Evening star., 1925-06-17
BY FREDERICK II. NEELY.

The countryside from Chicago to
about 100 miles west probably is still
discussing that airplane which woke
it up on the morning of the second
days trip over the transcontinental
air mail route. The serenity of that
second morning out was disturbed
yea. unbalanced-andt the cool, pure
Illinois atmosphere was rent with a
violent roar and polluted with gaso-
line and oil fumes from the exhaust
Of the Liberty motor.
We left the mail field at haywood
at 713, got enough altitude to clear
the city legally and then hit the road.
We are on the night mail course and
here and there in corners of fields are
the blinker lights, and about every 80
miles a beacon. The picturesque
country flashes beneath us from the
50-foot altitude and we are aware that
the laundering roar of the Liberty is
annoying to the lands man, but are
not personally presented with the
fact until a collie gave chase, bark
ing at the top of his lungs OF course
we cannot hear him. but we see he Is
going through the motions quite sat
isfactorily to himself.
One hours flying brings us between
Sterling and Rock Falls. ILL.,, two
pretty cities just about getting up.
About 9 o'clock we cross the Mis-
sissippi 10 miles below Clinton, and
here begins slope upward that stops
at 10000 feet in the Rocky Mountains.
We cross the Father of Waters at
1000 feet, and as we see the ground
below rapidly becoming rougher and
rougher, and, wondering If Well ever
have good. fiat land again. we slide for
hal
the plane diving at another train.
The engineer hears us coming and
looks back aStoniShed to see the big
ship almost at his elbow. He waves
and we settle down for more contour
chasing. We pass close to another
30-foot beacon and see a wind cone or
sock" flying the west wind direction.
Disapproved by Pigs.
Horses prance, cows stampede and
pigs run for cover as we continue our
hundred mile hour gait. From close
observation of the reaction of the
Liberty's roar on live stock, ii was
unanimously determined by the crew
of the De II. that pigs are susceptible
of fright quicker than other animals,
and that the fright is more intense.
But what does a pig who some night
cannot go TO sleep and tosses in his
bed-what does this pig think when
one of these terrifying birds with two
fiery eyes burning from either wing
thunders right over his bungalow?
Surely we did not do so much damage,
after all
With our mind in the back seat else
where we suddenly lealiZe that the
motor has been throttled down and
we're gliding toward the south end of
a ha fol OF
$40 O'Clock. Close by us a creek and
every morning a fog settles over the
field. 1t had just about lifted when
we arrived. The plane that came in
early that morning from the Pacific
coast, however (and which we passed
somewhere along the route but didn't
see it. gave a slick demonstration of
fog flying.
Lands in Dense Fog.
The ground crew at the field heard
the Liberty's drone, heard the dimin-
ishing roar as the throttle or the
gun" was cut" and suddenly were
startled to see the plane appear right
in front of them before the gasoline
pump. That bird certainly had X-ray
eyes to get safely on the ground when
ore couldn't see more than 10 feet
ahead.
They gassed our ship and the pump
broke after we had filled up to 40
gallons. We only needed five more so
we let 1t go at that and get in the air
again at 10:11 and find our old friend
Head Wind with us. Bad Bumps also
joins In a few miles out and for one
half hour we are thrown up and
down, left and right, and now and
then they work a combination of the
entire maneuver on us. We pass
south of Council Bluffs, and across
the Nebraska River Is Omaha We
keep our course south of Omaha and
land at Fort Crook at l o'clock on a
bumpy field dug up by gophers.
The altimeter registered 500 feet on
the ground. This instrument is SIM
liar to an aneroid barometer and
records the pressure of the air, which
Is translated on the dial to thousands
of feet.
Planes Well Serviced.
At Omaha another example of the
soundness of the Air Mail institution
is evident. Motors are overhauled at
the end Of each 100 hours of flying,
and after two overhauls they are sent
to haywood, (which also knocks down
the planes after 400 hours in the air,
replaces worn parts and reassembles
'hcii dSdiH. Nc ldlcSt equipment
available is installed in the motor re-
pair shop and also in a shop which
rebuilds broken wings. The entire
station is comparable to a high-rated
automobile service plant. Each sta
ton along the route has its own
radio equipment and towers, but the
installation at Omaha appears su-
perior to the others because 1t is the
directing force of the sysem. c. F..
Egge, general superintendent, has his
offices here.
The captain requested the mail
mechanics to repair the throttle,
which slipped constantly all the way
from New York, making it necessary