Evening star., 1925-06-17

for him to hold it the entire trip, and
they made the adjuStm ment in short
order.
"On to Cheyenne"
Raising the cry "On to Cheyenne. "
the skipper gave the ship the air and
we strike out for the Platte River,
crossing il about 30 miles west of
Fort Crook. We let the river run
north, knowing by our maps that we
will pick II up again The regular
air navigation maps prepared by
Capt. Streets office, which we had
used to Omaha, We're lacking for the
jump west as far as Salt Lake City,
so we use railroad maps. The river
route is longer. but is very handy in
bad weather, for the boys keep their
wheels right over the waters edge
and fly on into North Platte in com.
parative comfort, knowing. if some.
thing quits suddenly, a landing in
the soft water is waiting for them.
Fly Low Over River.
The country is rough for about so
miles and then il becomes fiat again.
We come down low and cross the
Platte again at 3:45 O'Clock at Cen
trail City. Nebr., just above Grand
Island where there is an emergency
up the Platte for awhile, flying at
about 10 feet off the water. but it is
hot and bumpy and the skipper gives
it up as a bad job and goes for the
hinterland. We climb to get away
from the heat. pitying the poor people
on the ground who have TO stay and
bear it. Finding a temperate alti-
tude we continue our journey until
we pick up the Platte a third time,
with two courses running parallel.
We see them converge ahead and at
this point is "A hangar, a wireless
tower. a beacon light and flood lights.
A mile or two beyond is the city of
North Platte, and at $40 O'Clock
Eastern standard time, we land on a
field equivalent TO a red hot stove.
The first move is to strip off our
heavy clothing and drink a lot Of
water while the fast-working ground
crew service the ship. The field is
medium sized and fiat and is sur
rounded by small lights 25 feet apart.
With the plane on the ground the
altimeter read 5000 feet and here we
have our first fun with the altitude,
At these heights the air IS rarer and
the motor has less power.
Lifting Power Decreases.
We turn the plane around and
down the field. and at about the time
the skipper thinks he should act he
pulls the stick back to get the old boy
into the air. The wheels raise off the
ground little and drop. A few more
feet and he pulls it up again---the ship
settles. The border of lights is get
ting closer and closer and the back
seat begins to get interested-to
make a clean breast of it, worried. A
third time the wheels leave the
ground and the ship settles, but ah,
the fourth time it catches and we
clear the lights and stay in the air
We got 1000 feet of altitude which
makes the altimeter read 5000 feet,
and we kept our course between the
two river beds. The rivers begin to
widen and the one to the south soon
turns out to be dry and has trees
growing in its bed. They told us at
North Platte we could set down
blind anywhere but about IL places
between the Nebraska city and Chey-
enne. After 20 minutes flying we
hadn't seen a good place, so the dozen
bad spots must be in that territory.
All of the ground is barren and
dried up.
Worlds Worst" at Helm.
Although the back seat flyer has
had considerable experience in the
air, that has been at such wide in.
tervals that he doesn't get his air legs
back right away. By the time we had
reached this neck of the woods it was
far more desirable to be in the