New-York tribune., 1918-09-06
Pilot Miller Forced to Stop
in Pennsylvania on
Test Journey
Crowd Sees Perfect
Start in Morning
Flight Will Be Resumed
To-day With 5000 Letters
for Western City

The fight Of the experimental New
York Chicago mail plane ended at $3.50
last night, wnen tie machine landed in
field on the outskirts of Cleveland,
5S4 miles from New York The airplane
was slightly damaged, but Max Miller,
the pilot, was unhurt Blown out Of
his course and out of gasolene, he was
compelled to descend Oh the Country
Club grounds at Cambridge, Ohio,
where he replenished his fuel supply
and proceeded. The contrary wind con-
tlnued high and he came down finally
at Cleveland to spend the rest of the
night He was $50 miles off his course.
Postofice officials received word ear
Ger in the evening that Miller had been
compelled to land at Logansport, Penn,
275 miles from New York, and would
not resume his journey until to-day.
Had Miller been able to maintain his
schedule he should have arrived at Chi
cago at o'clock in the afternoon.
Start at 7:0S A. NJ.
Miller left the ground at 7:O8 o'clock
d
and headed westward with the first
sacks of mail ever sent by airplane to
Chicago, 699 miles away on a bee line.
A leather mail sack had been painted
on the side of the cockpit of the air
plane like those that used to adorn
the mail carrying stage coaches. In
the eXtr- cockpit seat were approx
mate.y 5000 pieces of mail in sacks,
making a load of about $50 pounds.
At S:4o o'clock Pilot Edward Gard
ner, with Mechanic Radeler, made a
haps that eliminated in the swapping
of the tail skid on his self-startins
Liberty -Four" Pilot Miller made his
start about $50 a. m. and circled i'm
patiently over the Belmont track pad
dock while waiting for his fellow avia-
tor to follow. After twenty-five min
utes of flying he landed, replenished
his gasolene supply and then made a
second start at 1908 a. m. without
waiting for Gardner. This time the
pilot (both of them have been army
aviation instructors) climbed speedily,
cheered by shouts from small gath
ering that included Postmaster Patten,
Alan Hawley and Henry Woodhouse, of
the Aero Club of America; Captain
Bob Bartlett, who commanded Pearys
ship on several of his dashes for the
North Pole Lieutenant Eytinge. of
the British Royal Air Service, and
Lieutenant Pennybaker, of the United
States Aviation Service.
The sun was just behind a big cloud
bank in the east, and as Miller's ma
chine cleared the clouds it was turned
to flaming gold by the rays that
shone through the mist and cloud.
Exercise boys were galloping thorough
breds about the track below him and
as he Strengthened out like homing
pigeon for the trip west a squadron of
nine army planes swept into view from
Mineola and acted as an escort on the
trip toward Long Island Sound.
Miller made his first landing of the
trip on the golf links of the Clinton
Country Club, two miles from Lock
Haven, Penn, at 1855 a. m. He re-
mained there less than half an hour
and then resumed his westward flight.
His speed at times exceeded 100 miles
an hour. He was scheduled to make
stops at Bryan and Cleveland, Ohio.
The route followed by Miller and
Gardner from Belmont Field to Chicago
is belt eighty miles wide, known as
the Woodrow Wilson Airway. The
aviators used the special map of the
airway that was made under the drec-
ton of Henry Woodhouse, Captain
Russell Hastings Millward and Captain
Bob Bartlett.
Route From Coast to Coast
The airway extends from San Fran
cisco to New York and the maps are in
seventeen sections. They are of a spe-
cial design, with much detail elimi-
mated, and OH scale suitable to swift
flying mail carriers. The map shows
nothing but the landmarks in the
eighty mile-wide strip, because that is
just about the expanse of territory
visible to an aviator, whose horizon
normally has forty-mile radius.
The map gives compass directions
magnetic declnations, the distance be-
tween cities and other information of
value. Also, there is chart giving a
silhouette of contours a line through
the airway zone touches. the most i'm
portant cities in the states of New
York, New Jersey, Pennaylvania, Ohio
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois. Iowa. Ne
hraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Ne
vada and California;