been bom out of and is predicated upon
the fact that as you went over the ocean you
inscribed on the heavens themselves a beautiful
rainbow of hope and courage and confidence in
mankind.
"Colonel Lindbergh, New York City is yours
— ^I don't give it to you ; you won it. New York
not only wants me to tell you of the love and
appreciation that it has for your great venture,
but is deeply and profoundly grateful for the
fact that again you have controverted all the old
rules and made new ones of your own, and kind
of cast aside temporarily even the weather
prophets, and have given us a beautiful day.
"So, just another word of the happiness, the
distinction and the pride which the City of New
York has today to find you outside this historical
building, sitting side by side with your glorious
mother, happy to find you both here, that we
might have the opportunity and a close-up, to tell
306 "WE"
you that like the rest of the world — but because
we are so much of the world, even with a little
greater enthusiasm than you might find in any
other place in the world — I congratulate you
and welcome j'^ou into the world city, that you
may look the world in the face."
Mayor Walker pinned the Medal of Valor
upon the lapel of Lindbergh's coat. Whereupon
Lindbergh for the first time gave in some detail
his sense of the size of the welcome he had re-
ceived :
"When I was preparing to leave New York,
I was warned that if we landed at Le Bourget we
might receive a rather demonstrative reception.
After having an hour of Le Bourget I did not
believe that anyone in New York had the slight-
est conception of what we did receive. Again,
at Brussels and at London. At London thirteen
hundred of the pride of Scotland Yard were lost
in the crowd at Croydon as though they had
been dropped in the middle of the ocean. With
the exception of a few around the car and around
the plane, I never saw more than two at any one
time.
"At Washington I received a marvelous recep"
© Wide World Photos
MITCHKL FIELD, L. I. AFTER THE FLIGHT TO WASHINGTON
NEW YORK 307
tion. But at New York I believe that all four
put together would be in about just the position
of those London bobbies."
"When I landed at Le Bourget I landed look-
ing forward to the pleasure of seeing Europe and
the British Isles. I learned to speak of Europe
and the British Isles after I landed in London.
I had been away from America a little less than
two days. I had been very interested in the
things I saw while passing over southern Eng-
land and France, and I was not in any hurry to
get back home.
"By the time I had spent about a week in
France and a short time in Belgium and Eng-
land, and had opened a few cables from the
United States, I found that I did not have much
to say about how long I would stay over
there."
Lindbergh paused for the laughter to subside.
This point always tickled people greatly.
"So I left Em-ope and the British Isles with
the regret that I had been unable to see either
Europe or the British Isles. When I started
up the Potomac from the Memphis I decided
that I was not so sorry that I had taken the
308 "WE"
Ambassador's advice. After spending about an
hour in New York I know I am not."
The parade now formed again and moved up
Broadway, through Lafayette Street, to Ninth
and over to Fifth. At Madison Square it halted
at the Shaft of Eternal Light. The ceremony
was touching and impressive. The tall shaft
topped by a crystal star, imprisoning light ever-
lasting, was a fitting memorial to the men who
gave up their lives in the World War. Lind-
bergh here laid a wreath in their memory.
Fifth Avenue had been packed ^vith people
since morning. It was now mid-afternoon. As
in Washington a wave of cheering marked the
progress of the car which held the city's guest
of honor.
At St. Patrick's Cathedral he stopped, got out
of his automobile and met Cardinal Hayes.
In Central Park the official city welcome ended
amid a gathering estimated at above 300,000
people. Bands were playing and automobile
horns added to the din.
Governor Smith of New York was waiting
there with his staff on a specially built reviewing
stand. He pinned on Lindbergh the State Medal
NEW YORK 809
of Honor : adding again to the ever lengthening
list of honors. There was again an exchange of
speeches met by salvos of applause. A sky writer
wrote "Hail Lindy" high in the air. Policemen
wrestled with swaying crowds. More than on
the avenue it seemed as if the city were con-
centrated for a Lindbergh it would never for-
get.
Near five the great demonstration came to
an end. For a few hours the center of attrac-
tion could escape to the refuge that had been
prepared for him and his mother in a private
apartment. But this escape was qualified by the
fact that it took a large guard to hold in check
the many people who sought access to Lindbergh
for one reason or another.
