Evening star., 1927-05-28

how many lives had gone to the devel-
opment of the airplane from the types
that used to be to my Spirit of ST.
Louis.
Looking back at that, feel it quite
safe to prophesy, as / do in all my
speeches, that before very long there
will be a regular service across the
Atlantic. 1t won't be easy. Nothing
Of that sort is easy. But now that the
first flight has been made. we have
got an objective. We know that it is
pcpsible and that work can do it.
S'he regularity of the air service
across the English Channel is one of
the most interesting things I have
sesE here. From LIE Bourget air
plShes set out in every direction as
Regularly as trains. 1t is just like
Lig harbor, and I suppose it is all the
more interesting to me because all
these airplanes go to different coun.
tries. and not just across the same
country, as we do in America.
Has 1923 Flying Hours.
There are one or two things about
my trip across which / would like to
add to the accounts which have al
ready been given in the New York
Times. In the first place, 1 entered
the other day the time of my flight in
Ahy IOS5 UOOh, dho aiAu Aiidt lIl tIlC
five years ! have been flying / have
made 7,190 flights. totaling 1923 hours
40 minutes, on a conservative esti-
mate.
That 3S hours single flight was only
q small part of the total. Last year
/ flew 1853 hours. In all, / have car.
ried 5,951 passengers, and I am glad
to say l have never had an accident
either to any one of them or to myself.
II
prepared for the flight / made. 1t
seems tonight a very long time since
took off from New York, but it is
only week this morning. That tells
something Of the time saving an air.
plane service will be. The fastest
ships which left the day I did would
only be getting in now. And that trip
OF mine was in no way uncomfortable.
There were things I saw cannot find
words to describe. For instance, / saw
my first iceberg. There must have
been Is Of them. all in all, eastward
from Newfoundland. Between Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland ! saw ice
fields. but no icebergs; after New
foundIand I saw icebergs. but no ice
fields, Some big bergs were very
beautiful and looked enormous. even
from the height at which I was flying.
lASSuTeu w 4Nckth oe"As
Another moment which gave me a
great thrill was during the nignt'
when travelling above the clouds.
From that time until the moon rose
was the most uncomfortable part OF
NV tourney. 1t got very dark ana
only the brightest stars shone through
fhe haze, I could see the North star,
and that was a great aid in giving me
a general kind of assurance Of dlrec-
ton. But was glad when the moon
came up above the clouds. IL is
dreary flying without any hght at an
and when l planned the flight L want
ad m have the moon with me. She
was already past the full, but bright
and comforting. And those who have
never flown above the clouds IN moon
light haven't seen one of the most
lovely things the world has to SHOW
It is fairyland up there, and an espe-
cially comforting fairyland to human
when he knows that down below the
clouds there is fog and sleet or ram
and he is flying through clear SKY.
In another of these articles L am
going to tell about Paris and how l
was received / am in the middle OF
that vet, and can't write clearly about
1t. So let's go back to flying.
Flying Safe as Autoing.
Flying is Just as safe, IL not safer,
than motoring on the ground. But we
have still too many crashes ana acci-
dents | don't think our average Is
higher in America than elsewhere. but,
speaking only of America, l think we
have got to do better groundwork. Too
many planes are sent up which are
not quite as well prepared as they
should be. Then our pilots are mostly
rather inexperienced. The older, ex:
/ perienced men are getting fewer ana
4 fewer, and in our service the majority
are young pilots. OF course, these
Young pilots are growing older and
more experienced every day, but at
the present the demand is somewhat
in excess of the supply Of skilled men,
and the progress of aviation makes
the demand heavier and heavier. But
/ expect that will right itself, and
meanwhile careful groundwork is the
best assurance against accident.
have just unpacked the emergency
outfi. that / took with me. and it was
rather melancholy business to think
that I had the same Idea as the
Frenchman, Coli, and took a fishing
line and a couple of hooks with me ir
case I landed in the sea and had tC
fish for a living. Another thing l took
was a needle and thread. That may
sound foolish, but in case l came dowT
had planned to make kite with the
canvas of the wings. / had a gooC
stout knife to cut the cross pieces ant
ball of string, on the chance thai
some ship might have seen me flying
my kite in the middle of the Atlantic
Carried Lifeboat Flares.
had also four lifeboat flares il
bicycle tubing to set off in the nigh
IL / heard the sound of ships engin,
or saw her lights. These things wer,
little enough to use to attract atten
ton IL had to come down. I realized
that on my flight as hour after hoyY
E r