The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-22
SAVING PEOPLE. IS OLD STUFF TO.
 MIR ACLE PILOT.
BY JOHN COREErr

gUnitea ReUza Slafe CeKEeSpe19entl
 Cascade, Idaho, Aprtl g, - (upD - The D, s. Army commented him for great determination and cOar- agG' for discovering and rossulne from an isolated Snowoound tiny lake in the primitive area five mem- bers oe Q wrecked bomber crew, oul saving people is old stuff Co mir acle pilot" Penn Stohr,
 Stohr, @, modest and unasSlln- ing, has become the indispensable man of the almost inaccessible Ida ho primitive area, largest In the United states.
 He E the one man who can fly the area in a binding snowstoEm and come out alive.
 In the wtntertime, the lives 0l no one knows how many persons de- pend upon the flying skill Of thls civilian pilot. The two Seven-place planes of the flying service thai employs him offer the only means of getting supplies and man tC miners. prospectorS and ranchers oe the vast mountainous area oa Central Idaho.
 Know Sick Can Be Removed
 The isolated inhabitants of the primitive area lead their solitary lives secure in the knowledge that their sick and their maimed can oe moved to modern hospitals tn Q matter of hours, All are In con- munication with the outside world through forest service telephone lines and radio.
 Stohr would put to shame the much -publiciEed "bush pilots" oi Canada. Those pilots land on lakes. generally. Stohr lands and takes of ion postage stamp" fields in deep canyons, where he must know the vagarieS Of every air current. He uses both skis ard wheels,
 One such field Is so short that In taking off the pilot must do . half loop to keep from crashing into the canyon wall.
 Canadian bush pilots use maps, Stohr wouldn't know what to do with one.
 T know every creek and canyon in Idaho. Montana and parts Of Oregon and Washington" said Stohr, not in Q manner of boosting but to stress Q fact. T have to. be- cause when the weather comes down I have to get into those can yons and find my way to the near est landing fields"
 Takes of ln Snowstorm
 Stohr has headquarters out of Cascade, principal town of Mtle- high Long Valley, which borders the primitive area, for 10 years. Before that time he transformed and flew for the forest service. He became a pilot 20 years ago.
 Seldom day goes by that he Is not called to bring a sick or tn- jured person from some isolated mining camp or ranch to the hos pital at Cascade. He hasn't even tried to keep track Of the mercy flights" he's made. This reporter flew with him one day when he made two such flights. The day be- fore he had taken off from a tiny field in a SnowStorm to bring . se- riously III woman from deep in the primitive area to civilization.
 Long Valley folks have complete confidence in Stohr, who has never had Q crash landing since he star cd flying.
 Mrs. Charles Owens, wife of mine owner. whose property IS To- cated in the center of the high plnnacled Sawtooth mountains, told of the time a storm closed in on them when flying to the mine. Stohr dropped into a canyon at treetop level and, by skipping from one canyon to another finally found the road to Yellow pine, where he set the plane down for a three day stay until the storm had subslded.
 6tohr told of the9 time he sat down on a meadow near Landmark. coldest spot in Idaho in the winter time, and spent three days under his plane until the storm blew over. Another time, a storm broke fast, accompanied by e o0-mile- -an-hour wind and Stohr's plane was flung about the sky. After three hours fighting, he finally made the Is miles to the Yellowpine field.