The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1944-12-08


began to make more flights and
more automobile trips towards
Georgia.
Finally I talked the girl into 1t.
We went on up to West Point and
were married. Catharine really fits
into this story because it was the
trips over to Georgia to see her,
from every place in the United
States, that not only made me drive
an automobile but taught me cross
country flying, since I had been fly
ing in these later months from wher-
ever ! was-by way of Georgia.
From Mitchell Field I was sent
to Panama. And then began my
real pursuit training. In P-1%s I
roamed across the country OF Pana-
ma up into Central America and
down into South America. ! was
given a job constructing flying fields,
which we figured would some day
protect the Canal. These fields were
put in for the purpose of installing
radio stations and also air warning
devices to tell us when enemy
planes approached the Panama Ca
nal. would have to 60 down on
the Colombian border and contact
the natives, some of whom were
head-hunters, to work on these fields
that we were building. We would
have to get the grass cut off, and /
would make motions with a machete
the long knife of the Darien In
dians-and show them what we had
to do to keep that field so that air
planes could land on it.
The natives didn't work very well
with us at first. But we doctored a
few of them for chiggers and for
other infections under their finger
nails which had become very in
famed, or we flew men in to hos
pitfalls who needed operations, and
soon they began to appear more
friendly. BY the time we left there
they were calling me Gel Doctor"
When my training of other pilots
began, l realized the terror must
have caused my own instructor. For
in training I perceived my own
faults better, learning even to an
ticipate the mistakes the student
would make. And / learned much
about the peculiarities of man, for
on one occasion l had a student
who attempted to kill me. / don't
know why-he would have killed
himself, too.
One day I was told to take out a
cadet listed as an incorrigible and
to try to find out what was wrong
with him. I gave him forced land
ings and such, and when he tried to
glide down and land on a highway,
/ would take the ship and caution
him about gliding low towards
trucks and automobiles. On one of
these tries, as gave him forced
landing-you do this merely by cut
ting the throttle to idling speed to
see what the student will do-he
rolled the ship on its back and pulled
it down in a dive towards the
ground. ] waited as long as I could
and then l took it away myself. I
found that the man was glaring
straight toward the trees we had
almost hit. I landed the ship and
asked him what was the matter.
He appeared very sullen, and so /
took him aloft again.
Once more l put the ship on its
back and told him to bring it out.
Immediately he pulled it toward the
ground, and I knew it was intention
al. With alarm I realized that with
him almost frozen to the controls
I would have extreme difficulty TAX
ing the ship from him by force. I
hurriedly kicked the right rudder,
which carried the half roll into a
complete snap roll. Then / went
through every acrobatic maneuver
! knew until ! made him sick; after
that ! flew him back to Randolph
Field with my own heart beating
little wildly.
AS landed the ship two men
stepped from behind plane, ask
ing to see the student. "You Just
wait minute" / said. "After all,
he's my student and I have some
things to say to him." Then they
pulled gold badges out Of their pock-
cts to show me they were F.B.I.
men. They had been looking for
this student for a long time. He
had been a pilot before and had
struggled dope across the Mexican
border, and believe to this day
that to evade the arrest that was
waiting for him, he was trying to
end it all. But the worry had here
was that in ending it for himself,
he would have been ending it for me.
When I first came to Randolph we
worked only half day and had the
rest of the. day to play around at
golf, to hunt, or do anything we
wanted. But as the belief that war
was coming got into few American
people, we started the limited Air
Corps expansion program. We then
began working all day, and was
moved up to q Flight Commander
and taught instructors, for the Gov
eminent was giving contracts to ci-
x,;1;av, conversations - <roiv, A r,,o,.