The Nenana daily news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1918-1921, 1918-12-27
AVIATOR TELLS
OF FLIGHT OVER
NEW MAIL LINE

army aviators, whose field to field !
flights in the central and eastern
part of the country are expected |
to make up an interesting chapter in
the history of American aviation, !
is that of Captain F. NJ. Bartlett, |
who flew from Fort Scott, H., to
Kelly Field Texas, 100 miles, thru
sunshine and storm.
This story of Captain Bartlett's /.
difficult flight is given by the United
States committee on public informa-
ton.
He covered the 341 miles between
Bellvillo and Clark field, Memphis,
Tennessee. in hours and 5 min
utes at an average speed of ITO
miles an hour, favored by a stiff
wind from the Great Lakes and at
an altitude of between 1000 and
900 feet. On the second leg of the
trip between Memphis, Tennessee,
and Payne Field, West Point, Miss
issippi, wishing to stop for lunch,
he descended and was close to the
ground over an abandoned race
track when he suddenly found the
air so thin he knew he could not
get off this ground once he landed
| He had difficulty in getting back
/ to the upper currents again but by
| following flock of birds which
! flew in ascending circles, he secured
enough altitude to continue. APP
preaching West Point fine air was
again encountered but over this town
| he ran into an electrical storm
and was forced to descend.
With clear weather the next day
/ he made $50 miles between West
Point and Lonoke, Arkansas, with
out stop though his gasoline gave
out pust as he arrived over Eberts
| Field, near this point, and Little
Rock, Arkansas. Here bad weather
held him up four days.
Four hundred and fifty miles of
the next leg between Eberts Field
and Post Field. Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
which had not been covered before
in an airplane up to this time. prov
ed the hardest task in his whole trip.
He made the distance in nine hours
of difficult flying over the Ozark
mountains and came down at Hugo
Oklahoma, for gasoline.
He had made his course straight
from Little Rock over the Ozarks
in an airline for Fort Sill, but with
nothing but a rough carpet of high
hills and thick timber under him
as far as he could see, and on ac-
court of the bad weather making
he abandoned the air line to the
west and veered to the south. Sixty
miles in this direction from Hugo
he encountered gale of such force
las to fell trees below him. He at.
! tempted to rise over it, but was
caught in a wedge of black clouds
held in the grip of the storm fol
So minutes hung over Arkadelphia
Arkansas. His plane settled from
an altitude of 5000 feet to 5000
feet, and drifted about two miles
side-wise when he finally broke
through the storm and came GU,
miles off his course but into dry
! weather. By compass calculation;
he picked up his direction agar
and landed at Fort Sill without fur
Their incident.
Between Fort Sill and Wichits
Falls, Texas, he again met bac
} weather and had to be satisfied
Will SHUT miedSe- TTOm lne
Falls Captain Bartlett again failec
} to make Fort Worth ON the day
following, running into a stiff gale
which held his ground speed dowr
to 25 miles an hour, and he landed
in the dust at Bridgeport, Just
short of his destination.
The next day he made Fort
Worth without trouble but, leaving
this post at $50 a. m, he en-
, countered heavy storm and was
again forced to land at Waco. Wait
ing here for the storm to pass he