Evening star., 1943-08-07


brought mo
down 50 I could
Henry MeLemere. do q few stories
on what is the old mans branch
Of the Air Service.
Before I 60 any further, let me
tell you that have never met flyers
for whom I have more admiration,
and that goes for the hot fighter
pilots have watched take of for
sweeps over France and Germany.
and the bomber boys who tool the
giant Fortresses in the face of
enemy fax and fighters.
The two CAP captains zack
Mosley and Art Keil--brought me
down in ship that looked as If 1t
were on lease-lend from the Smith,
sonian Institution. I wouldn't be
at all surprised, In fact, II Its motor
wasn't stolen from Eli Whitney's
cotton gin. Yet this crate, this fugi-
tive from a salvage drive, is the
pride of the coastal patrol base near
here from which they operate.
Take-Off Brings Laughs.
We took of from q military base
and the kids there couldn't help
laughing as we TAXED to the line
between rows OF modern divebomb-
ers and pursuit planes. Sold at auc-
ton, the CAP ship wouldn't bring
enough to buy the instrument panel
on any of the ships we wheeled and
coughed along between while get
ting to the runway.
It's own instrument panel would
make the face Of Mickey Mouse
watch seem complicated, and the
few dismal little instruments on the
dashboard didn't work. The air
speed indicator showed eight miles
per hour as we were airborne and
2lo when we cleared pine thicket
so closely I could have robbed .
sparrow's nest had I chosen to.
Capts. Keil and Mosley, who have
been flying this ship and others
much more dilapidated for a year
and a half, could not understand
my alarm when we approached it
on the ramp. But, to man who
only recently came back from Eng.
land with the absolute last word
in military airplanes, this rag, q
bone and hank Of hair was o tre-
mendous shock.
1t was tied down, to start with.
Not that any one would ever want
to steal It,, but the prop-wash OF
any OF the planes parked around it
would blow 1t into the air by itself.
They assured me that while quite
a few Of the accessories were not
in working order, they were posi-
tive that the mighty 90-horsepower
motor would operate and that the
wings would stay on-provided we
steered around bad weather.
After ALL" they said, I'VE have
been flying this ship on anti-sub-
marine patrol for hundreds Of hours
and with a much heavier load than
we have today"
Pelican Whizzed BY.
As we TAXED to the line, Capt.
Mosley, who draws another dare
devil Of the air, Smiling Jack"
was at the controls, and Capt. Keil
at the repairs. Capt. Keil tied
some mysterious strings together,
put on some ear phones that didn't
work, and manually held q ven
tilator closed. 1t was the only
plane I was ever In that under
went repairs while taxing to take
of.
We came down as the crow flies
but we didn't beat any crows who
were following the same flight plan.
We had an exciting race with a peli-
can near Fort Pierce and were
proudly holding our own until the
pelican changed his prop pitch and
left us as If we were standing still,
Two seagulls buzzed us but we were
more maneuverable and we turned
inside of them.
1t was consoling to have Capt.
Mosley at the controls. He has
proved with Smiling Jack" that
there is nothing too tough for a
pilot. Also, being the creator Of
Smiling Jack" I knew that even
If we had to make a forced landing
in the scrub or on one of the little
islands along the coast, a red hot
Ill de-icer like Joy or Cindy would
be there in sarong to greet us.
And am the sort of man who will
make a crash landing for the op-
portunity to make flying tackle Of
coral princess.
When we landed, q group of
CAPS were taking off on a routine
flight. Out over the sea they dis
appeared, flying planes that made
ours look like luxury liner In
comparison. Any time you want to
sing song to some unsung heroes,
lift your voices to these middle
aged men. all volunteers, who are
doing a hazardous job with equip
ment that would make Pratt &
Whitney have goose flesh that
Douglas could see all the way from
California.
distributed by McNausht Syndicate, Incl