Evening star., 1923-10-07
MIND NUMBED By SPEED,
D. C. YER WINS AIR RACE,
FLYS 243 MILES AN HOUR
ocontinued from First Page)


never-to-be-forgott tune down the
home stretch the thousands Of spec
tators looked to see him "zoom." but
instead he turned the pylon with the
same ease and skill as he had on
four previous trips and made an extra
fight around In SO doing he took
his life into his own hands, for the
little ship was only gassed enough
for the race.
When the time CAME to hnish up he
"zoned" to several thousand feet At
the finish line. circled the field aud
landed. Taxying toward the Navy
hangers under his own power and
control. he was met by large crowd
Of pilots. most Of them from WASH
ington. But Lieut.. Williams appeared
to be deaf to the congratulations of
his friends. He just sat buried down
in the deep cockpit. with his head
hanging down. Once or twice he look
ed up and his face bore a blank ex-
preston. However, he seemed to
understand the request TO taxi over
to the judges stand. q distance OF al
most a mile. and with the help of
mechanics turned the plane around
and headed for the other side Of the
field.
Lieut.. Williams had shed his blue
officers coat and few with a white
shirt for the only upper body gar
ment. Oil from the ship had found
It's way down into the cist arn Ink Q
office" OF the pilot, and his neck was
black and the beautiful bluc-ena.n-
eled fuselage Of the plane was smear
ed with the grease
Lieut. Brow. who few the same
type OF plane as Lieut.. Williams
was as fresh on landing as though
he had gotten out from a swim He
turned at the far end Of the field
out any assistance. The contrast in
the physical and psychological quail
ties or these two men, ona 4 strap
ping fellow and thesNother Sf or
dinary proportions, WAS Interesting
SanderneA In Fall.
Pulitzer race hard luck continued
on the tran Of Lieut. Sanderson. who
flew a beautiful race" in the Navy
Wright fighter. He put the little
anee and as he crossed the finish
line. he aoomed in accordance with
the regulations. ctrcled the deld anu
then cracked up in a pasture jus,
ON the northern edge Of the airdrome
Il ran out of gas" Lieut.. Sander
medical treatment in the hospital tent
for cut lip. cut wrist, sprained
ankle and swollen nose. Perhaps
could have landed in the field with a
dead stick (meaning a dead engine)
but was afraid Of hitting some
green strip close to ploughed field
and dived for it. had to swerve
out of the way Of a haystack and
hit the ground and turned over, bu,
l got out before she fell"
Plane Total Wreck.
The plane was virtually q total
wreck. The fuselage was broken In
two and the wings were fractured
1t was a good escape for SANDY"
who experienced somewsst the same
accident in the PulitzeP races at De-
troit last year. AS he finished re-
lating his experience while the Army
doctor was pouring iodine into the
ugly lacerations in his lower lip and
left wrist q crowd Of marine cronies
rushed In the tent to offer oongratp-
lattons "A hell of a show" was the
greeting from Sanderson, who swors
rapidly over his failure to get tnte
the field safely.
The Army didn't have a chance. al.
though their two antiquated racing
record. established last year by the
same planes. Lieut.. ], d, CerkilIe OF
Kelly Field, Tex, and Lieut.. waItel
Miller OF Crissy Field, Calif.. did ,hell
pace set by the Navy. but the most
their little planes could push through
the air was 220 miles an hour. Lieut.
Miller gave the spectators . severe
shock ON two occasions at the home
pylon by handling the plane in such
q manner that 1t was Thought to be
turns were distinctive in that he shot
up before he had completely rounded
the tower.
Had Turns Mastered, f.
Lieut., Williams, however, had the
intricate turns mastered. Almost q
mile before he approached the pylon
he could be seen to, dip. the little
the turning point would gently turn
into q 45-degree bank, fflattsning out
slow on the new trip. Lieut., Sander
son In his plane carried out much
the same tactics which are believed
to have helped M bes. out, hi: closs
the. naval air station, who captured
fourth place. only a short time behind
Lieut.. Galloway on landing climbed
out. of his ship with the composure
minute hop, although he had trav-
eled at close to $50 miles an hour
almost the entire route. He ex-
planned that his motor heated up on
him, otherwise he would have been
able to fly eight miles an hour
faster.
Lieut., Alexander Pearson Of Nc.
Cook Field, Dayton. Ohio, pilot Of the
Verville-Sperry monoplane and re.
garded before the race as z danger
GUS Army sntrant did not make the
ss' ths stating s line and e pyisn s re trouble BIZ
was experienced with tho crank shaft
and he returned to the feld, cut oi
MAI Gen. Mason NJ Patrick, CHIEF
Of the Army Air Service, and Rsal
the bureau Of aeronauttcs. were on Ii!
take-of line Of the planes and passed
out words OF encoursgemsnt 70 tht
Because Of danger In having several
race was flown by teams. The nrst te
take the air were Lieut.. sandersor
and Lieut.. corkille; second. Lieut.
third, Lieut.. Miller. Lieut. Brown and
Lieut.. Galloway.
wnlianas FIys AIone.
Starting from . standsttll. the plan.
would taxi down the held In . north,
suflloisnt altitude Apd than diva Across
, the starting line at tnS south eni
of the held When the dFaf tws
planes landed. the second team tool
the air. the accident to the Verville