The sun., 1919-04-28
PLANS NONSTOP AIR
TRIP TO THE PACIFIC
Lieut.. Ormer L. LOcklear
Banks on Getting Gas
From Other Craft.
CALLS SCHEME FEASIBLE
Hopes to Make Trip From New
York to San Francisco AZ
ter Leaving Army.

Second Lieut.. Ormer l.. Locklear,
army aviation Instructor, Is 30 firmly
convinced that nonstop flight from
New York to San Francisco Is a GER
tainty that he Is planning to attempt
one as soon as he gets out Of Uncle
Sans service.
Tho big feature OF his plan will be
to take on gasolene through q dangling
tube from other ships" high in the air
at various points along the route. The
number of times It will be necessary to
refill his tank will depend altogether
upon the capacity of his tank and the
speed Of the machine. 1t may require
three or four midair refillings, and per-
haps not as many
The big point in favor of his scheme,
the Lieutenant says, Is its practlcability.
as demonstrated by experience in flying
machines in parallel courses within
few feet of each other, and by his stunt
In dropping from one ship" to another
a year or 30 ago.
Believes Idea IL Feasible.
'Tt strikes me the idea II entirely fea-
sible," Lieut. Loeklear SAID at the Ho-
tel Woodward last MIR. There viii
be ships waiting at diiierent points be-
tween here and San Francisco. When
the man making the flight approaches,
a machine will take to the air and take
up position over and near the nom
stop ship A long rubber tube or pipe
with an automatic cutoff will be low
cred.
THE end OF the tube viii be inserted
in the tank OF the ship below and the
gasolene will be turned on. All this time,
OF course. the two machines will be fly
ing along at the same rate OF speed
When the tank Is filled the relay man
will return to his field and the New
York-San Francisco ship will continue
on his way. That Ia all there Is to It.
II Is entirely practicable, and am sure
II will be done. This Is much safer
than making landings to take on gaso-
lene. thus running the risk OF breaking
something"
Lieut. Locklear is a Fort Worth, Tex,
boy and is an instructor OF aviation at
Barron Field. Fort Worth. He made
flights in his own airplane for two years
before enlisting in the army aviation
service. and the army found him SO use
full down in Texas that It kept him
there to teach other fiiers, thus prevent
ing him from flying on the other side.
He has been living in the air about four
years.
Lieut. Locklear has Jared army avia-
tors on many occasions by his hardihood
in doing what were supposed to be I'm
possible things In flight. A large number
of photographs show him hanging head
down with his legs clutched round a part
OF the lower structure Of an airpiane,
sitting Oh the tail piece with nothing to
hang to. standing at the outer strut Of
plane, and in all sorts of places. ex-
cept the cockpit, where an aviator is
supposed to stay. In fact, his daredevil
spirit and his wonderful exhibitions OF
acrobatics have gained for him the
pseudonym OF the aviator nut" which
doesn't altogether please him.
Convinced Glenn Curtiss.
II didn't do these things because I
wanted TO run the risk OF being killed"
he said. but simply to demonstrate what
could be done. Somebody has got to
show the way. you know Glenn Curtiss
said that no man could sit out on the
tail of q ship with nothing to hang to in
stream OF wind at ninety hiles an hour
I showed him that such a thing was
possible and later he acknowledged It
was
II want to do things that people feel
can't be done. / don't believe anything
Is impossible except perpetual motion. /
am convinced that some day we will all
be flying. and the more things are at
tempted and accomplished, the sooner
we will get there 80 H.|
"Now, as to the proposal OF having
your machine replanishsdS with gas
from other machines while attempting
nonstop flight from New York to Chi
cage. There WAS a time when people
would have laughed at the idea that
an express locomotive could SCOOP up
water and I'll its tank without stopping,
hHipp dav ha,
riloted ship along within four feet
OF another ship and nothing whatever
happened. 1t will be done many times
again. What, then, Is easier than hav.
ing your tank filled with gasolene in
midair in tho manner which have de-
scribed?
Not only Is II possible to take on
gas but relays of mail from different
cities could be picked up along the New.
lork-San Francisco air route without
any trouble whatever You could EN-.
ploy the same methods as are used by
fast mail trains as they pass small sta
lions. For instance. Chicago could send
Its mail up by a fier and the machine
bound for San Francisco could grab Il
as 1t went by.
THE principle OF non-stop flight
across the continent Is TO show the en-
durance of the ship and the endurance
NJ the men running il. II Is a much more
sensible thing to try flying across the
continent before attempting a flight
across the Atlantic. 1t Is about 5000
miles by rail and about 1900 miles by
air from this city to San Francisco. II
the weather is favorable, as it ought to
be next month. there ought not to be any
trouble in completing nonstop flight
II the fellows along the route come up
with their gasolene on schedule Tina
Gnhn EInnIr % nIo.nh.a