Evening star., 1942-05-07
By b. J. McQUAID,
Foreien Correspondent of the Star and
Chicago Daily News.

A NEW BRUNSWICK AIR BASE.
They fly north over the Gaspe
Peninsula and AntiCosti Island,
straight into the uneXplored interior
of Labrador and on toward Hope
dale, Main and Ungava Bay. They
/ fly south across the iceberg -choked
strait of Belle Isle and down the
| jagged Newfoundland coast to St.
Johns.
They fly east over Cape Breton
Prince Edward Island and the Gulf
Of st. Lawrence. They do this flying
on something approaching an airline
schedule, but without benefit of such
, luxuries as intermediate landing
fields and radio beams.
They are among the unsung heroes
Of the air war-these transport pilots
whose role is indispensable in the
supply and maintenance of our
strategic system of Labrador and
Newfoundland air bases.
Learn After Close Shaves.
After a few close shaveS they
tween possible maximum freight
loads and the amount of ice likely
to be picked up when the weather
is Soupy. They learn not to trust
maps, which show miXimum eleva-
tions Of $500 feet in areas where
peaks actually loom out of cloud
banks when the altimeter reads
5000. They learn not to rely heavily
on weather forecasts. Sometimes
they take off for a Labrador base
and are driven by thick weather all
the way back to Boston before find
ing place to sit down.
We encountered no ice on our
fight into Labrador, though a plane
on the preceding flight had picked
up 1000 pounds of it. We did hit
an overcast, at Anticosti, which
forced us up to 10000 feet.
1t was at that elevation, some
where over the Southern Labrador
coast, that I discovered our pilot TO
be Rod Cote of Northwest Airlines,
q fellow home towner from Man
chester, N. H.. and fellow alumnus
of the old Waco OK at the home
town airport. 1t was from Rod S
casual conversation, as I sat beside
him in the co-pilot's seat, that l
was enlightened concerning some
Of the difficulties the boys meet up
with when they go on the Labrador
run.
dio pIa oil ontS TrnuhIo
For instance, descending through
that soup from $4,000 feet, with
every expectation of a good 1900
foot ceiling down below-you can
always count on 1900 feet at this
particular destination isn't so
tough if there's not much ice and
you know exactly where you are.
But if it's day on which the
notorious radio blackout" of the
North cuts out all the base signals,
and makes it impossible to get
radio fix for position, you have to
rely on mere estimates of your
ground speed and wind WRIT.
Such estimates, at best, are largely
guesSWork when it's a question OF
letting down to $500 feet in an
area dotted literally with 4,00O
foot mountain peaks.
Despite such handicaps, Cote. Fred
Lord and four or five other North
east Airline pilots have established
records on the Labrador run which
for safety and schedule maintenance
compare favorably with those OF
any commercial airlines.
Planes Loaned by Army.
The service is carried on with Dig
Douglas freighters, militarized ver-
sions of the famous DC-3 The
ships are owned by the United States
Army, and are currently on loan to
the Canadian Department of Trans
port Personnel is furnished by
Northeast Airlines. the New Eng
land Montreal line famous for its