Evening star., 1927-05-23
: CONTINUED from First Page)

| hours long, anG that at almost any
momen in it a forced landing might
be what you might call rather inter
esting," but / remembered that the
flying boys 1 knew back home spent
some hours almost every week in bad
| flying when forced landing would
have been just as bad for them as a
forced landing would have been for
me. Those boys don't get credit for
| it, that's all, and without doubt. in
few years many people will be TAX
ing just as many chances as l took.
The only real danger I had was at
| night. In the daytime l knew where
1 was going, but in the evening and
at night it was largely a matter of
guesswork. However, my instruments
were so good that / never could get
more than 200 miles off my course.
and that was easy to correct, and !
had enough extra gasoline to take
care Of number of such deviations.
All in all, the trip over the Atlantic,
especially the latter half, was much
better than expected.
Laymen have made great deal OF
the fact that I sailed without a navi.
gator and without the ordinary stock
Of navigation Instruments, but my
real director was my earth inductor
pass, but it was the inductor compass
which guided me so faithfully that
/ hit the Irish coast only three miles
from the theoretic point that might
have hit if I had had q navigator.
replaced a navigator's weight by the
inductor compass. This compass be-
haved so admirably that I am ashamed
to hear any one talk about my luck.
Maybe l am lucky, but all the same
1 knew at every moment where / was
going.
The inductor compass Is based on
the principle Of the relation between
the earth's magnetic field and the
magnetic field generated at the com.
pass. When the course had been set
so that the needle registered zero on
this compass. any dviation, from any
cause, would cause the needle to
swing away from zero in the direction
of the error. BY flying the plane with
the needle at an equal distance on the
other side of zero and for about the
same time the error had been COM
mitted, the plane would be back on
her course again. This inductor com.
pass was SO accurate that I really
needed no other guide.
"Am / on the Right Road to Ireland?"
Fairly early in the afternoon I saw
fleet of fishing boats. On some OF
them I could see no one, but on one
Of them 1 saw some men and flew
down, almost touching the craft, and
yelled at them, asking If was on the
right road to Ireland.
They just stared. Maybe they didn't
hear me. Maybe didn't hear them.
Or maybe they thought was just a
crazy fool.
An hour later I saw land. I have
forgotten just what time it was. It
must have been shortly before
o'clock. 1t was rocky land and all
my study told me it was Ireland. And
it was Ireland!
I slowed down and flew low enough
| to study the land and be sure Of where
I was; and. believe me, it was q
beautiful sight. 1t was the most won
derful looking piece of natural scenery
| 1 have ever beheld.
After had made up my mind that
| it was Ireland, the right place for me
| to strike rather than Spain or some
other country, the rest was child's
play. had nay course all marked out
carefully from approximately the place
| where I hit the coast. and you know
| territory IL you have good maps and
| your course prepared.
flew quite low enough over ireland
TO be seen. but apparently no great
attention was paid to me. / also flew
low over England, mounted little
over the Channel and then came down
close to land when ! passed little
| west of Cherbourg. From Cherbours
I headed for the Seine and followed ii
| upstream.
1 noticed it gets dark much later
over here than in New York and
was thankful for that. What espe
cially pleased me was the ease with
which followed my course after hit
! ting the coast of ireland.
When was about half an hour
away from Paris / began to see rock
! cts and Very lights sent up from the
| air field. and I knew ! was all right.
Eiffel Tower Lights Come Into View.
saw an immense vertical sign
which I made out to be the Eiffel
! Tower. I circled Paris once and i'm
mediately saw lie Bourget (the avia
ton field, although 1 didn't know at
| first what it was. l saw lot OF lights
but In the dark I couldn't make out
any hangers. / sent Morse signals as
1 flew over the field, but no one ap
pears to have heard them. The only
mistake in all my calculations was
that I thought LIE Bourget was north
east rather than east Of Paris.
Fearing for moment that the fielt
I had seen--remember / couldn't SET
the crowd-was some other airfielt
than lie Bourget, 1 few back ovel
Paris to the northwest, looking foi
lie Bourget. I was slightly confused
by the fact that whereas in America
when a ship -is to land, beacons are
put out when f1oodlights are turned
on, at lie Bourget both beacons ant
fioodlights were going at the sam'
time.
/ was anxious TO land where / wal
being awaited. So when | didn't f1nt
another airfield, flew back towar'
the first lights I had seen, and fiyin'
low / saw the lights of numberfes
automobiles. / decided that was th'
right place, and / landed.
Reception Most Dangerous Part
/ appreciated the reception whicl
had been prepared for me. and ha'
intended taxing up to the front o
the hangers, but no sooner had M
plane touched ground than a human
sea swept toward 1t. ] saw there wa
danger of killing people with m!
propeller. and ] quickly came to
stop. -. .-.-------.