Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1921-04-15
Mysteries Of Nocturnal
Lights Told I'm Official
Report Of Dead Flyer
Ry George 3. Holmes.

report of Lieutenant w. ID. Coney'
the daring transcontinental pilot,
Just made public by the army Air
service.
Lieutenant Coney made a rec
ord flight from California to Flor
ida with but two stops, each being
necessitated By accidents to his
plane. He crashed and was killed
on his return trip. The report
which Is now made public was
written by Lieutenant Coney upon
his arrival at Jacksonville.
Had it been written thirty
years ago - twenty years ago - 1t
would have been put down as an
excellent piece of imaginative
writing and the action 1t chroni-
cles wholly impossible Of accom-
plishment. Into the stiff, stilted
form Of an official army report
Coney managed to weave some Of
the beauties of those moonlIt
wastes that lie miles above the
earth, and also some Of the dan
gers such as coming out OF a
cloud thousands of feet up and
finding a snow-capped mountain
peak only hundred feet below.
Pail Of Clouds Marred Start.
Scores OF pilots have been kill
ed In just such way ~ running
full tilt into mountain
shrouded perhaps in mist while
hurtling through the air any
where from 100 to 150 miles an
hour.
The report reveals that Coney's
start on his iil-fated trip was not
Ruspicious.
ut was raining and very stor-
my" he wrote, "the clouds black
and very low. The last minute
adjustments and a rechecking of
compasses were accomplished in a
downpour of rain. It was decided
that as soon as the clouds broke
TO the west | would take off and
climb through, the hole and then
turn on my course.
Full Moon Above Rain Clouds.
Shortly before z o'clock a hole
became visible In the west and |
took the air. The ship was little
loggy and tail-heavy from excess
weight, but handled fairly well. /
circled once over the crowd on the
field, picking up their location by
the numerous automobile lights.
then began picking my way
through the rain clouds. At 1886
had climbed above the clouds
and was greeted by a bright full
moon. Tho coast range of noun
tains was directly below, although
entirely invisible from my posi-
tion.
Plane Bathed in Argent Rays.
THE weather from Yuma east
looked very bad, the clouds ex-
tending from the mountains up to-
at least $4,000 feet Flying at
5000 feet, started to climb. as II
had to have at least 10000 feet
TO clear the mountain range
northwest of Tucson, Ariz. The
motor was working beautifully at
1900 revolutions a minute; the
oil was steady at 30 pounds. The
clouds were all around me, the
ground being visible only in small
patches through the clouds. The
moon rays touched my plane only,
at Intervals. ! believed that 1900
more feet would put me above the
clouds and | continued a slow
pb to reach the top.
FSmall lights began 20 appear
through the broken clouds. Those
l took to be towns along the
Southern Pacific. was flying
now at $4,000 feet and the air
was getting very rough and the
clouds were thicker and heavier.
Sandwiohed in the Clouds
Al 10000 feet, ran into a |
heavy snowstorm, Hoping to fly
through II in short time | con
tinued on my course rather than
lose time trying to go around
Shortly after 1880 my compass
began to act queerly. II inclined
TO the left Il corrected on NV
controls without RESULT, then II
made number of revolutions. be-
came quiet and remained inclined
to the left.
The air was very rough and on
account of the extra weight III
found II difficult to keep nv hal
anee, In fact, | did make two com
piete turns before l realized It.
a few minutes later | nut the
plane In a glide toward the south
east, as ! remembered seeing thin
white clouds In that direction
prior to entering the snowstorm.
Soon was out of the snow but
sandwiched between clouds at TO-
900 feet
Landscape Sheet of Snow.
"The mountains ahead ON my
course were almost touching the
upper layer of clouds, while their
base was enyeloped in clouds that
appeared to contain rain. Just be-
fore reaching the ridge I flew in
10 a down current OF air aud lost
700 or 500 feet altitude. Showing
my throttle fulton | tried to re-
gain my altitude, but could not.
Turning sharply off my course. Ii
headed north Tor ten minutes and
found a hole in the clouds below
me. A few minutes later l was be-
low the clouds at an altitude OF