Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-28

and I remember now that I had the
fingers of my left hand tightly clasped
around the ring attached to the rip
cord of my chute.
| II noticed on looking down that If
continued my glide I would just
about land on top of some Of the
buildings, for I did not have enough
altitude to make the landing field and
could not afford to encourage the blaze
by accelerating my engine sufficiently
| to keep the nose up and carry the
plane over the hangers.
II wanted to save the ship and, in
| cidentally, myself, and the thought
came to me, This would be a bad
place to crack up, and guess I'll try
| to get down on the ice.' Meanwhile,
smoke and fire were pouring from the
cockpit. scorching my face, clouding
my goggles and choking me. 1
| clutched the controls and glided down
| to the landing field. The ship landed
smoothly, rolled forward a short dis
| lance, ground-looped and stopped. 1
| reached for the extinguisher, jumped
| out of the cockpit and had the blaze
pretty we'll under control when the
ambulance came putting up on both
| its cylinders, and two excited and
Co6Ci hlCCHdHiSSS dIIIlcu Will cALlIl-
| guishers, gave me their full support
| until the fire was extinguished."
Upon inspection in the repair shops,
! it was found that the aluminium cowl-
ing supports between the cockpit and
| the engine had melted. Practically
all OF the insulation had been burned
from the ignition wires, and the top
| and side cowlings, made of aluminium,
! just back Of the engine, were melted
and warped and broken away from
their fastening.
4 k*
|ONLY dire necessity causes members
Of the club to leave their planes,
but Lieut.. John I. Moore, flying in
structor at Kelly Field, became
member under unusual circumstances.
Lieut.. Moore was riding as a pas
senger in the rear seat Of an Army
plane bound from McCook Field to
Brooks Field, in Texas. The air is
drowsy once its stimulating novelty is
gone. and Lieut.. Moore, a seasoned
flyer, was taking an air catnap. Either
his safety belt became unfastened or
he had neglected to make it secure,
but in any event he was rudely
aroused from slumber to find himself
sliding along the fuselage. When he
his rip-cord ring, he came down, land
ing in a cotton patch. Lieut.. Moore
greeted the astonished pilot when the
plane landed.
The club gained q Caterpillar and
lost one when Second Lieut.. Philip
Frank Cabell, Air Corps Reserve, met
his death during a practice flight
while his wife and 5.year.old daughter
watched him take off and crash down
to earth.
Carl G. Ashley took off on a train
ing flight with the second lieutenant.
An hour later an extraordinary loud
roar of the motor attracted the atten-
ton of persons posted at Fort Crock
EFT, directly below them. The plane
was at an altitude of 5000 feet. Ac.
cording to the statements of many
witnesses, including Maj. Frank d.
Lakeland, commanding officer, the
plane was pulled out of a steep dive
and the wings buckled in midair. The
passenger was seen to leave the ship
at about $500 feet, his parachute
functioning normally and dropping
him into the water Of the Gulf of
Mexico.
Immediately upon the crumpling of
the wings the ship went into a tight.
fast spin, crashing into the gulf about
a mile from shore in 80 feet of water.
Small parts Of the tail surfaces re.
manned in sight above the surface of
the water, though at times submerged
by smooth swell. A plane was i'm |
mediately sent out for observation |
purposes to mark the spot and act as
a guide for rescue parties. An officer |
was dispatched to the nearest boat at !
the Galveston Red Cross life-saving |
station.
Pvt. Ashley unbuckled his para. |
chute as he dropped into the water. |
about $50 yards from the wreck, and |
cleared the chute. While swimming |
ne stripped to his underwear and |
swan for about 80 minutes until the |
boat picked him up in an exhausted |
condition.
Another plane was dispatched to fly |
low and guide the boat to the wreck |
because of the difficulty in seeing over
the crests of swells from the small |
boat. When the rescue boat reached |
the scene of the crash life guards,
diving, found Lieut.. Cabell's body |
tightly wedged in the cockpit by the !
wing wreckage, which had imprisoned J
him. The body was removed with
great difficulty after clearing away |
the wreckage with knives and axes.
X X X X
THERE is one woman member
among the Caterpillars-Mrs. ]. A.
MacFarlane. who jumped from an
Army plane at Grisard Field, Cincin.
natl. She was to demonstrate a new
type chute, but it failed to open. An
emergency Army chute brought her
safely down.
Cadets Krider and Shleppy were re-
Gently initiated into the fast-growing
of the Caterpillar Club,
swelling the Kelly Field membership
and breaking two records.
1t is the first time in the history of
the Air Corps that any one has made
a forced jump from a Martin bomber,
since 1t Is the most difficult plane to
escape from. The second is record.
not only for Kelly Field but for the
whole Air Corps, In that Cadet |