At. 8:15 P.M. he rode out on Long Island to
the beautiful estate of Clarence Mackay, head
of the Postal Telegraph Company. The place
had been transformed into a fairyland of colored
Japanese lanterns, fountains and illuminated
shrubbery. Eighty of New York's most prom-
inent people attended the dinner which was
kingly in its appointments. Later several hun-
dred guests came in for dancing.
310 "WE"
It would have seemed that this first terrific
day might have exhausted the ardor of the city's
welcome. But there followed a kaleidoscopic
week that was, if anything, more trying. Not
only did Lindbergh move amid a growing chorus
of business offers, but his social engagements
jammed tighter and tighter as the hours passed.
Moreover, his plane was still in Washington,
although he was scheduled to fly it to St. Louis
for the week-end.
The City of New York gave Lindbergh a din-
ner of some 4000 guests at the Hotel Commo-
dore. It was there that Mr. Hughes spoke the
following unique tribute:
"When a young man, slim and silent, can hop
overnight to Paris and then in the morning tele-
phone his greetings to his mother in Detroit;
when milhons throughout the length and breadth
of this land and over sea through the mysterious
waves, which have been taught to obey our com-
mand, can listen to the voice of the President of
the United States according honors for that
achievement, honors which are but a faint reflec-
tion of the affection and esteem cherished in the
hearts of the countryman of the West who dis-
NEW YORK 311
tinguished America by that flight, then indeed
is the day that hath no bother; then is the most
marvelous day that this old earth has ever
known.
"We measure heroes as we do ships by their
displacement. Colonel Lindbergh has displaced
everything. His displacement is beyond all cal-
culation. He fills all our thought; he has dis-
placed pohtics, Governor Smith.
"For the time being, he has lifted us into the
freer and upper air that is his home. He has
displaced everything that is petty ; that is sordid ;
that is vulgar. What is money in the presence of
Charles A. Lindbergh?
"What is the pleasure of the idler in the pres-
ence of this supreme victor of intelligence and
industry? He has driven the sensation mongers
out of the temples of our thought. He has kin-
dled anew the fires on the eight ancient altars of
that temple. Where are the stories of crime, of
divorce, of the triangles that are never equa-
lateral? For the moment we have forgotten.
This is the happiest day, the happiest day of all
days for America, and as one mind she is now
intent upon the noblest and the best. America is
312 "WE"
picturing to herself youth with the highest aims,
with courage unsurpassed; science victorious.
Last and not least, motherhood, with her loveliest
crown.
"We may have brought peoples together. This
flight may have been the messenger of good will,
but good will for its beneficent effects depends
upon the character of those who cherish it.
"We are all better men and women because of
this exhibition in this flight of our young friend.
Our boys and girls have before them a stirring,
inspiring vision of real manhood. What a won-
derful thing it is to live in a time when science
and character join hands to lift up humanity
with a vision of its own diginity.
"There is again revealed to us, with a startling
suddenness, the inexhaustible resources of our
national wealth. From an unspoiled home, with
its traditions of industry, of frugality and honor,
steps swiftly into our gaze this young man, show-
ing us the unmeasured treasures in our minds
of American character,
"America is fortunate in her heroes; her soul
feeds upon their deeds; her imagination revels
in their achievements. There are those who
NEW YORK 313
would rob them of something of their lustre, but
no one can debunk Lindbergh, for there is no
bunk about him. He represents to us, fellow-
Americans, all that we wish — a young American
at his best."
Only by reducing this record to catalog form
could it possibly be made to include a fully de-
tailed description of Lindbergh's four amazing
days in New York. Every night there was a
banquet. Every day there was a festive lunch.
Not hundreds, but thousands attended these
entertainments; and at the speaker's table there
always sat distinguished men whose names were
household words among Americans.
Lindbergh spoke at every banquet. Recur-
rently he paid gracious thanks to those who had
helped make his visit such a gorgeous success;
he usually ended by speaking on behalf of avia-
tion, the welfare of which he never forgot even
in the most crowded moments of his days.
The Merchants' Association gave him a gi-
gantic luncheon. The Aeronautical Chamber of
Commerce entertained him at a banquet that
filled to overflowing the famous ball room of the
Waldorf.
314 "WE"
On Wednesday night he gave an exhibition of
his endurance that once more reminded the world
it was feting no ordinary hero. After dining on
Rodman Wanamaker's yacht and seeing a spe-
cial performance of a light opera, Lindbergh at-
tended a charity benefit at one of the big theatres.
