Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-12

"A
the whole world searches for
new nhrases denoting luck, miracles
the spirit of youth, destiny and what
not. seeking to explain this flight
which has thrilled people as nothing
else in our time, the men who pilot
fiying machines through space prob
ahlv annreciate Lindbergh most of all
They alone know what he had to take
with him into the air when he opened
his throttle that rainy, foggy morning
at Roosevelt Field, Long Island.
It was a combination Of just about
everything that all the enthusiasts
have been crediting him with; and
added to that was the very rare and
extraordinary instinct of the flying
man known in his own exclusive
circle as "air sense"
Not all pilots have air sense. Many
OF those who have it often lose it, and
some aviators never acquire IL at all.
Those are the poor devils who drop
out of the game early either by retire
ment or literally. Air sense is what a
man needs when he is sending two or
three hundred horsepower over the
earth at a varying speed of two miles
a minute up. 1t is to the aviator. what
q certain instinct is to the experienced
woodsman. it enables him to be con-
stantly reSourceful, instantly on the
= job at any moment when the ordinary
routine procedure is suddenly thrown
out Of gear. Lindbergh has it.
He probably inherited no small
quantity of this flying instinct. For
flying is still mechanical business;
the technique involves a feel for
machinery. And the Scandinavians
from whom Lindbergh receives his
Viking frame and straightforward
manner of speech rank among the
best mechanical engineers in the
world. AS a race they instinctively
cultivate a thoroughneSs of method
unsurpassed by others.
When you hear of Lindbergh dis
carding his formal clothes to go out
on LIE Bourget airdrome and person
ally touch up his engine, glance back
through the last few years. See him
in school tinkering with his motor
cycle between classes. There is a
rare bird like that in every school, in
every community. Give those fell
lows a chance and they will do Won
ders. Lindbergh's remarkable feat,
equally remarkable among aviators as
among the clerks and bridge players
who cannot cease marveling. should
be of considerable comfort to those
parents whose youngsters would much
rather play with dirty machine than
bury their heads in books. Lindbergh
was that type of student, but not
altogether.
HE had a father who combined prac-
teal ability with a thinking
brain. He served for years in Con-
gress, and he was candidate for gov
ernor of his State when he died. Yet
he placed knowledge above all else of
value in this world.
That is a trait quite general in his
native Sweden. The average Swede
inherits a desire for knowledge.
Young LindbergI's mother is now as
well known to newspaper readers as
he himself. A teacher of chemistry
in one of the best high schools in the
United States, gentlewoman COM
bining culture with a scientific turn
OF mind. What better parentage for
a miracle man? One would be silly
indeed to overlook such heritage.
And that is Lindbergh's.
Yet we have all seen young men of
background, culture and education,
fine physique and brains who could
not learn to fly. / have seen instruc-
tors take them into the air day after
day and give them every bit of prac-
teal instruction in the art of flying
and some of those students never
could go into the air alone. They
lacked air sense, and they could not
acquire it,
Taking both feet off the ground
broke their contact with ordinary hui
man judgment. They could not think
fast enough. Flying at two miles
minute requires the quickest kind Of
thinking. Lindbergh had to keep
thinking every second of the 33 hours
and 30 minutes he was on his flight.
He, had to keep his eyes on every
instrument, and he had to watch the
earth over which he was hurtling on
the first few hundred miles out of
New York. Back in his head were
mental notes: What to do with fog il
the fog hung close to the surface.
what to do with rain if that rain fell
In torrents, and what to do with
clouds IL they hung high and still
chung closely to the dark ground mist
which often accompanies clouds along
the seacoast. He had to picture con-
stantly the things he would have to
do Immediately If he encountered a
fog bank that might force him TO ride
only few feet above the surface of
the waves, always providing that he
could not go over the fog.
And he faced the greatest problem,
OF all-what to do If he met sleet and
snow, freezing rain which might form
on his wing and so change it's contour
that it would be impossible for him TO
remain in the air. The weight he car
rfed, you see, was possible only be-
cause of the shape of that wing and
frozen sleet might change its shape
In a few moments
So when he rode through the early
night eastward out of Newfoundland
and the Western Hemisphere he knew
that he must be prepared for any emer.
gency. Notwithstanding the weather
reports which predicted clear sky for
his night ride over the Atlantic, III
had to anticipate constantly the worst
kind Of thick weather. Sheer instinct,
the instinct of the successful pilot.
warned him to look for the worst And
ne found it.
Suddenly before him doomed a bank
of mist and clouds that kissed the
waves. Had he gone into them blindiv
the chances are that people would still
be looking for his ship. 1t was worse
than walking across a strange country
in the blackness of night. 1t was more
like running through such place
blindfolded. He was in the most lonely
place ina ginable.
He was close to the surface when he
saw the dense clouds looming ahead,
and in an instant he had turned the
nose or his machine upward. Actually
Lindbergh climbed a mountain nearly
two miles high. He noSed IN to the
peak, the upper layer of clouds. and
then coasted along the crest until he
had crossed that wicked divide and
could glide comfortably down the other
side TO more reasonable level. 1t was
at the lower altitude that his engine
could function best with the least con.
sumption of gasoline. From all re.
ports Lindbergh used his flying sense
to perfection.
We had an inkling that he might e
Just that before he started. When he
brought the Spirit of ST. Louis from
San Diego to New York with one stor
a.....s.....: 4 &C.