The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-04-25
chamberZin Saves Three Lives in Heroic Air Drama
Joint Holder of Endurance
Record. Went Up in Grip
Piled Plane.
TWO CHILDREN ABOARD
Disabled Gear MenaCed
Landing.
BIZ United Press

NEW YORK, April 2.-Clarence
ID. Chamberlin, joint holder of the
world endurance fight record, held
another Endurance today and two
little girls and a man owed their
lives in his skill as a pilot.
Chamberlin, with death reaching
a hand for the controls of his plane,
came down from the clouds on
broken landing gear, yesterday after
an hour in the air, during which
men and women spectators clenched
their hands and prayed for the
safety of him and the three passeng-
ers in his charge.
The incident occurred at Mitchell
Field, Long Island where Chamber
lin had gone up in the Bellanca mon
oplane in which he and Bert Acosta
recently broke the endurance record.
The plane had just been 'christened
preliminary to its attempted flight
from New York to Paris, and Cham
berlin took up the young sponsor,
Eloyse Levine, @, who broke bottle
of ginger ale over the bow, naming
the plane Columbia. With them were
Grace Jonas, Is, and John Carisi,
factory superintendent for T.. G.. NJ.
Bellanca, Designer of the plane.
Neither, UnIinOwing, Smiles
Just as the plane left the ground.
trained eyes of airmen saw that the
landing gear had been bumped in
taking off, strut was broken and
the left wheel bent in. Airmen knew
what it meant and We're Mortified To
the laymen and to the parents of the
two girls, who were watching, it
meant nothing. Mrs. Levine was
smiling happily, thinking of the
pleasure her little girl was getting
out Of her first ride in the air.
Quietly, trying not to alarm the
parents, the men on the field set to
work. Gene Smith, pilot, jumped
into an observation plane and men
frantically heaved at the propeller
to get him off. Other men had ripped
the wheel from a truck and thrust
it in with Smith. The plane rose
the two came together, Smith leaned
from the cockpit. thrust out the
wheel Of the truck and gestured
frantically downward. telling Cham
berlin in pantomine what was
wrong.
Everett Chandler, another pilot,
also haG taken off and circled along
side. He, too, gestured to Chamberlin
to make sure he understood and the
pilot Of the Bellanca nodded gravely.
Helpless to Aid
For nearly an hour the strange
drama was enacted-on the ground a
thousand people, now aware of what
portended, watching anxiously; an
ambulance racing to the scene;
trucks with men aboard trying to
follow the course of the plans at the
landing spot. and in the air the Bel
lanca and its two escorts circling
steadily around. the one unable to
land without dire peril and the other
two helpless to aid it.
Chamberlin' mind was working
busily. He was flying low, seeking
the snloothest possible landing place,
the while issuing instructions to
Carisi. The latter was dropping
sandbags to tighten the load of the
plane. Chamberlin wanted weight
on the tail to keep it from nosing
down in landing. So Eloyse. who
was in front with Chabermlin, was
moved to the rear with Carisi. All
this time. the girls were unaware
Of their danger. The pilots chatted
with them casually, and Chamberlin
remarked with a laugh that they
might be bumped a little in landing.
so hold tight.
Tried to Guard Child
Chamberlin was afraid to land on
Curtiss field, which is rougher than
Roosevelt Or Mitchell fields. adjoin-
ing it. He started to swing low over
Roosevelt field, but there was a
crowd there and those on the ground
thought Mitchell would be safer. So
a third plane went up, with
Mitchell chalked in big letters on
the side. Chamberlin understood
and headed for there.
Carisi caught Eloyse in his arms
and held her slose to his body. try
ing to SHIELD her. Chamberlin
couldn't do the same for Grace, but
he gave her his seat pad and told
her to hold it against her head.
Stops Upright
Chamberlin came down with a
precision that stirred the experts on
the ground to throaty cries of
eXultation. The plane settled like
q feather. drifting over the ground
and finally touching with the lightest
of bumps on its good wheel. 1t ca.
reened slight and with a short run
stopped-upright.
"Thank you for the ride" said the
girls. still unaware of how close they
had been to death.
Chamberlin started to disappear,
but Mrs. Levine caught him. Her
arms went around his neck and the
abashed aviator received a kiss that
probably will live in his memory
longer than the many honors he has
received for his other exploits.