The Sauk Centre herald., 1928-07-12
CHAPTER XXI

C1APIER All
By the first of April our organ
ization was well under way, anc
about a week before the inaugura
. tion day we took two planes ovel
the route to make any final ar
rangements necessary.
On April Is, at $50 a. m.
took off from the Air Mail Field al
haywood on the first southbounc
flight, and that afternoon we SEN
two ships north with the inaugura
tion mail from St. Louis, Spring
field and Peoria.
During the summer months most
of our route was covered during
daylight, but as winter approached
the hours of night flying increased
until darkness set in few min.
utes after we left the field at ST.
Louis.
With night flying and bad
weather our troubles began. Our
route was not lighted at first and
the intermediate airports were
small and often in poor condition.
Our weather reports were unre-
liable and we developed the policy
of taking off with the mail when
ever local weather conditions per-
mitted We went as far as we
could and if the visibility became
too bad we landed and entrained
the mail.
One of the worst conditions we
met with was flying from day.
light into darkness. 1t was not
difficult to fly along with a 100
foot ceiling in the daytime, but to
do so at night was an entirely
different matter, and after the
night set in: if the weather became
worse, it was not possible to turn
around and return to daylight.
With all of our difficulties, how
ever, the mail went through with
surprising regularity. During the
first five months of operation we
made connections on over SO per
cent of our trips.
There are only two conditions
which delay the air mail; fog and
sleet. If the fog is light or local,
and the sleet not too heavy, the
planes continue even then. But
when the ground becomes invisible
and the fog covers the terminal
fields, or when sleet freezes thick
ly on wings and wires, the planes
cannot continue. In such cases the
mail is entrained and usually reach
es it's destination at least as soon
as it would have if sent by train in
the first place.
Almost every day, in some sec
tion of the United States, mail
pilots are flying over fog and
through storms and rain to bring
their ships through on schedule
time. The mail plane is seldom
delayed and then only by impos-
sible weather conditions.
In the future these days will
become fewer as radio navigation
and instruments for blind flying
improve, until it will be possible
for the pilots to keep to their
schedules under the worst condi-
tions and in comparative safety.
Another hazard, during certain
times of the year, is the formation
of ice. This will gather on all
parts of the plane but mainly on
the wires, propeller, and entering
edge of the wings. If it forms slow
ly from a fog or light rain, a
plane may be able to continue on
its course for some time, but if a
heavy sleet storm is encountered
the ice may form as rapidly that a
ship cannot stay in the air over
five minutes before it is so loaded
down that the pilot will be unable
TO keep from losing altitude even
with his motor wide open.
The actual weight of ice Is not
as important as the loss in eff
cheney of the wing, due to the
changed airfoil caused by ice gath
ering on the entering edge.
Still, more loss is caused from
the ice forming on the propeller
itself. The blades take on thick
coating which continues to in
crease in depth until the ice from
one of the blades is thrown off by
centrifugal force. When this
happens an excessive vibration sets
in and continues until the opposite
blade has thrown off it's coating.
One of the dangers which a mail
pilot faces in flying at night
through bad weather and low visi-
bility is in suddenly losing track
of the ground due to a fog bank
lower than the rest. If he has
been flying very close to the
ground it is not advisable to go
lower, and often the only altera-
tion is to climb up through the
fog and attempt to find a hole
somewhere to spiral down through.
Being caught in a fog at night