Evening star., 1934-10-14
DAYS WORK TO THE "AEROBAT"
Continued From Second Page S

SS$SSSSSSSSSSSSS&
ing night and, just before becoming hori-
zontally inverted, rolls smoothly over to
normal position. Little speed is lost
and an appreciable amount of altitude
is gained, as well as an 180-degree change
Of direction.
MAJ. JIMMY DOOLITTLE, ex-Army
flash, was the first pilot, It is gen.
orally agreed, to execute the difficult
outside loop He performed this spec
tacular and highly dangerous feat at
McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, in May.
1927, Starting at an elevation of 5000
feet, he turned the nose of his plane
downward and put 1t through a circle
1000 feet in diameter. At the bottom
of the loop he was going $50 miles an
hour and probably would have been
thrown out of the cockpit Of his plane
had he not taken the precaution to have
used a very heavy safety belt.
Doolittle is a full-fledged member of
the Caterpillar Club, joining that myth
cal organization on September 1, 1929,
during the National Air Races at Cleve-
land, Ohio, when structural failure Of
his plane forced him to resort to the
parachute to save his life.
On several previous occasions Jimmy
avoided joining the club by the narrow
est of margins. On this particular occa-
sion, when newspaper man, who by
mere accident happened to be in the
immediate vicinity of his jump, reached
his side, Doolittle remarked, in answer
to flood of questions directed to him:
I'm glad it happened. always have
wanted to be forced to Jump"
Not the least bit feazed by his narrow
escape from the Grim Reaper's clutches,
Maj. Doolittle crumpled the parachute
under his arm, made his way to the
operations Office of the field and an
nounced:
Gentlemen, guess I'll have to borrow
another plane"
This was the first intimation received
of his parachute Jump. The plane was
given Jimmy at once. Half an hour
later he thrilled the immense throng
attending the races with a brilliant
demonstration of aerial gymnastics.
Greatest of all Marine Corps acrobat
magicians" today is First Lieut.. Lawson
Harry Mcpherson Sanderson. Yes, that's
his real name. Is it any wonder they
call him SANDY" for short?
Time and time again he has delighted
air show crowds with sensational dives,
loops and score of other tricky ma
neuvers, all performed with the ideal
Snowman touch. Often, too, this ven-
turesome flyer has done stunts for the
edification of the bandits in Nicaragua.
But that's another story. They do say,
however, that he can do anything .
bird can do except eat worms.
Several years ago at the Cleveland
Air Races Sandy" got into an air colli-
sion. He bailed out, but his chute fouled
the plane and for a couple of grim
minutes he dangled helplessly IN descent.
Just in the nick of time the chute cleared
and he saved his life by the narrowest
of margins. The plane crashed nearby.
SANDY" thought it surely would take
fire, so he made furious dash for H.
Worried about his plane? Wrong guessl
He just couldn't bear to lose his precious
chewing tobacco. Always before every
flight he places q substantial wad Of it
into his plane. II anybody tampers with
his "chaw" they risk good stiff right
to the button.
Now here's some sad news Eve been
saving for the very last: Today you
aren't likely to see much tricky flying