Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-27

refueling plane was made after the
fight had been in progress almost "a
hours.
We did not consider this remarkable,
as we had full confidence in our ability
to perform the feat. The day before
the Fort Worth took off we practiced
the refueling contact three times with
Hoffman and Jones. However, no fuel
with $50 gallons of gasoline, which last
ed us through the first night of the
fight.
In case of an accident we agreed on
the procedure we were to follow. The
endurance ship was to pull to the left
and down while the refueling ship was
to pull to the right and up. In order
to fly close enough together to permit
refueling. in the air we had to obtain
special permit from the Department
of Commerce. After an inspection Of
the Fort Worth and the refueiing ship
and an explanation of our plan they
waived their rule forbidding CONNER
cial aircraft to fly closer than 300 feet
apart.
Trip Something Of a Lark.
Despite its serious nature, our flight
sometimes was more or less OF lark.
We wrote many notes and dropped them
to our wives and friends on the ground.
Before dropping notes we would circle
the municipal airport at low altitude
to attract attention, and then on the
second trip over would drop the notes.
We carried supply of small canvas
sacks for this purpose. Strips of bed
sheeting had been attached to the sacks
and the long streamerS helped attract
attention to the messages, and also
aided in their location after they fell
| to the field.
i The jocular tones Of notes we re-
ceived while in the air helped us while
away the time and keep our spirits up.
| Once we playfully tossed loaf of bread
to visiting aviator and got great
kick out of his astoniShed look.
During the daylight hours we flew in
municipal airport. At night we kept
closer to the field, and usually were
not more than five miles distant from
its foodlights.
A supply of flares was carried in the
Fort Worth. but we preferred the safety
of well lighted landing field in case
of motor failure or any other sudden
| and serious trouble. Attitudes during
thu, flight ranged from 500 to 10000
feet.
In the morning and at night we flew
closer to the earth, due to favorable
atmospheric conditions, but during the
heat of the day we maintained attitudes
of 5000 to 10000 feet.
Take ITO Gallons of Gas.
For refueling contacts we usually
sought an altitude of between $500 and
1000 feet. About half of this altitude
would be lost during the operation.
Eight minutes were required for the
f1~op 1cfn Of Nf
while the two night loads usually were
taken on in contacts of three to five
minutes each.
| At the time Of the take-off we had
| not secured the parachutes we had in
tended to wear throughout the flight.
Rather than delay the start of the ven
ture we decided to go ahead without
the parachutes.
The third day of our fight found us
| still without parachuteS. In the mean
time we had realized that we were tax
| ing an unnecessary chance and had
dropped a request for the parachutes.
The task of greasing the rocker arms
on the motor was particularly danger
Gus.
To perform this task twice daily, it
was necessary to crawl through small
window on the left side Of our plane.
! There was no opening on the right side
| ana 10 grease Cne rocker arms on GIldI
side of the motor the fuselage had to
be mounted, in pony fashion. The one
of us making the trip faced the pilot
and. slid carefully across the motor to
the right side of the catwalk. This OPP
Grafton had to be reversed in order to
re-enter the ship.
| We are particularly grateful to Brig
Gen. F. P. Lahnl, who was instrumental
in our securing. chutes. Lahm. who is
in charge Of aviation activities for the
Eighth Corps Area, volunteered to take
one Of the seat" type parachutes, which
had been secured for us. in exchange foI
a parachute which conformed to the
shape of the back. This was used by
the man on the catwalk and added tC
his safety, as there was danger of the
seat" type of parachute catching or
some part of the motor and opening
The day after our parachutes were de-
| livered two more were sent up from
Kelly Field at San Antonio for Hoff-
man and Jones to wear during the re-
fueling operation.
Another compliment we received from
the Army was the personal note from
Capt. Ira c. Eaker, the chief pilot on
the flight of the Question Mark. Eaker
came through Fort Worth twice during
our flight and on his last trip stopped
long enough to SEND us a note wishing
us success. 1t made us feel good to