Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-28
AVIATION
BY JOSEPH S. EDdERToN.

put on a flying suit, helmet
goggles and stuffed wad of waste
in a pocket to use in wiping of
the goggles at intervals. He would
have performed a feat of aero
battles climbing into the cockpit
and would have yelled, contact
and off" as many times as might
have been necessary while a me-
chanic turned over the propeller
by hand. Checks would be placed
under the wheels, to be pulled by
hand after the motor was warmed
up.
Here he stepped, in street cloth
ing, into a comfortable, attrac-
lively upholstered cabin much
like that of the finest type private
automobile. There was a self
starter button and a neat and
efficiently arranged set of controls
and instruments. He stepped on
the starter, warmed up the engine,
using brakes to hold the wheels,
and TAXED out over smooth run
ways, free of the slightest trace
of mud or dust, to his take-off
point.
Yelled Then, Talks Now.
'In the old planes" he said, eff
you wanted to communicate with
your flying companion, who would
be in another cockpit, you had to
do it by signals or by throttling
down the motor, twisting around.
and yelling at the top Of your
lungs. In this plane easy CONVEX
Sation could be carried on in an
almost normal tone of voice, as
you would talk in an automobile
so far everything had been
different than in the old days.
Now I found the first really
familiar thing, the sight Of the
earth spreading out and rolling
along below"
The weather began to close in,
as the reports had indicated
might be expected. Approaching
Toledo, he encountered heavy
rain, with low ceiling and no
visibility. He decided to "sit down"
and wait for the weather to lift.
There was a smooth stubble wheat
field below and he circled and
went down. Though his flying
speed drove him into the rain at
80 miles per hour or more, there
was no leakage of rain into the
cabin.
Back in the airmail days." he
said, II would have had my head
in the driving rain. I would have
to wipe of the goggles frequently
and, going down to land, prob
ably would have had to shove
them up on my forehead to see
clearly. The rain would drive
into my face and I would close
my eyes to Sits to keep the sting
ing drops from hitting my eye
balls.
"Once down I either would have
to sit in the rain in the open cock
pit or on the ground under the
wing. Here ! sat at ease in q
comfortable, dry cabin.
Snatchers Are Absent.
TN the old days, no matter
where / had put. the ship down,
1t would have been surrounded at
once by an eager, curious crowd.
asking innumerahha questions and
trying, every time my head was
turned, to tear something of the
plane as souvenir. Here motor
lists passing on the road would
merely look and keep on going.
There were only four people who
came to see the plane at ALL"
In little while the rain slack
ened and the ceiling lifted bit.
He took off and went to Toledo,
where another large, well equip
ped airport invited him to land.
AS he landed he TAXED up to a
refueling pit, where an attendant
was ready with hose to refuel
his plane. Not like the former
days, when a funnel would be
brought out and gasoline would
be poured from five-gallon cans
into the funnel, on the plane and
on the ground, almost indiscrin-
inately.
He went into the operations
Office and was invited to register.
Lunch was ready in the restaurant
and the latest weather informa-
ton was coming in by ticker from
points along the airways. He
found that the clouds were lifting
and a weather map showed that
the storm center was moving off
to the northeast.
After lunch he took of and flew
to Cleveland, where the great
municipal airport spread over the
countryside. Accustomed, by his
mail flying days, to landing close
over the Boundaries of the field,
then always small, he came in
low and set her down.
81 looked over toward the
hangar on the far horizon, and
was tempted to take off and fly
over there" he said.
Crew Goes Into Action.
AS he TAXED up to the line a
ground crew came out to meet
him and take the ship in charge.
A hose was uncoiled out of the
pit and the plane was refueled in
moment. A crew with hose and
brushes washed off the mud
picked up in the wheat field. He
was invited to go into the opera
tions Office and register. A teletype
connection was ready and he
notified Washington instantly and
without the least trouble that he
had landed and would remain
over night. Transportation was
available to take him into Cleve-
land and he was told his plane
would be ready to go any time he
wanted it in the morning.
Taking off next day, armed with
the latest weather reports, he
flew on over the mountains, noting
the pleasure the frequent inter-
mediate landing fields and air.