Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-13

we're thu dead leader In the first
plane.
A circle of the field. another mighty
dive. this time from the west FROM
the eastern end of the field Navy
plane took off. 1t climbed rlgnt up
into the area in which inc three
Army flyers were diving. III never
swcrved. The eagle eyes OF Llndoergn
saw what was about to happen. lnSteao
of a graceful zoom, he yanked back
on the stick and shot IN almost Vertlcai-
lv The collision was avoided. The
crowd then realized what might have
happened. seconds after the fast-think-
ing brain of Iindbergh had grasped
The situation and found cure. For
moment it looked like the end of an
>.her musketeer, and which one?
The flying of the three musketeers"
was in conjunction with a formation
Of Army Douglas OH observation
planes from Crissy Field San Francisco
The actions of Lindbergh's formation
wern Stimulating protection of the slower
craft and at the same time attack
'rctics. 1t has been quite long while
~incc Lindberoh dived on observation
lanes in attack maneuvcrs, and in one
# these dives h. collided with another
living pursuit shin and became a men,
her of the Caterpillar Club But to
the public in general and the military
flyer in particular, Lindbcrgh had for
gotten nothing he learned under the
~'idance of the famous Lieut. Rus
sell L Vaughan of tawn-to-dusk fame
and who was among those watching
h" fioht Yesterday afternoon.
Carrying out prearranged plan.
Col. Lindbergh took his formation away
from the field and did not return for
an hour. During that period he was
over another section of this State prac-
ticing formation loops. formation rolls
and other tricks for this afternoons
show"
Three Musketcers" Cheered.
Unobtrusively they returned to the
field during the progress of the third
attack groups race. and it was not I'M
til they had landed in formation that
the public realized they were back.
mighty cheer went up for the Three
Musketeers." This morning in three
Curtiss Hawks" the famous team went
out into the country and rehearsed
some more
While hanging around" Army head
quarters yesterday afternoon renewing
old acquaintance and being guarded
from the public. Col Lindbergh let 1t
be known he thought the Army was not
getting all that was coming to it out
0: the meet. and thereupon volunteered
his services in any capacity One Of
f1cer suggested If he flew an Army plane
such an act would produce the desired
results; then another suggested that he
lead formation. and finally the COL
onel suggested he take out the Three
M1icHofnprC NJ1f O. M
practice. whereupon it was suggested
he lust make several dives at the crowd.
pull up in climbing turns and mill
about the field.
The colonel by this time was up to
his neck In interest. He suggested the
practicing yesterday afternoon and he
suggested second rehearsal early this
morning. Then he said he would do this
act every day for the remainder of the
meet
Loves Pursuit Aviation.
Col. Lindbergh loves pursuit aviation
in which branch he specialized during
his training period Every time he Is
in Detroit he visits the headquarters
of the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge
Field and takes out a single-seater for
romping good time He is known to
be more grateful for the courtesy ex-
triumphant return from Europe-the
opportunity of leading the % pursuit
planes to New York-than almost for
any other effort to make him happy
So now he is in his element. But the
public cannot help recall his own words
that military aviation is hazardous. p"
This utterance, before a House commit
tee considering legislation for correc-
ton of injustices in the Air Corps, was
supplemented with the explanation that
formation flying. acrobatics necessary
to military tactics and other maneu-
vers. which do not occur in commercial!
aviation. all contribute to the danger in
which the military airman constantly
finds himself.
Now the idol of the Americas
public-of the worlds dashing about
the skies here at 800 miles an hour.
plunging lightninglike toward the earth
and causing hearts to skip beats as he
gracefully pulls off the dives at so feet
above the ground, What other Re
serve officer" in the country could step
lip and lead these two little Regulars a
merry chase like Lindbergh did yester-
day? Probably there are many who
| could. but they wouldn't get the oppor
tunity.
Meet In Navy Territory"
The loss in prestige of the Army
here is explained as being due to the
fact that they are in Navy territory
where the finest of the Nays pilots
and planes are concentrated, and where
they are more widely known than the
Army Furthermore the Army flew out
here unprepared for any popular en-
tertainment, and planned on throwing
| a formation or two in the air daily
which is tame stuff compared with the
spectacular flying of the Nays three
sea hawke" and the Straffing SQUAD
p, ron, No 2, under Lieut.. Comdr. A. C..
Davis. until recently on duty in Wash
! ington with the Bureau of Aeronautics
| These units and others of the Navy
| have been exploiting msnv thrilling ma
III