Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-01
ROBIN PIL0ITEL
OF FLIGHTS PER|LS.
Success Attributed to Team
work in Meeting Problems
Encountered in Air.
fcontinued From First Page.)

l
were taken out of the st. Louis Robin
to make way for the oblong 125-gallon
tank,
Between the top of this tank, over
which was spread out mattress bed, and
the roof of the cabin there is about 2
feet clearance. In this small space,
we had to take our rest during the long
grind and get in what exercise with our
legs we could to keep from growing
stiff.
AS one or the other of US took the
controls, we had before us the instru-
ment board, which required constant
watching to check the progress OF our
flight.
The instruments on this board, ar
ranged very much like the dashboard of
an automobile, are the tachometer,
which gives the revolutions per minute
of Old Faithful, our motor, the oil
presser gauge, which would be the first
place for us to note trouble with the
engine, as indicated by the overheating;
the temperature gauge, which registers
the heat of the engine; the altimeter,
which gives the distance above the
ground IN feet; the air speed indicator,
which its names explains; the rate Of
climb indicator and the bank and turn
indicator. which makes it possible to
fly in darkness or through storm clouds.
This instrument is lighted indirectly for
night flying.
Our engine, of course, is the COM
paratively new CurtiSs Challenger pow
/ er unit. 1t differs from all other air
cooled engines in that it has an even
number of cylinders. Where most air.
/ cooled radial engines have an uneven
! number, this has two sets OF three CYL
| inders or a double throw crank shaft.
One of the scientific reasons for this
! flight was to test out the theory OF oe-
/ sign behind this engine. NO DOUBT
| exists in our minds today but that this
theory is OK.
"Ship and Motor Steady"
According to our log the first three
| entries show that we were cruising
easily at an altitude of 1000 feet above
| the earth with everything functionlng
! smoothly. Taken every so minutes these
! entries are: Motor running well,
motor o. K" ship and motor steady, "
with the revolutions of the motor con-
stantly at 1850 per minute.
Our air speed during this first and
! crucial period of the fight went down
gradually from 60 to so miles an hour:
| The temperature of the engine renamed
constantly at So degrees r. Inc WedVh-
! err was overcast.
Our first contact with our refueling
| shot came at 1890 in the afternoon, an
hour after Red took over the contro1S
| from Obie.
I had just dropped note for some
! sandwiches which l saw the boys on
| the ground pick up. We took this as
i good omen, because we saw now easy
it was to communicate from snip 10
ground. In the excitement OF taxing on
and getting this flight started we had
tn
| ing water, and the hot weather soon
| showed us the error Of our ways.-Red.
Reused up by Red for our first con-
| tact. the one thing on which the whole
| success of our venture was going 10 de-
pend during the entire flight, made
| ready to receive the hose from the re-
| fueling ship, piloted by our partner,
Maj C. Ray Wassall P. V. ChaHee,
whom we call Shorty" was waiting
! there with the precious hose to lower
! TO us as the fueling ship swung INTO
| position a few feet above us.-Oble.
First Contact Success.
| This first contact, thanks to practice
over period of the week before the tlgnt;
was a perfect success. Shorty lowered
the hose Just behind the propeller ana
Obie grabbed it before the weight had
time to so much as touch our ship.
1t was easy, once we had the hose, TO
connect it with our main tank. Inc
only hard part OF the maneuver came
at the end when Obie got good bath
of gasoline as the hose was pulled up
again to the flying water wagon
Following the refueling. when we took
on 60 gallons of gasoline, we received
our first consignment of food from the
earth and S gallons of oil. This came
to us in two aluminium cans, 3l2 feet
long, swung down on a rope by shorty:
The oil container we swung TO the rocl
of the cabin over the pilot on hooks, IN
a position where we could drain II mto
the oil tank of the motor.
One thing which always pleased us
all during the flight was the raft OF
messages which we always found in the
food container. We must say that our
wives were wonderful correspondents,
and it was always cheerful to get GOOD
news from home.
The messages from well-wishers out
side the circle of our relatives ana
friends grew in numbers every day. IL
became absolutely out of the question
to answer them individually before the
end of the flight. In fact, we could not
even begin to take aboard all the KIND
words and gifts which came up TO us;
What we need now is about three weeks
vacation to acknowledge all this Won
derful kindness and support.
A question which soon came up Tor
us was that of checking the engine and
inspecting the plane. Our teamwork
for the refueling stunt brought us to
the decision to have Red at the controls
and Obie handle the delicate operation
of taking in the line from the refuelers.
From experience we had learned IN
practice flights that one man cannot
do both to perfection.
For the inspection, we teamed up so
that Obie took over the controls most
of the time and Red was the guy who
went out on the catwalk or slid down
the tail of the ship outside.
Jackson Checks the Motor.
To check the motor would open the
door of the cabin on either side and
climb out on the 6-inch wide running
within 3 inches of the whiring propeller
blades. The wind, far more than the
height above the ground, made this
perilous and difficult. For protection
there were two rods rugged as railing
outside me, and had safety belt with
ring which. slid along the lower of
these rods.
Once was in position, it was not SO
hard to do the work, because old man
O'Brine certainly did hold the ship
steady. He knew one slip by me, stand
ing there without a parachute, would
mean certain death. I had the utmost
confidence in him at all times.-Red.
One of the biggest thrills I got during
the whole flight was when Red had to
go out on top of the fuselage and slide
back to the rear controls. This was
even worse for me than when I could
see him on the catwalk. He was COM
pletely out of my sight and could only
tell approximately where he was by the
weight of the elevator control.
How he ever did it don't know. If