Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-12-06
The Night
Flyer
BY HENRY NJ. Nicely
Copyright.
The Frank A. Munsey Co.
BY HENRY NJ. Nicely
The Frank A. Munsey Co.


Il shah not he Ione more than an
hour" said as sprang into the seat.
Jus, wave your lantern in a circle
when you hear me overhead, and be
sure YOU are standing wen down the
field for | shall aim for tho ground
right beside you, ana you must give
me plenty of run in the dark By.by."
The motor roared out deafeningly
in response to my turns Of the starter.
and Eakins. holding me until gave
the signal. finally let 90 and ped
down the field
As rose higher and higher ! began
to feel for the first time in my life
what il meant 10 be nervous in the air.
Under ordinary conditions there is al.
ways the horizontal skyline which
tells man instinctively whether he
is flying evenly; he can see without
conscious thought whether he is head
ed UP or down.
His problems present themselves in
plain sight, and he Is fully Pre- pared to
meet them without difficulty. with the
flat earth below as an undertaking
standard by which to measure his
work.
But now, with utter darkness above,
below and all around NE. with no hori
ron amino earth To register lateral
Balance or fore and'aft liability = ito
ma,ically upon the mind | found my
SELF working my cloche in a milo but
dangerous panic of uncertainty.
thought at times that ! was steer
Ing downward and al other times that
| was slowly turning over sideWl5e,
and the nervous jerks which / gave TO
the cloche made the machine swerve
sharply and demand instant counter
action that simply increased my dan
ger and my CONSERVATION.
Gradually, however. this panic left
me. and | found that | could safely
trust to the instructive feeling OF the
body for the perpendicular.
But It was the most trying climb
that have ever made. Precious min
utes were lost to me in this unreason-
ing staggering up and down IN the
darkness, but finally | decided that
was high enough for my pGgpose and,
heading sharply downward, | cut of
the motor and began long and grace
full. spiral glide.
For several minutes my ears refused
to accept the silence that followed the
stopping of the engine.
Then gradually the thunder and
ringing In my bead ceased, and was
able to hear the shlill OF the rushinS
air as | plunged through it the low
singing Of the vibrating wires and the
whine Of the propcllcrblades as he
airprcssure from ahead kept them
whirlng in spite of the absence Of
power from the motor
Around and around | circled, my
senses strained to catch the sound Of
that other engine.
The fear of the unseen ground was
almost upon me before | caught from
far off to the right the faint, low purr
that meant so much 10 me. | waited
until my spiral had brought me head
ed straight for the distant sound, and
then, closing the switch and giving the
Gnome wido-open throttle, straight
ened until | could feel the i'll pull OF
the propeller and hear the steady key
that | loved from the song of my
motor
Again | started climbing, his time
straight ahead on course that would
bring me high over Casserta, well to
the north as he swung over the shore
There was nothing TO guide me but
the most careful estimates of angle,
speed, and distance; but luck was with
me, for when cut out the motor again
and spiraled, heard Casserta below
me and slightly TO the south, and
straining my eyes through the dark
ness finally made out the dull glow of
his exhausts
Here at last, was something definite
TO trust to for leadership.
The Mexican's ability as night
flier was so much superior to my own
that had not the slightest hesitation
in depending entirely upon his judy
ment of direction and distance, SO that
from then on my problem reduced it.
self to the simple one of keeping my.
self so high above him that he could
not hear my motor even If he cut oil
his own, yet not so far above that !
could not see The lurid halo that
whirled around his revolving engine,
and marked his path for me against
the slnmbe-ing world lying 80 black
below.
And so NC flew through the nigh,