The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1944-12-22

as the Rio Oyapok, we went out
over the Guianas into Brazil at 9:55
a. m. Cruising low at eight hundred
feet, we got some unforgetable
views Of the steaming Brazilian jun
gle.
Looking out to sea, we noticed
that the blue color already was
changing to the murkiness Of the
Amazon, though we were about
hundred miles from its mouth. Fly
ing low, l noted that the hump of
Brazil near the coast was fiat and
green and hot as hell-temperature
ninety-six and humidity about nine
ty-nine per cent at 10:55 a. m. We
reached the mouth of the greatest
river in the world at 1885 E.W.T.
Here the width of the Amazon is
about one hundred and fifty miles.
Boys will have their fun too, no
matter if you are flying low over
the greatest of rivers. AS we crossed
the equator-old Zero Degrees Lat.
at 11:56 a. M, at West Longitude
40 degrees 80 minutes-I saw those
of my crew who had been in the
South ATTITUDES before take paper
cups of water and drop them on
the heads of those who were unini-
tiated, thus making them subjects Of
the sacred realm of Jupiter Rex as
identified from the realm of Neptune
Rex on the sea. We crossed the Anna
zon, from just West of Point Grossa
over Bahia Santa Rosa to Mixiana Is
land, thence to Isla da Marajo. This
last island in the mouth of the
river is one hundred miles wide and
reputedly has more cattle on the
single ranch than any other ranch
in the world. Soon we came to Rio
Para, crossed it in a thunderstorm,
and were over Belem, where we
landed in the blackness of tropical
rain at 12:40 E.W.T.
On April 4, we left Belem for Ma
tai at 6:55 a. M, and climbed to
ten thousand feet in order to top as
much of the cumulus as possible. We
had to skirt one great anvil-head
reaching up into the sub-strato-
sphere near Bahia San Luiz. This
storm covered about fifty miles, but
we got around it without going into
it's turbulence. AS we went on
South of the equator the haze di-
minished gradually and the country
became dry, making us think we
were over western Texas. We land
ed at Natal, our jump-off point for
the South Atlantic crossing, at 1925
E.W.T.
This was to be a real days flight.
For we were not to be able to spend
the night at Natal. Our run from
Belem to Natal of nine hundred
miles, then the crossing of nineteen
hundred miles to Liberia, plus the
run down the hump of Africa to a
Pan-American base on the Gold
Coast-this last almost nine hum
dred miles-had to be made with
out stops, except short ones for fuel.
For all practical purposes, then, we
had thirty-seven hundred miles to
make in one day.
We got the big ship serviced and
ready for the trip, then went to the
Ferry Command Hotel There we
found two more crews of our thir-
teen heavy bombers. One group
of these had turned back the night
before with one engine out. The
other, piloted by Col. Gerry Mason,
had nearly come to grief on the
way in from Belem. The rubber
life-rafts in the Forts are carried in
two compartments where the wing
of the BIZ joins the big fuselage.
This is to facilitate their automatic
release upon contact with the wa
ter should the ship have to land at
sea. They are of course tied to
the airplane with strong manila
rope, and it is on this hemp that
the present tale hangs. In the flight
down the coast some malfunction
had caused one of these compart-
ments to spring open-and out came
the heavy, five-man boat. At the
speed of two hundred miles an hour
with which it struck the tail section
as it went back on its rope in the
slipstream of two engines, it nearly
took the entire horizontal stabilizer
off. Only by very skillful plotting
had Gerry Mason managed to get
the Fort and his crew of ten to Ma
tai.
Just the same, in my attempted
nap that afternoon, I grinned at
the thought that we in old blades
Alb Altar" were passing ahead of
two more ships of the flight. Boy,
I dreamed, they'll have hell of
job getting me back there into the
training center now! It's four thou
sand miles back to Florida and in
the morning I'll be across the At
lantic.
We climbed out of the Fortress
and stepped upon Africa at HOS
G.M.T. Our crossing from Natal
had been made in thirteen hours.
Leaving the natives at work under
Royal Air Force bosses, we hurried
on to Operations, where we ar
ranged for clearance down the
coast. Then we were led into a
thatch-roofed dining hall for good
hof food IF hadn't heen en- HIM cry