Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-11-12
Ate Transport Attire
Over D. {. Airport
Tests Crews Skill
BY w. H. SHIPPEN, Jr,
Aviation Editor Of The Star.

H 0y w. n. SnlffEN, Jr.,
H Aviation Editor of The Star.
WITH THE ATC NORTH AT
LANTIC WING, Nov. 1.-THE Air
Transport Command crew now fiy-
ing group Of correspondents be-
tween bases on the Great Circle
route is really on the ball, as dem
onstrated over Washington Airport
Thursday, when it comes to quick
thinking and snappy team work.
That's comfort to all in this coun-
l try.
When the port engine of our big
Commando transport started to
breathe smoke and fire in a climb
ing turn after takeoff, things be-
gan to happen rapidly. Capt. Fred
P. Koupal, "a, former airline pilot
flying out of Washington and now a
veteran of the Far North, was in
command of the ship.
1t was the big Missourian's first
experience with fire aboard one of
his ships in more than $4,000 hours
of flying, but he knew exactly what
to do, and so did his team. The
passengers kept in the clear and
rooted for them with more than
usual enthusiasm.
Engineer Detects Fire.
We were turning into course at a
thousand feet when Sergt. Joseph E.
Libertz, flight engineer, leaned
across my seat and began to scruti-
nize the big engine just outside the
window Then he moved quickly
forward, returning in a moment for
another quick look.
When the sergeant checked his
fire report, Capt. Koupal and his CO.
pilot, First 1t. Andrew M. Bostock,
nosed the ship down, cut the port
engine, feathered the propeller and
pulled lever to release the fire
extinguisher In the engine.
1t didn't work. At the same time
the radio operator, Sergt Erwin F.
Van Dyke. notified the airport that
We were landing with burning en-
CINE. AS we banked and circled
down, We watched the fire trucks
racing for position along the run
way. The two pilots brought the
ship in to a smooth three point
landing and we rolled to a halt ex-
actly between the fire trucks. What
remained of the fire was extin-
guished in short order. The whole
incident was over in about a minute
which seemed much longer to all
concerned. The fifth member of
the team is 1t. Adam ]. Waileski, %,
navigator.
Another Plane Used.
The ATC furnished another plane
for the trip north.
In his long career as transport
pilot, Capt. Koupal has flown two
tactical missions-both against an
isolated German weather station on
the northeast coast of Greenland
In May, 1943, he few a Fortress
equipped especially for the missions
where the peril lay in the extreme
long range and the danger that their
base would be logged in when they
returned.
The boys not only gave the Ger
mans. who were later captured, a
thorough working over, but one
trigger-happy gunner knocked over
wild musk OK to the displeasure
OF his superiors as the big ship
i. skinned the coast.
Flying the North Atlantic route
since October, 1912, Capt. Koupal
once carried supplies. including a
case OF beer, to be dropped to Amer
lean weather observers at a lonely
outpost on Baffin Island above the
Arctic Circle. The beer wasn't
wrapped too well, and Capt. Koupal
radloed: Boys. do you want to
gamble on drink or a smell now
or wait until next trip" The boys
wanted to gamble.
Here comes your beer, then the
captain said. The boys only got q
smell.
Pilot Has Solitary Trip.
The co-pilot of Our plane, 23-year-
old 1t. Bostock, recently volunteered
to act as "one-man crew" on a
Douglas attack bomber from the
United States to the British Isles
He got lost from the others and had
to act as his own pilot. navigator
and radio operator. He was SO
busy. he said, he didn't have time to
be scared until he arrived over the
British Isles and found the whole
area 'souped in"
His gas was running low when he
said God must have felt sorry for
me-" A hole opened in the blanket
and under it was a landing field
Please let me come in right away
he radioed and got permission. II
was the field he had been looking
for.
AS snow, ice, sleet and fog move
in on the Great Circle route, cor
respondents on this trip are happy
to have pilots like these sitting in
the drivers seat.