Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-07-25
MILLION MILES
In AIR ENDED
Senior Pilot of u. S. Air
Mail Celebrates Goal;
Praises Pioneers
Especial to The Herald

NOptCld W lie HtTdlQJ
CHICAGO, July 25.-The senior
pilot of the United States air mail,
E. Hamilton Lee, celebrated the
completion of 100000 miles in the
air tonight with a tribute to his
pioneer comrades and a lament
thatIthe good old days OF thrilling
exnMriences in the air" have passed.
"Tt must make an old cowman
mad to see a fellow in shiny boots
and polo pants riding a slick
horse" Lee said. We'll, it hurts,
in a way, to see these mail pilots
climbing into heated cabins and
talking to somebody on the ground
over the radiophone."
Lee celebrated his million miles
Of flight with a talk over a coast
forecast radio hookup as a part Of
the Roads of the Sky" aviation
series, sponsored jointly by the
Aeronautical Chamber Of Com
merce Of America and the Ma
tional Broadcasting company.
1.-The forty-niners and the cow
boys had their day, and it looks
like we air veterans have about had
ours Lee said in his talk. Il
won't quit flying. I like it and /
ar0 happy to celebrate the flying
of my millionth mile without a ser
ious accident. But I do feel that
all these improvements and safety
measures have taken most Of the
al-a-A-1 @y4 - +Ao civ Doail hYIc-
mess.
Flying is being made safe for
everybody, which is what the coun-
try wanted. A few people want
thrills, but they want safe thrills.
Some don't want any thrills at all.
They want to go places in a hurry.
/ am glad that the new flying era
is here and that the air mail has
led the way"
Flew First Air Mail
Lee flew the first experimental
air mail routes established by the
government, and when the trans
continental service was established,
became a pilot on the Chicago
Omaha link. He now flies a sec
ton Of the transcontinental route
flown by Boeing Air Transport
westward from Chicago.
Some of the most dramatic incl
dents of the pioneer era happened
along the old transcontinental,"
Lee said. "A man flying alone
over an ocean of black fog at night,
with no idea of where he was, no
communication nothing but a
couple of flares and a parachute
was not exactly attending afternoon
tea. A flier in the old days was in
life. clear up to the hilt-
"One year ago, the pilot was his
own general. making his decisions
on his own judgment alone. Today
he receives the advice OF a corps
of weather observers. and the or
ders of ground superintendent, by
radio telephone-not in code, but in
spoken words. Directive radio, by
dots and dashes, now tells him
when he is off his course.
Ten years ago an air mail pilot
had plenty Of excitement. AS SEN
Tor air mail pilot, I want to pay a
tribute to the men who pioneered
duuArg the earlier years. Flying is
out of the pioneer stage. Like all
other adventures into new and
strange realms. the early filters led
the way: a host of followers came;
and romance began to disappear.
Flying Losing Thrill
"As people become familiar with
air travel. there will be no more
mystery about it. We are rapidly
approaching the day when there
will be no more excitement about
flying than there is about railroad
ing" Lee said.
The veteran air mail pilots talk
continued the story of the trans
continental air mail flight started
last Tuesday night by Wesley
Smith. another air mail veteran,
who described the flight from New
York to Chicago. Lee told of the
flight from Chicago to Salt Lake
and then opened his "reminiscences
of the early days. Lee spoke from
the Chicago studio of the National
B~roadcasting company owe the
most extensive hookup of radio
stations eve arranged for a weekly
feature such as the Roads Of the
Sky" series provides.