Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-08-23
POULTRY WANTED
FLYING BOMBERS
ACROSS ATLANTIC
TO HELP BRITAIN
filters CONSIDER OCEAN HOPS
JUST ROUTINE JOBS;
DODGE ENEMY

BY day and night a steady stream
Of United States bombers are flown
across the north Atlantic to battle
SCARED Britain by group Of young
ferry pilots who consider the trims
''just routine" jobs.
For the last year or so, the pilots.
IS to 70 percent Of them Americans,
have been delivering the bombers Ia
good and sometimes In bad weather
conditions and have lost only one
| plane on the Atlantic crossing. That
was the craft which carried SIR Fred
erick Banting Of Toronto to his death
in Newfoundland last December.
Since that crash and before It, all
machines have reached their destina-
tons without incident or interference
by the enemy.
-Four pilots. allowed by Atfero, the
Atlantic ferry organization, to tell
their experiences to newspaper men.
said there was not a single instance
OF a ferry crew getting a glimpse of
the enemy either In the sky or on the
water.
Among the men, whose names were
withheld, was a 28-year-old Texan |
who once operated an airline service |
in Arkansas. He has made the 8 to IL
hour trip across four times and hasn't |
laid an eye on an enemy plane vet
If the enemy should ever try to
intercept us, though" he said, 'there
are usually lots of nice fluffy clouds
over the ocean to disappear into.
Nothing bothered me in the least,
and the only time I was the least bit
worried was when making low ap-
proaches In bad weather"
Another Of the men had Is years
flying experience with the Imperial
airways and British Empire air serv-
ices before taking the ferry lob. A
third man, a young Canadian from
a northern Ontario town, had about
1000 hours flying time to his credit
before accepting his present assign
ment. He, too, finds the Atlantic trips I
pretty much routine although quite
different from the jaunts he used to I
take over the northern Ontario bush !
country.
The fourth pilot, a native of Eng
land, flew for an oil company before
the war and later was a member of
the air transport auxiliary.
The men said that sometimes thev
fly IN groups and sometimes singly.
but all prefer to fly singly because
we feel we have more room to our
selves"
Most navigators on the aircraft are
civilians but the British empire train
ing plan supplies some navigators for
one trip only.
Add Equipment in England
cpT1i0v ayao,rfi1ro a.
ce said that when plane lands In
some additions have to be
maze before 1t goes into service. Some
u the additions are secrets, but others
ire made IN England simply for con-
aircraft carry flo
alton bags, an automatic rubber
hnghy, hfejackets, rations and flash
lights. The bags, he said, would keen
IN aircraft afloat indefinitely on
aim sea.
The machines all set out for a def
mite airport in Britain but where thev
ctually land is decided by the aircraft
ontrol in England
A senior executive at Atfero also said
hat I'VE are and have been right
long in position to handle at least
hree times as many planes as have
cen supplied to u.s."
Some are calling the Atlantic ferry
ervice a bottleneck In the. delivery
Vstem, he said, but "We have deliy-
red everything that was slung at us
nd we did it through an Atlantic
inter, which was never done before. +"
Pay in the service Is $500 a trip for
aptain pilots and $500 for first Off
srs, with a minimum Of two trims
sr month. United States papers have
ecently announced a substantial in
tease for American pilots.
Australians, South Africans. New
Rhodesians, French. Nor
egians, Poles, Dutchmen, Americans
nd Canadians are employed. but most
them are commercial fliers from
he United States.