Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-08-25

GA AAAaA AAAOW ~.
Ask almost any group Of expert
enced pilots, picked at random.
Who Is one of the best blind flier
In the country7"
why, Brownie, I guess" win be
their reply, nine times out Of 10.
And most OF them won't even add,
Il guess"
They mean Henry J. Brown, a
quiet little chap who divides his
time between flying the night air
mail between New York and Cleve-
land over one o. the worst stretches
Of flying country In the United
States, and playing with his pretty
little curly-h d, 2~-year-old
daughter.
Because Of Brownies" ski as an
instrument flyer" he frequently
takes off confidently In weather
that would keep many pilots on the
ground. Time after time, he has
started out with the air man when
others felt the hazard too great.
That Is one of the reasons why
: was selected " w. O'Neil, pres
mt Of the Gener Tire and Rub
company, to fly the flagship Of
e General Tire company's Sky
cet" in the nonstop race from
s Angeles to Cleveland In the ma
nal air races this month.
He will fly the high-powered
mystery ship that Is being special
y built and specially equipped by
General Tire company engineers for
the race.
One evening at his home in Lake
wood. a beautiful Cleveland suburb.
just after he had brought the mail
in from Hadley field, near New
Brunswick, N. j., Brownie" was
persuaded to talk about blind fly
ing"
1T would not be possible to hold
TO much Of the schedule between
Cleveland and New York without
flying by instruments, by choice.
much OF the time" he remarked,
Thrilling Experiences
Brownie" has had many thrilling
experiences trying to FIND the termi-
nal field after flying blind over the
course.
Once. when he found Hadley field
hidden by fog he kept on his course
eastward until he "smelled the
ocean" Still flying through the fog.
he flew low enough to make out sea
gullS rising from the otherwise I'M
rlppled surface OF the ocean. Feel
Ing" his way back to shore, he final
ly made a safe landing at Hadley.
Another time, while flying to-
wards Cleveland from Hadley 1ield
at night. a city only by q dim glow
on the top Of the cloud-banks be-
low him but II the moon were shin
ing its light would make It impos-
sible to see this glow on the top of
the clouds, coming through from the
city beneath.
Entirely surrounded by fog, he
came down until he could make out
floating ice-cakes Just beneath him.
perhaps 10 or IL m : out from
shore in Lake Erie. Depending en-
tirely upon his instruments, he
made his way inland until he reach
ed the Ice fringe lat skirted the
shore OF the lake and shortly after
ward landed r ely at the munich
pal airport.
There are times when a pilot
may decide to fly over u broken
clouds, usually because he knows 1t
Is impossible to fly underneath, and
ne feels assured that the clouds will
remain broken about the terminal
field Brown said.
Sometimes 1t happens, In such a
case. that the terminal field clouds
over by the time he reaches that
vicinity and he does not have
enough gas to turn back to the
point where he first started to fly
over them.
Perhaps the lower surface o. the
clouds is as rutL as 1000 feet above
any obstacles for many miles around
that area, while they are 8,0c0 feet
thick.
"A pilot who raC never practiced
blind flying would be reluctant 10
start down through without know
ing how much ceiling thee was UNI
derneath. II he did start down
through, 1t Is { likely he :1uld
avoid being hopolessly twisted I'D.
becoming panic stricken and using
his chute.
Must Be Prepared
IF he had known how TO fly
blind, he could have come down
fairly easy to a level clearing all
obstacles. which. H. this case, would
have been an altitude well below
the actual ceiling. or course. a man
who isn't prepared to fly blind has
no business flying over w. -oken
clouds. but that doesn't alter tie sit
uation.
1T is not - much OF q trick to
fly blind as 1t Is to decide correctly
when to fly blind and when not to
to. Blind flying does { place a
premium on -lor but It does on
gray matter.
ct Is not true that blind flying
is the most prolific source Of crash
es among skilled pilots nor Is 10
true that very death I'm flying mail
for the past five years has been due
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