About 1 :30 a.m. he escaped through a back door
and hurried to Mitchel field. Although still in
his evening clothes he borrowed a helmet and
hopped off for Washington at 3:05 a.m. 'By
7 ;30 A.M. he was back in New York with his own
plane.
His last day was too crowded for him to take
a nap after his sleepless night. He went to
Brooklyn where above a million people gave him
another moving welcome. He kept a public
luncheon date. He attended a large tea and
reception at the Waldorf Hotel where Raymond
Orteig presented him with the $25,000 prize that
had long stood for the first flight from New
York to Paris. At eight, a little tired but still as
fresh looking as ever, he followed Charles
Schwab in speaking before a massed aviation
banquet that included many leading pilots of the
world.
Wide World Photos
ST. LOUIS' WELCOME LOOKING DOWN AVASHINGTON AVENUE
Wide IVorld Photos
MY MOTHER
VI
ST. LOUIS
AT 8:17 A.M., Friday June 17th, Lind-
bergh hopped off in his plane for St.
Louis. At Paterson he passed over
the plant of the Wright Aeronautical Corpora-
tion where had been built the motor that had
taken him across the Atlantic. At 11:16 he
reached Columbus, Ohio. At Dayton he was
joined by an escort of thirty fast Army planes.
They took off from the field where the old
hangar of Orville and Wilbur Wright still
stands.
About 5 P.M. he approached St. Louis in a
wet fog. He dropped lower and circled the city.
As at New York the sky was dotted with planes.
Streets and house tops were massed with people.
As he landed at Lambert Field a cordon of
troops protected him from the eager crowds.
For the evening he managed to escape to the
815
316 "WE"
home of a friend where he got a httle much-
needed rest, though reporters and business so-
hcitors still swarmed about him. Saturday
morning came the huge city parade with lunch-
eon and banquet to follow. Sunday he gave an
exhibition flight over the old World's Fair
grounds. Not an hour, scarcely a waking minute,
was he free from demands upon his time and
attention.
By this time his mail had exceeded the wildest
imagination. It was estimated that more than
2,000,000 letters and several hundred thousand
telegi-ams were sent him. He gave out the fol-
lowing statement:
"To the Press: As an air mail pilot I deeply
appreciate the sentiment which actuated my
countrymen to welcome me home by 'air mail,'
and regret only that I have no way in which to
acknowledge individually every one of the tens
of thousands of 'air mail' gi-eetings I have re-
ceived, for my heart is in the 'air mail' service,
and I would like to help keep alive the air-con-
sciousness of America which my good fortune
may have helped to awaken."
By this time statisticians began to get busy.
ST. LOUIS 317
One ojfRcial association estimated that the tre-
mendous increase of interest in flying developed
by Lindbergh's feat caused publications in the
United States to use 25,000 tons of newsprint in
addition to their usual consumption.
Roughly 5,000 poems were believed to have
been written to commemorate the first New York
to Paris flight. A town was named "Lind-
bergh," Scores of babies were reported chris-
tened after the flier- An enormous impetus was
given the use of air mail.
Inspired editorials were written in every part
of the civilized world. The following from the
New York Times suitably completes this very
superficial record of the early Lindbergh wel-
come by mankind :
"Such a man is one in a host. In treating of
the psj^chology of those who adore Lindbergh it
must first be set down that he has the quahties
of heart and head that all of us would hke to
possess. When he left Newfoundland behind,
the dauntless fellow seemed to have a rendezvous
with Death, but his point of view was that he had
an engagement in Paris. Two gallant French-
men had lost their lives, it was believed, in an at-
318 "WE"
tempt to fly across the Atlantic to the United
States. An American, unknown to fame, in
whom no one but himself believed, made the pas-
sage smoothly, swiftly and surely, traveling
alone and almost unheralded. From 'New York
to Paris, without a hand to clasp or a face to
look into, was a deed to lose one's head over. And
that's what everybody in France, Belgium and
England proceeded to do.
"After all, the greater was behind — the young
fellow's keeping his own head when millions
hailed him as hero, when all the women lost their
hearts to him, and when decorations were pinned
on his coat by admiring Governments. Lind-
bergh had the world at his feet, and he blushed
like a girl ! A more modest bearing, a more un-
affected presence, a manlier, kindlier, simpler
character no idol of the multitude ever displayed.
[NTever was America prouder of a son."
The End
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