Evening star., 1927-05-01
CATERPILLAR C CLUB MEMBERS
NARMY AIR CORPS GALLERY
Mythical Organization Is Composed of As
Men and One Woman Forced to
Make Parachute Jump.

| A rare gallery of photogra phs is
| being assembled in headquarters of
| the Army Air Corps here for flyers
| who have qualified for membership in
| the Caterpillar Club, somewhat
mythical organization which has had
a. more or less spontaneous growth
since the forced parachute jump of
| Lieut.. Harold r. Harris in 1922 The
membership is exclusive, including
only aviators or civilians who have
had to jump from airplanes with
their parachutes to safety. AS far as
the Air Corps records go only As
forced jumps have occurred since
1920, resulting in safe landings. One
woman is in this select group, Mrs.
Irene Mcfarland, who. in July. 1926,
was forced to make a parachute jump
from an airplane at Cincinnati
There are at the present time com
plete records of 46 life-saV wing jumps.
Capt. Charles A. Lindbergh of the
Army Air Corps Reserve leads the list
with four jumps, while Lieut.. Frank
fO'D. Hunter, an Army Air Corps pilot,
and the late Lieut.. Eugene H. Barks-
dale of the Air Corps have two jumps
to their credit. The as jumps are
divided as follows:
Army Air Corps. 80; United States
Navy ?: Marine Corps, 3; commercial,
5; air mail, 4,
Origin of Club i'm Doubt.
There seems to be a great deal of
uncertainty in regard 70 the exact
origin of the Caterpillar Club, as a
number of people in the newspaper
profession, as we'll as in the Para
chute unit of McCook Field Dayton,
Ohio. think they we're among the
prime movers in establishing the
club. The clearest story so far OBJ
tanned on the organization of the
Caterpillar Club was that it started
with a discussion among two Dayton
newspaper men. Morris Hutton, a re-
porter, and Verne Zimmerman, a
photographer. of the Dayton Herald
staff, and NJ. H. St, Clair of the para
chute unit of McCook Field This dis
cussion took place at the time of
Lieut.. Harris sensational jump in
1922. The future success of the
parachute was foreseen, owing to the
success attending Lieut.. Harris jump
from a very rapidly falling and dis
intergrated airplane. The suggestion
was made that a club should be or
ganiZed, composed only of people
whose lives were saved by the use of
the parachute when forced to leave
AN aircraft in flight. Probably the
name of the club suggested itself by
reason of the fact that the parachute
is made of silk, a product coming
from the caterpillar cocoon.
The. Caterpillar Club is not an or
ganization. 1t has no officers, con-
stitution or bylaws AS it now
stands it simply consists in the col
lection of data in regard to emergency
parachute jumps, with short state
ment of the circumstances and pic.
ture of the person saved. These are
mosnted in the Caterpillar Club al
bum and there is no other formality
,xs Caterpillar EmbIems. ,.r.
The only emblem thus far suggested
shows a drawing of a caterpillar
which Dayton painter sketched on
the frame of the Caterpillar Club dis
play board in the parachute unit of
McCook Field. Recently, however,
the Irving Parachute Co of Buffalo
sent gold pins of a caterpillar design
to individuals whose lives have been