The Washington times., 1921-10-16
'AR=MAIL' PILOTS ARE
PICK OF u. S. AVIATORS
BY JOHN GOLDsTROM,

BY JOHN GOI4DSTROM,
Former Special Agent. Air Mall Service.
(GOidstrom was the first person
to cross the continent by air as .
passenger and took the first trans
continental mail through from New
York to San Francisco. He learned
the hazard Of the air mail In seven
forced landings In the Rocky Noun
tain region and was lost in tho Ne
vada desert without food or water
for two days. He is qualified 70
put on paper vivid stories Of the
hazardous flights which he maAeJ
m HE inside story Of the tran
continental afr mail. told by
the pilots in terse reports to
the headquarters office here. has
just been made public by the Post
office Department exclusively
through Universal Service. 1t is
modern Odyssey OF danger. adven-
Otasa. hardship and death.
Through fog. blizzard. lightning.
desert sandstorms, tossed about In
hurricanes over great mountain
ranges higher than the Alps, afoot
on the desert for days without food
or water, it is the pilots business
to take the mail through on time.
And he nearly always does 1t. When
he fails a tangled and twisted piece
of machinery punctuates the effort.
Most of the fifty-five pilots in the
air mail are among the pick OF the
overseas combat flyers. None but
super -aviators last long. But even
the best Of them fail to come In oc-
casionally.
Although the report for the last
year shows that nineteen were killed,
II shows also that 124.o4s miles were
flown for every fatal accident. In
all. 1,s1s,s7s miles were flown; 4o.-
2,lso letters were carried at .
cost Of s1.s42. 2.3s2.s7.
The air mail was three years old
last May. In one month. July. its
performance was IS per cent, and
for several weeks 1t has been 100
per cent. &c..
PILOTS OWN STORY.
The figures are given for the bene-
fit Of the descendants Of the SCOT.
fers at Robert Fulton. George Ste
phenson, and for the consideration
Of others who say 1t can't be done.
In this series Of articles / shall.
where possible. leave the telling Of
each story to the pilot. Exceptions
will occur where they have been told
in language too technical for the
reader unfamiliar with aeronautic
terms.
As the pilot Of the first story was
too modest to include in his official
report his own principal part in It I
shall have to tell II. was his pas
senger and we were taking the
first through pouch from New York
to San Francisco. 1t was the only
one taken straight through, for It
has been found advisable, In the
present stage OF the air mails de-
to jump the mail, say
from New York to Chicago by plane
and thence by train.
Often, however, two Jumps are
made. and mail arrives in San
three days after It was
mailed in New York. The future
of the air mail was Indicated last
spring when in a test flight and
by means Of swift relays and night
Tying the mall was taken through
N thirty.three hours and fifty-three
minutes.
Pilot Edison r. Mouton and
eft Salt Lake City at sunrise. Al
most Immediately we ran into
'orty.mile wind. We pitched and
'ollod, now suddenly dropping
couple OF hundred feet through q
loud bank. now slowly regaining
always too near the Rock
es. we landed at Elko. New, for
and in few minutes
vere off toward Reno.
up 1880 feet we encountered
now and q stiffeninG wind. We