Bisbee daily review., 1916-03-28
AMERICAN AVIAT0RS IN MEXICO ENCOUNTER
 VERY TRYING WORK
Army Flier Declares that Eu- ropean Air Service is Not So Hard as that in the Sierra Madres of Chihuahua.
(ey Review Leased Wire)

March 26, by aerOplane to Columbus, ! N Nj. March 27.-The first aero squadron of the United States Army, in a weeks service with Brig. General John J. Pershings expedition in Mex ico, mas surmounted flying problems more difficult than most of those en- countered by European military avia- tors.
 The work has been without, thus far, really serious accident, one of the senior aviators said today that only in the Alps are the European flyers likely to encounter conditions paralleling those under which the American aviators now are working. The Mexican service has been sue cession of unique adventures, each one met successfully by the quick wit of the aviators.
 Never" said this aviator, have we had any flying as difficult as we have done here. We are under d handicap of an altitude of about 5200 feet when We rise. Some of the mountains We have tried to get over are approximately 5000 feet above sea level, and none of our machines are powerful enough to carry a mili- tary load. the pilot, observer and sutfi- cient fuel at such an altitude. We ! might get oyer one Of the high noun tains but we probably would be un- able to carry enough fuel for the re- turn flight"
 He told about flight of some of his men over a mountain pass which the aviators described as some of the , toughest country in Mexico.
 | Just before reaching the pass they were above a gorge, 2000 feet deep. ! No landing place was observed with in fifteen miles of this pass. One of the flyers had difficulty in rising to ! the necessary altitude. He turned and wheeled his machine, trying to | ascend, but the strong air currents ' swept him around until he was about twenty feet of the tree tops near the summit of the pass. After he had grazed the trees, without being able to fight his way higher through the | lrecherous winds. he was forced to | turn back. The other ayhtors made the flight. Two of the aviators. carry ng despatches, landed near a camp in wind, which they described as he worst encountered by any Of the | jquadron since the flight for the Mae kay Trophy in 1914 from San Diego | 70 Los Angeles, when Lieut.. Fred ierstner, an ovserver. was killed. ! The haL air. near this camp. Grove | }ne into sprial nose glide. in which | dropped about 1000 feet When the aviator came out Of the glide he saw
 some csvalrymen waving a Blanket
 md he finished the descent. deliver 'ns his orders safely. Five mintes 1 ater. the second aviator on this par | ticular trip came overhead, his ma
 chine rocking like a boat in a rougG sea- the second plane also landed | safely. after the landing had been ac. cOmplished. the wind was so strong that it picked up one machine ana
 set it back 20 or 90 feet. The wind Increased. and was followed by sev
 gre cold, freezing and sleet. so that these two planes remained for two days out on a high prairie, their avi- ators and guards enduring cold anc hunger without a complaint. to insure l A
 served to fasten one wing Of a plan1
 to seven tentpoles anchorine the ma
 chine so that the wind would no;
 blow it away. The men slept in the open, without blankets and with nc
 covering, choosing any handy clump
 of grass or knoll for a windbreak
 When the wind moderated enough
 for flying. it still was very cold In
 fact the aviators did not wait for favorable weather before resuming
 flight, and one of them cranked hi
 engine from 5:05 a. m. 10 9:30 a m
 by hand power until he got into trim
 to take off the ground. The other
 machine got away by the same process
 with two hours cranking.
 Tn flying here" said the aviator
 it is a case frequently of putin.
 ones life against the motor. for il thc
 nOtOr stops, there is no landing placc
 within reach and the aviator has n
 nance" Thus far, however. the aer
 squadron has kept the motors in reli
 able running order in ali emersenciee
 The aviators themselves believe tha.
 lhei- work of gathering and transmit
 ing information for the army and fo,
 Is commander. is a more diificUii
 !uty than being under actual fire The
 'hances of being hit while under fir
 n this country. they cstimat. c.
 about million to one"
 The European planes in the Alpine work. they have been informed, carr , specially powerful motors designed iC. 1 mountain observation duty. Further nOre, in the Alps, if an aviator. aft, m accident does succeed in laudinn le stands a chance of capture, but il
 my work they may understake again . |illa the American aviators are nt { l counting on saving their lives if they should be forced to descend withil
 each of the bandits. The cold itseu
 las required great nerve. A few q , he men have come in from hal lights so numbed that they had to : e lifted from their machines.
 Thus far in their landings the av' , ltors have not encountered any sicre l If unfriendliness among he MeXic; q
 people Some of the planes ha'- made long trips away from their bas"
 In one case, an aviator. in a fligi [
 which lasted until nine o'clock .,