Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-09-30
AN AMERICAN
ABROAD
By the Editor of the Herald
$50 lilies BY Fast Plane
London. Aug. Is, l!

LONDON, Aug. 20, 1870
Dear Herald Readers:
I am back in London again after a
short stay in Switzerland and France,
and expect to leave here Friday morn
ing for South Hampton to take the
boat back to the States. However, l
had such a novel experience today
that I can't refrain from telling you
of it.
To begin with I traded in rail
ticket from Paris to London on an air
ticket Leaving the Savoy hotel on Rue
de Rivola at p. M, was at La
Bourget flying field at p. m. There
being a larger than usual number OF
people booked, New York party and
I were given a special 12-passenger
flying plane to make the trip in.
The first plane, fully loaded, took
the air at 4:30 and roared westward.
At 5 p. m. we two passengers, the pl-
lot and mechanician, followed. Our
plane was quite heavily loaded with
baggage, the two passengers taking
the front seats.
We circled the field a couple of
times and then shot northwest, grad
ually rising to about 1000 feet. The
noise from the engines was deafen1ng
and the mechanician gave us cotton
to stuff our ears with. | am still pick
ing it out.
Phenomena of Flying
I did not notice the ground slipping
away as so many say they do. 1t
seemed to me quite plain that we
we're rising and moving forward, ac-
complishing ascent and motion just
as you would with any other device.
On the other hand, while our big
plane was hitting IS miles an hour
and can do 120, it seemed to me she
was going slow. I suggested to the
mechanician that he "step on her"
showing my foot down to illustrate,
but he merely grinned and pointed to
his celebrating instruments.
At the relatively high altitude and
on a clear afternoon you get great
view. Paris and it's environs soon drop
away. You see open country, thorough
ly farmed except for the many bits OF
woodland, and many, many villages.
Fields look like checker boards. The
stone roads like ribbons. Railroad
trains are like little boys choo-choos,
and motor cars like toys. You can
see people but they look like specks
on the ground.
Another reputed effect I failed to
see was that from the high air the
earth looks like ball. This may have
been due to the haze on the horizon
at least the ground stretched away
fat for miles with hazy skyline in the
distance.
The noise remains deafening except
later when we pass through rain and
If n11intc down tO nI161T
seething, whistling sound.
Time slips by and distance is ac-
complished but the big engines never
miss lick We pass over Amiens 1900
feet up and glimpse the torn grounds
of the battlefelds on the northeastern
horizon. Rivers are plain but glass
like, with barges floating on the sur
face. You see to the bottom of them
We pass over the huge forest of
Chantilly, looking like a bit of blue
fluff in the pattern below, and soon
after o. m can see the sea in the
distance 1t looks uphill to us.
We look back at the mechanician
and note that he is browsing with the
radio phones to his ears. We pass a
note hoping that the Pilot Hombre is
not equally somnolescent. Speech is
out of the question but laugh can
always be had out of even a written
joke.
You realize that you may "get
yours" any minute Especially when
the plane bucks in an air pocket,
sometimes dropping many feet) but
you are not afraid. There is a GER
tain fatalistic feeling that things are
out of your own control and you may
as we'll make the best of it.
You finally swing across the chan
mel and in few minutes glimpse the
English shore. Less than 20 years ago
Bleriot accomplished a great feat
when he flew the channel in an hour
or so with a one man plane.
The sea is apparently quite smooth
with few breakers and a f1eck of foam
here and there. Along the coast near
Boulogne are many fishing smacks.
They are small but picturesque. Some
cut the water with considerable dash.
Down mid-channel you see a num-
Der of ocean going boats. At one time
you count no less than eight in sight.
Some of them parallel with the plane
but going in an opposite direction,
seem to be scooting over the water
like motor boats. In reality we are
going so fast.
You are now over the Kent coast
and into England. The country is
largely devoted to grazing. Not as
many villages as France but some fine
manor and farm houses.
Strike Air Pockets
Bad luck now After dipping in and
out of fog and above the clouds, the
plane strikes a stretch of damp air
and many pockets. She hobbies up
and down, dropping many feet at a
time. Each passenger loses all inter-
est in all but their individual solar
plexus Plane sickness is like sea
sickness and with the same results.
The pockets are due to the Surrey
hills and valleys.
And Here is Croydon!
We pass several large towns in the
late dusk. The big plane dips north
making an almost abrupt turn. Miles
away are two red spires like huge