Evening star., 1934-02-21
ARMY MAINTAINS.
A|RMA|L SCHEDULE
Flyers Settle Into Routine
Despite Handicap of
Weather.

Although handicapped by bad fly
ing weather in some sections of the
country, the Army Air Corps today
had settled into the harness in its
biggest peace time job. the carrying
of the airmails. Everywhere sched-
ules were being maintained and tons
of mail were on the wing in battle
planes stripped of their fighting gear.
Service through Washington last
night and today went on with clock
like regularity, the Army mail planes
far outnumbering the transport planes
of the commercial lines, which have
greatly curtailed service since their
mail contracts were Cancelled.
The Army whipped the overflow
mail situation on the Miami-New
York run through Washington last
night by pressing into service a Key
stone B-6A twin-motored lombard
inent airplane, which easily carried
the load of 1,50O pounds of airmail
handled on this trip alone. Yester-
cay three sections" of smaller planes
were required to take care of the
loads on the Singe coastline schedule.
The big bomber left Miami yesterday
went straight on through to New
York, reaching Washington Airport
at 2:30 this morning.
Two Planes Required.
On the Washington Cleveland run,
however, mail was piled up so heavily
one plane could not carry it all and
two went out on the night run over
the Alleghanies. Two Boeing P-12
pursuit planes of the 36th Pursuit
Squadron took care of the Washing
ton mail for Western points.
The Army's airmail field base at
Washington Airport, in charge of
Lieut.. L. G.. Saunders of the 2nd
Bcmbardment Wing, Langley Field,
was a scene of continuous activity all
through the night, in contrast to the
formerly active airport terminal
building, now deserted at night since
Eastern Air Transport and Pennsyl-
vania Airlines have Cancelled their
night schedules.
AS the Air Corps settled down to
the grind of the mail service, Saunders
last night managed to get his first
sleep in 60 hours, leaving the ham
ding of the ground duties in connec-
ton with the night runs to crew OF
Air Corps enlisted men from the 36th
and 37th Pursuit Squadrons.
Illustrative of the intensive Air
Corps activities at the formerly civil
ian airmail terminal fields was an
Army notice to pilots which pointed
out that due to congestion and lack
of personnel and facilities available
for the servicing of aircraft, caused by
airmail operations at Newark Munich
pal Airport, Newark, N. j., no Army
aircraft will be cleared for that air.
port, except on official business, until
further notice"
Air Corps airmail operations were
extended into New England as lash
ing gale which caused postponement
Of the initial fight to Boston yester-
Eay slackened New Jersey and points
North and West recovered sufficiently
from the effects of Tuesday night S
blizzard to permit Army airmail oper-
ntions in all directions after noon yes
terday, according to the Associated
Press.
Lieut.. Joseph j. Kelly, of the 37th
Pursuit Squadron, who had been
scheduled for the first Army air
mail flight to Washington and Rich
mond, got away on schedule yester-
day afternoon with the first load of
southbound mail, stopped here, and
relayed his cargo at Richmond.
Runways Snow Covered.
Flying one of the two new Boiling
Field Condor twin-motored Army
transports, Lieut.. Elwood R. Quesada,
native Washingtonian, lifted a big
load of westbound mail from the
Snow-covered runways at Newark last
night and headed for Cleveland,
across the famous "hell's stretch of
the Alleghenies, where many pioneer
mail flyers crashed and died.
The Army flyers in New Jersey and
New England were flying over coun-
tryside where snow had drifted six
feet deep and all automobile traffic
was halted. Schools in Northern New
Jersey were closed generally and
there was no electricity, according to
Associated Press reports.
Another former Washingtonian,
Capt. Ira Eaker, now commander of
the airmail base at Los Angeles, was
Storm-bound last night at Las Vegas,
N. Mex, after two unsuccessful at
tempts to fly Eastward yesterday with
mail transferred to his ship from an
EaStbound train. The weather there
was lifting this morning and he was
expected to get off early
Only two minor mishaps have oc-
Cured since the Air Corps took over
the airmail service Tuesday afternoon.
Both were due to weather. A plane
piloted by Lieut.. w. E. Davis cracked
tail skid at Fort Worth and another
pnoted by Lieut.. Edward T. German,
bound for Washington from Miami
nosed up at Greenville, N. G., bending
It's propeller.