Smyrna times., 1937-01-14
AS AMERICA IS
SEEN FROM AIR
British Aviator Writes of His
Impressions on Tour
Over the u. S. A.
TRIP BY MOONLIGHT

looks viewing the land from the air
is described in the Daily Telegraph
by Major c. C. Turner, who re-
Gently made an extensive flying
tour of this country.
Travel by airplane. he explains,
gives one a view different from
any Of the usual landscape piano.
ramas. The enormously long sha-
dows of trees and cattle as the ris-
ing sun, suddenly jumping over the
rim of the world. strikes them is
among the things that impress him.
Niagara, seen from a few thou
sand feet above, is but a small af-
fair" he says. ''Its grandeur is not
seen: the falling flood is not heard.
Beautiful woods become mere cab
bage patches. Hills and dales are
flattened out. On the whole, the
most interesting routes are those
which skirt the sea.
''But flying among mountains oft
en- affords splendid views in quick
succession, views which the climb
er wins only after terrible toll and
at considerable risk.
Great Cultivated Plains
For hours and hours the air
traveller in the United States passes
over the great cultivated plains,
hundreds of thousands Of patches.
almost invariably rectangular.
which, when I saw them, were all
velvety green's and browns. They
extend in all directions to the very
distant horizon. So far below are
the occasional ranch buildings that
they look smaller than the smallest
match boxes. The thin, black line
of railway may be seen. but sell
dom a train.
THE mountains are always
grand, and sometimes beautiful. In
California, Nevada, Arizona, New
Mexico and Utah there are mighty
cliffs of red and yellow and every
conceivable brown and grayish blue
and green.
1.-THE liner flies majestically past
or just over snow-clad peaks, and
to an inexperienced eye it seems
sometimes as if wingtip must hit
a rock. Unpleasant doubt assails
one. Are those tiny-looking sprigs
merely sprigs, and are our wings
about to brush the tops Of them, or
are they big pine trees far below?
They move slowly. If they were
close they would streak along.
1.-The great mountains ars stupen-
dous, and exhilarating almost be-
yond belief. But at night the spec
tacle is, if possible, even more
marvellous.
In the Moonlight
Moonlight makes the airplane's
wings like bright silver; to the right
there is the green Of the starboard
navigation light. to the left the red
port light CLEANS. Far below, every
ten or fifteen miles the recurrent
beam Of a route beacon shines up
ward, and, looking ahead or astern
one can pick out two or even three
at time. Near a big route juno
ton the beacons Of other routes
come into view.
Certainly one of the most impress
sive and beautiful experiences is
that of approaching great city at
night. In the usually good visibility
of the United States this is more
often a satisfying spectacle than in
Europe. Kansas City seen from
afar and at night is brilliant,
many-colored jewel. Chicago and
New York are too vast, and on the
landward side too far-spreading to
make the perfect picture.
But for sheer, staggering mag
nificence Los Angeles and San
Francisco are acknowledged su-
preme. / landed at San Francisco
only by day. but on two occasions
l descended at Los Angeles at night.
''The airliner approaches after
several hours Of mountain flying.
Then comes a sudden moderation
in the engine note and one realizes
that the airplane is on a slightly
slanting downward path, SO grad
ual that there are still more than
forty miles to 60 before the land
ing"