Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31

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spot unsuitable for landing.
Landing like bird in the treetops is
only one of the many tricks the aVia.
tor learns during his airy career.
Contrary to the belief Of the average
,tandlubber, engine trouble while flying
b few thousand feet in the air is not
always a sign of impending death.
The flyers store of tricks increases
with the length of his flying career.
When engine trouble develops plane
may be turned to face the wind and
made to glide safely down to earth.
When a suitable landing space is not
perceived. as is sometimes the case in
large cities, the flyer finds a soft land
ing spot in the nearest tree.
The numerous cross-country flights
proved that flying has become an &C.
,cepted means of travel. The old preju-
dices, fear, distrust and superstition
are disappearing. Thirty-seven fac
tories in the United States are rushing
and double-shifting in an effort to
supply hurried demands for more
planes. Last January there were $500
planes in private and commercial
operation in the United States; this
year the number is likely to triple.
The greatest impetus to flying in the
last few years and the insurance of
safety are attributed to the successful
Use OF parachutes. There have been
numerous occasions in this country
where the parachute was instrumental
In saving occupants of airplanes
whose lives became imperiled by rea-
son of collision of planes. engine fail.
ure while flying over country unfavor-
able for landing, fogs and other
causes. The lives of four members Of
the British royal air force and one
,of the Swedish royal air service were
also saved through the use of the
parachute.
The successful use of the parachute
IN case Of airplane emergency was
demonstrated for the first time in
american aviation history by Lieut..
Harold r. Harris, chief of McCook
Field flying section. He carried the
REGULATION parachute, measuring "a
Feet in diameter, which was folded
Unto a cushion-size bag resembling a
1knapsack. To his body the aviator
FASTENED the harness, and he sat upon
the folded chute. At an altitude of
$500 feet he leaped from the cockpit
Of his plane while travelling at a speed
Of $50 miles an hour.
[ He was testing some new device on
his plane and at the same time in
dulging in combat practice with Lieut..
Muir Fairchild when the trouble oc.
Cured. Lieut.. Fairchild made left
turn. and Lieut.. Harris, in order to
keep within sight of the other plane, |
also turned. AS soon as the turn |
started the whole airplane shook vic. |
lently laterally, and the control stick, |
which guides the plane, began to toscil. |
late rapidly from side to side, beating |
Lieut.. Harris severely on the legs.
In order to control the oscillations |
Lieut.. Harris attempted to lessen the |
W ri inc 11a f1,rN% oy,I
ting the plane into a climb; that is,
going higher up in the air. But the |
whip was so great the wings tore
apart internally and began to ripple in
the wind.
Realizing that he would most Ger.
tainly be killed If he stayed with the
plane, he released his safety belt and
climbed to the fuselage, the body Of
the atrplane, where the high wind
pressure blew him. from the plane,
which was by that time in a steep dive
He had never jumped before.
After leaving the plane he looked
down at his feet to help locate the
rip cord ring and realized that his
feet were pointing to the sky and that
his head was down; he was spinning
like a top. Locating what he thought
was the rip cord ring. he pulled.
Nothing happened. He did this three
times, each time pulling the leg strap
fitting of the harness, which is about
> inches below the rip cord ring.
Then, realizing his mistake, he allow.
ed his hand to travel up the harness
toward his head until he encountered
the ring.
AS soon as the release cord was
operated" said Lieut.. Harris, II felt
q snap throughout my entire body.
During this time the speed of descent
must have been quite high, but at no
time did / have any sensation of fall.
ing, and even with the extremely high
wind velocity, had perfect control
of my arms and could move them I'm
and down my body at will"
Lieut.. Harris landed in a grape ar.
Dor, with only minor bruises, EXCEPT
Tor the injury to his legs from the
beating OF the control stick The air.
plane landed about block away and
was total wreck.
THIS accident marked a milestone in
aviation history, for while, before
this, In innumerable tests the para
chute had been proved efficient, there
was more or less skepticism among
hirmen as to the ability of the flyer
TO think and act rapidly enough to
get free from a falling plane. Also
the pilots ability to operate a para
chute before too great a loss of alti.
tude for safety was doubted. A hun.
ured feet is required for the success
tui opening OF a parachute. There
was doubt. too, as to whether the
speed of the fall might not cause un.
Because OF his mistake in nulling
the leg strap instead of the rip cord
ring, Lieut.. Harris had fallen from
$500 to 500 feet before his chute
opened. during which time his mind {
was clear and capable of thinking {
with great rapidity.
This leap proved but the forerunner
Of others in which lives were saved
under many varying conditions.
Lindbergh, while an officer of the
S5th Division Air Corps, and pilot of
the air mail for the Robertson Aircraft
Corporation between ST Louis and
Chicago, jumped three times to save
his life He used the parachute the
first time when, after vainly seeking
D landing in the fog with the air mail
In and around Chicago, his gasoline
supply became exhausted and he aban.
doned ship, leaping at 1000 feet in the
fog and darkness. but landing safely.
The tradition of the air mail pre-.
vailed. cacheing his parachute in a
bush. he set out on foot TO find his
wrecked plane. Within an hour he
had salvaged his mail and sent il for.
ward toward Chicago.
I.indberSh became two-time jump.
er within the space of four months in
1925. Flying as part OF formation
In combat maneuvers at 5000 feet over
Kelly Field, Tex, with Lieut.. G.. D Il
McAllister in a second plane, his plane |
hnd that OF Lieut.. McAllister collided
in the air. Both pilots jumped. II
..indbergh himself wrote an account
of the crash. the leap and the landing
In most complete, lucid and compre.
hensive manner.
II had no difficulty in locating the f: