Evening star., 1933-08-06

Jr., U. .. N. on Outy dI Iiic "oeAi4iAe
ton Navy Yard, who is unusually strong aho
muscular and noted as an amateur "reStlel'
found this accomplishment mighty nanny
when. after his safety belt had in some man
ner become unfastened, he almost 1eu OUT oi
his airplane during the course OF $40" roh
Thrown out OF the cockpit OF his Iast single
seater Navy fighter, he managed 70 NOOK ti'e
tie of his shoe under the edge OF the co"nns
end hang on head down, until he reganed MS
coat As he hung dzzly by his toe, the plane
came ont of the roll and went into vertlcai
die.
r7,hrouph sheer leg strength the naval aviator
s,ovIv pued himself down until he was aoie
to grasp the cowling with his hano ana oras
himself hack into the plane, reganlng cohtioi
cn1 making a safe landing. So severe was tne
s5-ain on his foot that the leather OF MS shoe
v.c9 slit But that's minor thing when II Is
reolized that Lieut. Gallery's strong foot WORK
saved the Government one per1ectiy eooo al
p,.ne which cost around $4,000, sum Whch
is net to be sneezed at in these hectlc Gays
of low finances. 49,
In pulling himself back into his plane, the
Caterpillar Club was cheated out of a new MEM
her and missed the distinction Of having two
brothers affiliated with it. for Lieut. w. w.
Gallery also lieutenant in the Navy Jomeo
the club on August 26, 1880, when at pensacola,
Fla, his plane went into a violent rlght-hano
sun and he was unable to regain control.
c,
coming the twenty eighth member OF the So
ciety OF Elected Airmen, all OF whom were
thrown from airplane cockpits and, nnomg
themselves in empty space In the relentless grip
of gravity, made great haste to yank the rip
cord of their parachute.
IT'S bad enough when an aviator, nying IN
! blissful repcse through the sky suddenly
frfta things going "haywire" and is confronted
oJarr, iyO
arrived for an immediate try-out OF that para
chute strapped to his back, but one cannot
blame him for feeling just trihe sore over
being summarily elected from his comfortable
cockpit seat into empty space to sink or swim
"A reminder Of the practice In vogue when
giving youngsters their first swimming lesson.
This invites attention to an auxiliary society
in the Caterpillar Club which, for the want OF
better name may be termed "The Safety Belt
Busters Fraternity" or the Society Of Ejected
Air1nen" These Caterpillars, much to their
surprise and certainly much against their Will,
were given the grand bounce" with no op-
D .rtunity to thumb their noses and come back
with that consoling time-worn rejoinder to the
effect that II have been kicked out Of better
places than this
The first aviator to become afiliated with
the Society Of Elected Airmen is Capt. Ford O.
Rogers United States Marine Corps. Flying
pursuit plane at Langley Field, Va, he inad-
for his watch Gathering the two parts Of
the belt in one hand he momentarily let go
of the control stick. Before he could close
the belt the plane pitched forward violently,
and he was catapulted from the cockpit head
first and in horizontal flight.
Capt. Rogers did not 60 into conference as
to his next course of procedure, but reached for
the ripcord ring with his right hand, only to
miss it. Quickly pulling the parachute harness
around in front of him with his left hand,
he located the ring. pulled it, and came down
easily in a bed of pine needles. Between the
time I left the plane and the time Of the
opening of the chute" he afterward stated. I
suffered no confusion and had complete and
acute control of my body and Of my faculties"
Capt Rogers was q lonely member OF the
E. A. Society for some 10 months and then
he shook hands with Capt. John I. Moore, Air
Corps as he welcomed him into the fold and
expressed his delight that at least he had
sopae one he could talk to in his own language.
Capt. Moore, one of the Armys veteran war
time pilots was on an air journey from Waco,
Tex He decided to let the other fellow do