Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-01-02
icy Universal Service. ]

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the Panama Canal Zone TO the ma
! toual capital.
When the canvas tips on his pro-
p..tc's lie" OF IN ihc midst OF Il Wild
VA" tried the Icing nor, was ncar.y
shaken out OF the whirting plane by
the terrific vibration that cmsu,d.
II was scared was his frank COM
mont i IN not proud III II. hut
might as well admit IL 1t WAS tn.
Gag OF a slow. certain death after
hours Of lighting in the open sea.
There didnt seem any caaucc of
escaping
Topping OFF from the naval air sta
ton AT COCO Solo, Panama. the AIR
"nNrmturer p!lotcd ms plane by !,
| navy bdd stationed PARKWAY across
i"c Su.i 10 guide him. Ills nrSt warn
ms v' hthN! weather came whcn iar
ca. IN thc Eu!I, me looked below HIM
..nG s"" 4 piS freight steamer bury
iU- her nose in every SVEN Then the
trouble began. lSut the story is best
iuId by the aviator himself.
NJ 90. enc hour out. the oil pres
sur" hud tIiicn to normal and 1 was
! ihi'hins 100 miles per nour on "A course
.. - drsr"ts. lisht southwest wind.
! NJ I"udoahti IN the north and
h'EIh"..t Was comini; starti!ngy
Si"S". mere WAS :, dim norIzou DvIot,
! II. Hiduvn mere and there 10y :. suua,I
strikes First Squat.
HhoTNE pSIorc o'c!cck passed
-.
/ t!nE only few drops OF rain. Tie
S!hn, OF tn" failing rain indicated a
iiEnt northeast wind. and swung
snEhtly L. the east. At s."2 pass,t
| q H"lIU" stacked frcightcr. north :
bound. rN!.!cn;ly on way to Kingston.
ror several miles tc the east there
was wa; (" larse ireighicr in tow by two
,uSS Whitn Judged to he in the
! tack throuShout. the wind ward pas-
| S'S,. Was surprised at the way she
Wis hurEiHs her bow in the swclls.
I 80.
n" clouds ia the northwest had
Eoit"h h!ackSr, and large squalls Ip-
! pnIr"d ahead. About Sl5 i struck
! iNht T.. n. Failing from clouds which
| seemed TO d. abou, 1000 feet
! ~ So. Two hours out. was snut
! ia ~ showers, and Tying through
Tbb. , ,".'t =, an altitude OF 800 feet
pioWiAE about Hftecn miles from In.
40, m"r'hyaSt' had gradually altered
ny, c"uf>" 70 twenty-five degrees Al
/ through which had Jus, nnss.i 80"
N!I"e3 from the north looked inuas.
San!c. ahead there was still a dir,
; wnrr .o, % me right and left ahead
| atroSS had evidently failed 10 SCI.
M boats at stations two ana
, mn ;, n ,,j that did NOT surprise
been 50 very low. Nfter nv r.iu, t''!
found 'hat both these boats MAJ ~.
pusteu me past. 50 that must have
course 't4 c'vSc 10 my proper
80. Decides to kccp On.
,o-:,aii "o"Ui mis- time began to en-
h.sIl' i,,6 ,Gr idea of turning back My
Hyuin Dc no better wca thrr ahead fo,
rNhfEt ninE Indicated a ge,craI s,nrr,
a q ih.E not violent, but INTENDING NJ
nEngW mat | would not sight ano,ber
s.ne.e boat. and would have To d"nanS
gn, n upon my dead reckoning T."
...Gt mat ] would not be allowrd 80
i'm 5he attempt shon!d fail this
Knew j. vas now or never and ]
~ 30, :Arec hours ont. I cbarr.,,
~ LIN 70 = IL WAS raining again
iuae hao 4V.minnte respite. NJ aiti.
~ M" varied from 300 10 GGn -,
/ , ~ ESQ Increased 20 about - ~ ;, h
ON 80 degrees. My corrsc 49,, . 81 ~ !.
r rE;r compass. The sea was Y.ry
cr%i, WIN "h!tc caps on every wave
MY first though, on entering tho
NJ, "a"' OF course. bccu rcrnrdin..
H. w "rG:bei jSs;. Sooner or later knew
! ~ .tpS' put felt that thi: wniiiI mo-,
! .|rFth Tor long zine /: | s,.i,t a.
| ,b,o,, hSaFS "ain and few fairly well
ro.t tS" qe:oek found bad squalls d.
around so | wen; tiroygb !,
/ Hi Teen minutes. ." "pou
~ the fourth hour drew to , clo.o
/ $3.50 STRIVING 10 make u final dc
! or Urn Oh h,H whether ! should go ahead
VI t0Ion. had just decided q
/ g. -" Whcn. with a sound which
| i IT,, never forget. my propeller cover
.., rrie. To Head South.
.d ,ahiiy terrific vibration start
s,r,,,. as:IaSe and wings, wires
! ono Instruments shook and danced
Up. The struts were vibraiinp -, !,
sin ,i''hrs. II did not seem nos.
rI,n. '"r the motor to stay in the
, turned and headed south
nc ~ not proud OF il. but I Nigh,
as Vel admit it. 1t was the fear q,
Gglh',Ii."'... certain death after hours OF
500, ia ne open sea. There didn't
~ az! chance of escaping
I,I.iH Give hours from Franc.
n.. my morale began To rise.
"vo,,, "ouid strike clear weathc,
ei,,'",1a chat at the reduced seed
'"n.II!h reach land in about five hours
va. oin'' 10 Keep out OF squalls
,'S forced to bear more and NOR,
w. 49, "sa!mst very bad storm Which
"rS "o'Hing up against tho rns
''- '"r thirty minutes | ran I,
sj'ft,""aiS' !uSt ahead OF II. The win,
| ~ iUDut -DU IN les.
,lme than Il takes 10 tell il. n car.
d"Hs speed
=, ! cut back 70 No. | and No. tank:
"a, w" "hb az five hours. ! knew thai
after those tanks were exhausted
moniG s;!Ii have better than tw,
hours fuel in No. Q
h"""s Other Propeller Tip.
IL o'clock thought ! coul,
nr'HN through the storm aud &c
PACK on u south course. ] went int,
~" rain at an altitude Of about hrty
rItc'. anu then came the only tim.
"heh ! Tot there was any danger q
- crash Other than "a forced landing
Ia" nianc rollrd and pitched violent.
~ -" RAIN WAS so heavy that
could hardly MAKE out the whiteca ~
p.Inw iihin =. few seconds thcs'
hai hcon n"atcn down by The rain
ana J could So" nothing | droppc,
sun rover, Z" within twcnty-hvc fc"
OF me water. ana Swcrvcd TO the lcft
within hNc minutes was out. JUS
men TIC "thcr propeller tip ripped
TINS was a good thing. for the vitra
ton was decrease! Lv half
At about 1890 ! got around III,
storm. or rather passed between
two parts OF II. and set a course OF
zoo degrees. ~ I1.iJ IL began 10
look bit light ahead and at I:I0
ran out or tn" rain. after Gavinp
been liz u almost constantly for iv,
hours. y hair hour later the sur
broke through. and saw the shadow
OF The plane for the arst time thai
day.
turned my rcscrv. OH into m,