Evening star., 1924-07-20

many planes are in the air and are
flying al intervals of only a few
feet.
Just as the parade was well start
ed the leader gave the signal for a
change in formation, at the same time
turning to the left. Almost all of
the pilots caught the two movements.
but the pilot of the plane below me
saw only the signal for the change.
Accordingly he nosed up steeply to
gain his new position, but made no
attempt to turn, which brought him
directly in front of me and only
short distance away.
Il was almost paralyzed. for il was
only matter OF seconds until
we'd collide. Fortunately my hands
weren't affected They must have
worked automatically, for as soon
as the other ship loomed UP in front
| Jerked back my controls as far as
| they would go, at the same time
kicking the rudder hard to the side
to make sort of reverse turn Nv
plane shot up steeply and then flop
ped over on its back. while the other
ship flashed by with about 10 feet
to spare.
The next thing ] knew was in
a tailspin, but spins were nothing
new by that time, so | was able
to recover before | had fallen 500
rect 1t certainly is a terrible feel
ing to see another plane headed
straight at YOU, though. If you ever
move fast you'll do il then"
The silence which followed his mar
ration was broken by Lieut.. Thomas,
the commanding officer OF the sta
ton
Get Sprague to tell you about the
time he took off an Fol from Mia
flores Lake" he said There was
an exciting minute or two for every
| one in the plane
ii IECT. SPRAGCE. who fs the ex-
ecutive officer Of the station.
needed considerable urging, but at
| last he unfolded the story.
''Milafiores Lake, in the Panama
Canal Zone, is rather difficult pIace
to take off any plane of size, for. in
addition to its smallness. it is sur
| rounded by hills. However. it was
| necessary to get into the air as
quickly as possible with the F-5-I,
which ! was plotting, SO figured
out the longest run possible and GOT
| ready to start
AN F5 takes an unusual distance
to get up flying speed, for il weighs
almost seven tons and has ratber
large hull With a fun load il ie no,
uncommon for one TO run over a mile
before taking the air
We had just an ordinary run on
Mllahores. After i opened up both
motors / began to rock th, shin.
back and forth to get up speed. but II
didn't pick up quickly The shore
got closer and closer and the situa
tlon was becoming desperate Just
as l was about to shut off the mo-
tors and go back for another try tho
| big boat left the water.
| That was only the beginning III
recuy ahead of US loomed up the ca
nal electric transmission towers ara
caples. We couldn't turn quickly
enough to avoid them: we couldn't
land again, and if We didn't climb in
d hurry we'd crash into the power
lines and probably all he clectrocuted.
even if we weren't killed when the
| plane dropped to the ground II was
one of those times YOU read about.
Il hauled back the controls as far
! as l dared. climbing the heavy old
plane for all was worth. while .he
| wires got closer and closer
We all knew if either motor lost
a single revolution we wouldn't make
II. Just al the last instant. when tic
| lines were so close there didn't seem
chance. ! pulled back to the dan
| ger point on the elevating controls
and the ship rose the last few feet
| and slid across the tops of the ca
bles. That was one of those times
you don't forget soon"
!: : ::
7 1EUT. HARRY CARLSON, the
- first station pilot to deliver Prcsi-
dent Coolidge's papers to the May
| flower by seaplane. proved reticcnt
about his most dangerous moments
MY close calls weren't very inter
| esting," he said. I've had A couplr
| of crashes, dropped in once from a
| low altitude and landed a seapIane
| too close in on the beach and smashed
| 1t up. but otherwise nothing worth
| mentioning. But thrills? Ask AT
| Williams, he's the one who has had
! them all. Not a single crash, but
more real thrills to the square inch
| than most people want"
Williams was in the air at tho time.
keeping in practice by means of a
few loops. tailspns and the like, but
fortunately the writer had inter
viewed him on a previous occasion.
| Afford Williams, or AL as he is
| known throughout the naval aviation
| service, has been one of the outstand-
| ing figures in the flying game for sew
| eral years, even before he won the
two records which brought him SO
| much fame last year
| Long before he came into public
notice he was acknowledged as one
Of the worlds skilled pilots He was
the first man TO spiral a seaplane
upside down. In fact, there is no
record of any ones having since per
formed this feat. He was also the
first man to get one of the heavy H-S-2
Tying boats toften called flying cof-
finso out of a tailspin. This last was
no small enterprise for these clumsy
planes had behind them a long list
of fatal accidents, and to put one of
them into spin" deliberately seem
ed suicide. Yet Williams did it and
came down right side up to laugh at
the ones who had predicted his carly
demise.
1T wasn't recklessness." he ex-