The Washington herald., 1920-10-22
AVIATORS MAKE.
new AIR MARK.
Capt. S;reett, Local Pilot,
Leads Back Record
Breaking Squadron.
PIONEERS ARE FETED
Presented With Certificates
After Being Lauded by
Service Director.
PIONEERS ARE FETED

Escorted by four squadrons ag-
gregating ffry-nve aIrplanes and by
the ZD-1, Americas biggest dirI-
gible, the eight army aviators VINO
in four planes flew to Alaska and
back were welcomed home yester-
day afternoon with the most re-
markabls air spectacle ever wit
messed n the Capital. Their ac-
cOmplishment is proclaimed gener-
ally the outstanding air event of
the yeaI
! One Iuadron of eighteen planes
accompanied the flyers all the way
from NIEeola- Two other squad
rons from Langley Field met the
returning heroes a short distance
from Washington. In squadron
formation. with the returned avia-
tors in the center, all few over
the Capital.
Thousands Greet Pioneers.
Thousands of spectators saw the
pioneers of the air land at Boiling
Field, where they were greeted by
Secretary Of War Baker, Secretary
of the Navy Daniels, Gen. John J..
Pershirg, Gen. Peyton c. March,
Mai. Gea. Charles T. Menoher, di
rector Of Air Service; Brig. Gen.
William Mitchell. director of Mill
tary AerOnautics; and other high
War Department officials. And
81
haired, bright-eyed little lady who
made % effort to conceal her Ella
ton She was the mother of Capt
st Clair STREET., of 1641 Swami
street northwest, commanding Of
ficer o. the expedition.
Mrs STREET. pushed through the
crowd that surrounded her boy,
threw her arms about his neck,
and gaze vent to her enthusiasm
with a kiss.
Presented with Certificates.
Gen. Menoher then presented GER
tificatec to the men, whom he laud-
ed for having accomplished what
not long ago would have been held
imposs bic. In addition to Capt.
STREET.. those who received certifi
Gates were: Capt. Howard Doug
las. advance officer; First Lieuts.
Clifford g. Mutt, Eric H. Nelson, c.
H. Crunrine and Ross Kirkpatrick;
and Sergts. James Long and JO-
seph English.
A dinner at the Army and Navy
Club given last night by Gen. Me-
noher and Gen. Mitchell in honor
of the Alaska air expedition was
attended by many notable officials.
Altogether the expedition covered
5000 miles. The flight to Alaska
required sixteen days, although the
actual flying time was only fifty
six hours. The return occupied
fifteen days. The route took the
daring aviators over 300 miles OF
glaciers, where a forced landing
meant death, and over 1000 miles
of territory so sparsely settled that
no huII5an habitatiOn was seen for
hours at a stretch. The average
flying height was 5000 feet, al
though at times the planes flew as
low as 200 feet and at others were
compelled to ascend 10000 feet.
Bring Home Valuable Data.
The ayers brought home data OF
great value to the governments
geOdetic survey. The maps by
which they few proved inaccurate
in des snating the height of certain
mountain peaks. In one instance
the planes were compelled to ascend
10000 feet to get over a mountain
listed as being only 500 feet high.
All four planes were loaded with
gifts md souvenirs collected on the
trip. Among them were six Eskimo
dogs which frisked about in lively
fashion when released from the
Cockpits- But with the temperature
at 80 degrees they were soon willing
to take things easy.
Speaking of his flight, which his