The Washington times., 1928-01-10
BY Chas. A. Lindbergl
CHAPTER III

TAXED up to fence corner
a1onestde 81 small house and pro-.
ceeded to tie down for the Night.
had gained considerable respect
FOR the wind in kansas ana Ne
braska, So after turning of the
rasoline and letting the motor st5pi
~ running the carburetor dry CT
eafetv nxpedierlt to keep the ever
nresert person who stands directly
under the propeller while he wig
plae ii up and down from becon1-
sna ( aeronautical fatality pushed
tiga nose Of the pIane up to d fence
hnd after blocking the wheels se1
z TafrelV tied each wing tip to q
fence post and covered the motor
and cockpit with canvas irl case.
be rain.
Curious Crowd
81 this time the usual barn
etornlfng crowd had gathered and
speus the remaining daylight e1-.
pIafniux that the hole In the radia-
tor was for the propeller shaft 70.
50 through: that the wings were
not made Of catgut, tin Or cast
iron. but 81 wood frame work COW
nred with cotton or linen sar1nk.
II drum tfghtnesa by acetate and
nitrate tlopk that the only way 70.
fiiid out how it feels ito fly waa to.
Nv III for SIS, that 1t was not as.
serious for the engine to stop rs.
for wing to fall off, and the .000I
1ther questions which can o1llE ~
conceived ID such 4 gathering
nfehE came on and the vlsI-l
bilfty sed he crowd departed q
leaving me alone with hailAklak pk
small boys who always rem IL t0i
the last and can only be induced ~
depart BY being allowed to follow
the aviator from the field
Cleaning Up
The next morning I teIephoned
for gas truck to come out 90 ne
field and spent the time before the
truck arrived in the task OF clean
Ing the distributor head. draining
the carburetor iet wells and Oiling
the rocker arms On the engine.
While / was working one Of the
local inhabitants came up and vol
ilnteered the information that nel
had been pilot during the war
but had not flown since and
wouldn't mind talxin. ride again.
/ assured him that much rs ]
would enjoy taking him up flying
was very expensive and that ! did
not have b large fund available TO
buy gasoline. L added that IL ne
would pay operating costs, which
would be SIS for a short ride,
would Be glad to accommodate him.
He produced a SIS bill and after
warming up to motor put him
In the cockpit and TAXED through
the mud to the farthest corner Of
the field. This WAS to be my first
passenger
The field was soft and the man
was heavy: we stalled over the
fence by three feet and the nearest
tree by five. ! found myself
heading up a thickly wooded slope,
which was slipping upward at least
as fast as 4 was climbing IN that
direction. and for three minutes my
Jenny and the slope fought 1t out
over the fifteen feet OF air between
them. Eventually, however, in the
true Jenny style we SKINNED over
the hilltop and obtained little re.
serve altitude. had passed
through one of those almost-but-nOf.
quite accidents for which Jennies
are so famous and which so greatly
retarded the growth of commercial
flying. during the postwar period.
A Thrilling Ride
I decided that my passenger was
entitled to a good ride after that
take-off and kept him up chasing
q buzzard for twenty minutes.
After we landed he commented on
the wonderful take-off and how
much he enjoyed flying low over
the treetops: again assured me
that he had flown a great deal in
the war. and rushed off to tell his
friends all about his first airplane
ride.
The gasoline truck had arrived
and after servicing the ship l took
off again and headed west. had
no place in mind for the next stop
and intended 20 be governed by
Continued on Page 20, Column p