Evening star., 1941-10-26

cockpit for the takeon--the crowd de-
served a good show.
He had a passenger, an oil company
salesman.
"All set?" yelled Brooks. turning
around and grinning.
The propeller whipped the words out
of his mouth. 1t looked all right, that
propeller. 1t was metal and strong. A
man didn't have to worry much about
his propeller. There were too many
other things that could go wrong with
an airplane to worry about the propeller.
The passenger nodded.
Bill Brooks opened the throttle. The
Standard raced down the field. 1t
lifted, grooved aloft.
1t was great, being aloft. That was
Bill Brooks element. The engine bel
lowed. The altimeter needle crept
around. Brooks turned around again
and grinned, He didn't want the guy
to worry. 1t was a sweet engine and a
sweet airplane. Everything was okay.
Brooks inched the stick forward. The
air speed picked up. He watched his
instruments He watched his ship. He
listened to the sound of the wind. A
man could tell lot from the sound Of
the wind going past his airplane. The
shrek had to reach a cresendo, nice
like and comforting. If the timber
changed, it meant trouble.
He was at the bottom of his dive now.
He showed on the throttle for full power.
He eased back on the stick Easy did it.
The planes nose came up. The horizon
fed downward. Up came the nose to-
ward the big bowl of the sky.
He Kept His Head
Then it began dropping back again.
The ship was on its back now, throttle
open.
The first intimation that Bill Brooks
had of trouble was the cracking sound
out front.
1t happened fast. Things always
happen fast in flying. That's why a
man has to keep his head If he loses
it, he can kiss good-by to old age.
Bill Brooks kept his head. He began
rolling out of his inverted position. He
was not sure yet what had happened, but
it looked as though the prop had let 90.
The ship was shaking like an aspen.
The nose was too light. He could see
now: The engine had torn itself loose
and fallen free. So had the oil tank and
a couple of radiators. A chunk Of the
firewall behind the engine was gone.
But the wings were still on. That was
very important. the wings being on.
Easy would do it. Bill Brooks looked
around below him. This would have to
happen here. Rows of houses stretched
this way and that. He waggled his stick
to test his elevator and ailerons. He
still had control.
But he had only seconds to decide. A
ball park appeared below his left wing.
1t seemed tiny but it was an open space.
He pulled the ship into a whipstall,
nose high. flying speed gone. 1t fell away.
sliding sidewise and backward. The nose
dropped. He picked up speed. Then he
did it again. 1t was awkward but he
could retain control that way.
If he lost control he would spin.
The ship was almost down now. He
could make the ball park but he had to
be careful. He tried one more whipstall.
The plane quivered. 1t fell away to
the side, sliding backward on the tail.
1t struck. 1t splintered. 1t came to
rest, q tangle of wood, fabric and wires.
Gingerly Bill Brooks f1exed the mus
cles of his component parts. He was
intact, uninjured. He would die, sure,
but not this way.
Hello" he said, turning around. Are
you okay?"
His passenger nodded. white-faced.
Ball players in uniform were gathering
about the wreckage.
who won?" asked Bill Brooks.
Nobody, yet" he was told. This Is
only the fifth inning
That's . shame" said he. breaking
up a ball game"