Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-08-24
High Officials Fly With ATC's
Safest Special Nilsson Pilots

NILSSON Riots
Eve approached early one morn
ing, landed and TAXED to what ap-
reared to be an abandoned opera
lions building" Maj. Shaklin re.
calls. There had been no activity
in evidence prior to our landing,
but the moment we cut our engines
we were greatly disturbed to find
ourselves surrounded, not by Navy
seamen, but by sinister appearing
Japanese soldiers.
1.-The next few minutes were
nightmarish as we wondered II
these Japs had failed to get the
word about the wars ending" he
said. very fortunately one of the
men on the plane spoke japanese,
and we soon discovered that the
place was still held by some 10000
japanese troops Just waiting to turn
lit over to the Allies. They had been
motiviated by sheer curiosity be-
cause ours was the first American
aircraft ever to land there, and we
were the first Americans to visit
Tainan in more than Is years.
Under the circumstances. there
wasn't much research our party
could do for the President there,
and so we promptly departed for
Taihoku, 200 miles north" he added.
| Maj. Shaklin is commanding OFF,
Ger of the special mission squadron.
Most of the booking of the flights
is the duty of Maj. Burt Mcknight
of Glendale, Calf, special missions
officer. One of his hardest jobs was
planning the groups part in, Opera
tions Crossroads at Bikini last year.
Flights without Mishap.
"The work began in early March, -
he recalls. "ATC lifted 1901 OBJ
servers to and from Bikini and air.
hauled 1877 tons of equipment with
out injuring a single passenger or
jaring a Geiger counter.
For the tests, our regular fleet OF
C-54s, augmented by seven others
from elsewhere in ATC. was as
signed to transport the Manhattan
District personnel, the Presidential
Evaluation Board, the Joint Army
Navy chiefs of Staff Evaluation
Board, members of Congress and
other observing scientists and Off
Gals, foreign and native" he said.
For the most part, the special
mission planes follow the regular
ATC routes, but occasionally they
get off the beaten path and some
times flights meet in the far cor
ners of the globe.
The last fight of world i'm
portance took Secretary Of State
Marshall to. Moscow for the For
eign Ministers Conference last
March.
The most valuable inanimate
cargo which the group has trans
ported comprised the jewels and
heirlooms of the German House OF
Hesse, which were taken to Ger
many for courts-martial evidence.
Helen Keller a Passenger.
One of the most fascinating pas
sengers was Helen Keller, who flew
from Rome to Paris last December
in plane with Myron Taylor, the
Presidents personal envoy to the
Vatican. Although blind, Miss
Keller appeared to be aware OF
every movemet in the cockpit, where
she rode for part of the journey.
At first Russian breakfasts dis
turbed the pilots-as they do many
another visitor to Moscow. Col.
A. j. Harvey reported upon arriV-
ing on his first trip early one
morning in 1941 that he was given
breakfast of champagne, Crimea
wine, caviar, fish, bread, butter, to-
mato and onion salad-and then
invited to partake of beefsteak. This
was on q round-the- world flight
with now Secretary OF Commerce
Hartman.
Col Richard T. Knight, now COM
mander of the ATC Air Rescue
Squadron based at McDil Field,
Tex, reported that on round-the-
world flight with the late Wendell
Willkie in 1912, a member OF the
crew, Corp. Charles H. Reynolds OF
Holden, MO, served meals of heated
C and D rations ito break the mo-
notony of banquets.
Stove Rugged Up.
'He rugged up small stove In the
tail Of the converted C-87, called
the CULVER and heated the ra-
lions, serving them with coffee.
compressed biscuit and hard candy.
he reported. HE formerly was con-
nected with the Hotel Muehlbach
in Kansas City"
On the Willkie flight of some Is
days. six of the seven crew members
of the "Gulliver" celebrated birth
days.
Last year the special mission fleet
had 40 fights in which they hauled
"V. I. P.'s" and from January
through November, 1916, the planes
travelled a total of 1,276,000 miles.
In the near future, the fleet mas
on tap flights hauling at least five
special congressional investigating
committees.