Evening star., 1929-12-15


flying suits and felt boots. We have to wear
these fireless cookers with a temperature on the
ground of 100 in the shade. An hours climbing
and oppressive heat at an altitude of 200 feet
gives way to penetrating cold. Returning to
lower levels the gas tanks camera and all metal
is streaming with water due to the rapid con-
densation. s.&
WDURING my last trip to Mexico, one of my
pilots had an interesting experience. One
of the oil companies had had trouble with ham
dts holding up the paymaster, so they decided
to send the pay roll out to the wells by plane.
1.-THE paymaster loaded about !, 900 pesos in
gold into leather bag sealed it carefully, then
when the pilot would Swoop down over the field
where the men were working the paymaster
would drop the leather bag over the side of the
plane.
1.-The pilots landmark was point where two
rivers converged When he reached this spot
his course lay along the river to the right. He
had flown the course many times, but this day,
through some error, he followed the river to the
left and after some distance realized he had
been flying long enough to be sighting the oil
fields
He looked out of the cabin and was surprised
TO see mountains looming up either side OF
the plane and knew he was of his course.
There was no room between the rocky walls
70 turn the plane around, so he kept straight
ahead hoping to rise high enough to find turn
ing space. The mountains were rising higher
and higher each moment and suddenly he
sighted a sheer wall Of rock some 5000 feet high
rising directly in his path! It took some quick
thinking and quicker action!
"He nosed the plane at downward angle.
then suddenly brought it up to complete an
upside down turn. At the moment the wheels
were on top he pulled the stick, righting the
plane and found himself flying out of this cul-
de-sac over the route he had entered.
"When the maneuVer had beer SucceSSftYIIv
accomplished the breathless paymaster managed
to gasp, I say, old man, was that stunt abSo-
1utely necessary to which the pilot replied fer
vently, You betcher boots it was!
SST HAVE had one or two thrilling experiences
in the States. On July Is, 1918, my pilot
at Niagara Falls to get pictures that would be
different. We got them all right and we came
near getting our everlasting, too!
I'VE were flying two-place Canadian train
ing plane powered with 90-horsepower OK
motor. The wind was blowing right down the
gorge and some Of the pictures were made from
an elevation of 10 feet
Because Of the wind condition the plane
would rise only to the level Of the two lower
bridges and we were forced to dive under and
try to rise again. 1t was foolhardy venture.
We achieved the distinction Of being the only
flyers to fly beneath all three bridges at the
falls, and it's record that stand far
as I'm concerned.
"All of the thrills are not confined to land
flying When we were returning from Yucatan
recently, c. H Robinson, chief pilot for the
Mexican Aviation Co.'s Merida run, told Of hav-
ing seen large schools of man-eating sharks OF
the Gulf coast. decided we would photograph
them
when we were about 10 miles from shore
and not more than so feet above the water
sneaking up on the playful creatures Robinson
turned to me and asked casually, 'Bonnick, did
you ever get any dope on how long one of these
planes will float If the motor quits?'
But even with the possibility of motor
going dead over a school of man-eating sharks,
flying holds its fascination. There Is an urge
to achieve further success in profession which
has little or no competition. Whether 1t IS fly
ing 10000 feet in an icy atmosphere with my
fingers sticking to the camera and my mustachc
covered with icicleS like Old Bill, or at a lower
altitude photographing an estate, country club
or harbor development along the waterfront.
the interest is always the same"
The lure of the tropics has been too much for
Bonnick. His visits to New York prove, at least
to his satisfaction, that flights over Mexican
mountains require less lodging than crossing
New York streets. He recently returned 70
Mexico to conduct third survey OF little known
parts Of the country.