Evening star., 1961-03-24
BY Otto o. Binder

film slicker calling" Forty
Two Easy. Forty-Two Easy.
Fort Pierce Airport calling"
There was silence and then
a gruff voice called in.
"Forty-Two Easy. I'm over
Fort Pierce at two thousand.
Can you turn the runway
lights up a little?"
The kid said he would
comply. He ran out In the
rain, beyond the cold dead
planes glistening in the
dark. He got in q station
wagon and went out to a
little hut and turned the
lights up. The other phone
rang. 1t was the Fort Pierce
police. Did the airport know
that there was a plane in
trouble over the town. The
switchboard was swamped
with calls from worried cit
liens.
A car with q swinging red
light came up to the office.
It was a st. Lucie County
deputy sheriff. You got a
plane in trouble2" he said.
Calls are coming in from
all over"
I went out in the rain and
looked up at the black sky.
The rain made q steady ket-
tie drum sound on the roof.
There was nothing. Then,
from far off, there came the
rumble of thunder and q
powder blue flash Of light
in the sky. When it died, I
could hear the plane.
Bill Mullin said: HE bet
ter stay up there until this
clears up a little" It wasn't
clearing up. 1t wasn't getting
worse. The pilot said he
would try to come in. The
kid said to please look out
for the TV tower northeast
of the field. The pilot
chuckled. I'VE have the Tv
tower on our chart" he said.
Don't worry"
We stood outside soaked
to the Sox. Someone spotted
Forty-Two Easy to the
north. He was a winking
FREELY in the night; a small,
inoffensive thing trying to
find a runway. He tried and
missed. The voice on the ra-
dio said: 1--WE can see the
lights when we're over them,
but when we make our turn,
they disappear"
I felt guilty. We were
waiting for this plane to fly
us to Miami, 125 miles
south. Suppose he didn't
make it? Don't worry" said
Mullin.
He made it on the second
try. He came down a little
and turned a mile off and
swung toward the strands Of
lighted amethyst. The big
gray curtains of rain walked
toward the Beechcraft Bo-
nanza, hid it, and then
passed it and left it in the
clear. He made it easy. He
TAXED up to the little oper-
ations shack and introduced
himself.
He has a round face and
a lot of flying time. His
name is Bill Dodd. The CO.
pilot was grinning. His name
is Ray Anderson. They had
no trouble. they said. They
couldn't understand the ex-
element. Temporary local
condition" said Dodd. IF
you can't make it into Fort
Pierce, you try Vero Beach,
which has a lot of equip
ment."
"Ready?" he said, looking
at me. I wasn't. Bill picked
up his portable. The rain
seemed worse. The lightning
made the thick clouds look
oyster white. Sure" I said.
I took my typewriter. The
deputy sheriff shook his
head. He was sure we were
nuts. So was I. Dodd and
Anderson fly the plane for
a grocery chain.
THE PLANE RACED
through the rain and, when
we lifted, we could see Dodd
fighting the controls.
We kept the seat belts on.
I asked Mullin If he wasn't
afraid, with all the night
lightning outside and the
plane twisting like a butter
fly.
NO." he said. II say a
prayer. Then. If it's to be,
it's to be-" I crept up to the
pilots compartment. Are
you worried?" ! asked.
"Oh, come on" he said.
"A little thunder shower like
this?
Over Miami, the stars