Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1927, Page 77

ILLUSTRATED FEATURES ! Part 5—8 Pages WASHINGTON, MAGAZINE SECTION D C, SUNDAY MORNING, he Sunday Staf JULY 31, 1927. Air Pioneers and Enthusiasts Successful With Parachutes COL:LINDBERGHS Air MailPlane, complete in every detail, but largely technical—a description of the struc- tural weaknesses of a new modei plane, being flown in test stunting for the first time. As customary, he put the plane in a spin and it refused to come out. The controls jammed. He followed it down to 500 feet, in an ef- fort to bring it out, but, failing still, | jumped—this time suffering a dislo- cated shoulder. Landings are not always without in- jury. Often in a wind a rider is drag- ged along the ground for great dis- tances. Curiously, among the more than 300 planes at the international air races in St. Louis and the miles upon miles flown at high speed and in A!H'GE spreading oak tree with a spot unsuitable for landing. Contrary to the belief of the average The fiyer's store of tricks increases made to glide safely down to earth. ing spot in the nearest tree. dices, fear, distrust and superstition supply hurried demands for more year the number is likely to triple. [use of parachutes. There have been ‘whose lives became imperiled by rea- icauses. The lives of four members of iparachute. erican aviation history by Lieut. oot in diameter, which was folded he folded chute. At an altitude of 16 vas testing some new device on curred. Lieut. Fairchild made a left started the whole airplane shook vio- Lieut. Harris severely on ‘the legs. ting the plane into a climb; that is, the wind. :‘l:zllbed to the fuselage, the body of He had never jumped before. feet were pointing to the sky and that Nothing happened. He did this three Then, realizing his mistake, he allow- “As soon as the release cord was must have been quite high, but at no of my arms and could move them up for the injury to his legs from the * ¥ * ¥ TH mirmen as to the ability of the fyer intricate stunts, the most serious acci- chute before too great a loss of alti- | 96Nt Was a broken leg suffered by a ' BY E. C. KOHN. soft, resilient branches is the | joy of aviators in case of en- | gine trouble while flying over Landing like a bird in the treetops is only one of the many tricks the avia- or learns during his airy career. landlubber, engine trouble while fiving few thousand feet in the air is not always a sign of impending death with the length of his flying career. When engine trouble develops a plane ,may be turned to face the wind and When a suitable landing space is not perceived, as is sometimes the case in large cities, the flyer finds a soft land- The numerous cross-country flights proved that flying has become an ac- cepted means of travel. The old preju- are disappearing. Thirty-seven fac- tories in the United States are rushing and doubleshifting in an effort to planes, Last January there were 2,500 planes in private and commercial operation in the United States; this The greatest impetus to flying in the last few vears and the insurance of safety are attributed to the successful numerous occasions in this country 'where the parachute was instrumental in saving occupants of airplanes {®on of collision of planes, engine fail- {ure while fiying over country unfavor- {mble for landing, fogs and other ithe British royal air force and one of the Swedish royal air service were also saved through the use of the | The successful use of the parachute {n case of airplane emergency was {@emonstrated for the first time in old R. Harris, chief of McCook Field flying section. He carried the gulation parachute, measuring 24 Into a cushion-size bag resembling a apsack. To his body the aviator tened the harness, and he sat upon .500 feet he leaped from the cockpit f his plane while traveling at a speed f 150 miles an hour. s plane and at the same time in- Wulging in combat practice with Lieut. uir Fairchild when the trouble oc- turn, and Lieut. Harris, in order to keep within sight of the other plane, 0 turned. As soon as the turn lently laterally, and the control stick, Which guides the plane, began to oscil- Jate rapidly from side to side, beating In order to control the oscillations Lieut. Harris attempted to lessen the #peed by closing the throttle and put- going higher up in the air. But the Whip was so great the wings tore apart internally and began to ripple in Realizing that he would most cer- tainly be killed if he.stayed with the plane, he released his safety belt and atrplane, where the high wind ressure blew him. from the plane, hich was by that time in a steep dive. After leaving the plane he looked down at his feet to help locate the rip cord ring and realized that his his head was down; he was spinning like a top. Locating what he thought was the rip cord ring, he pulled. times, each time pulling the leg strap fitting of the harness, which is about 3 inches below the rip cord ring. ed his hand to travel up the harness toward his head until be encountered the ring. operated,” said Lieut. Harris, “I feit ® snap throughout my entire body. During this time the speed of descent time did I have any sensation of fall- ing, and even with the extremely high wind velocity, I had perfect control end down'my body at will.” Lieut. Harris landed in a grape ar- bor, with only minor bruises, except beating of the control stick. The air- plane landed about a block away and was a total wreck. IS accident marked a milestone in aviation history, for while, before this, in innumerable tests the para- chute had been proved efficient, ‘there Was more or less skepticism among to think and act rapidly enough to get free from a falling plane. Also the pilot’s ability to operate a para- | tude for safety was doubted. A hun.|Parachute jumper. gred feet is required for the success. | N | ful opening of a parachute. There | J'HE first night-fiying emergency | was doubt. too, as to whether th~ jump was that of Lieut John | $peed of the fall might not cause un-| A. Macready, when, as he was on a consciousnese, | night_flight from Dayton to Colum- Because of his mistake in pulling | bus, Ohio. the engine of his DH-4 the leg sirap instead of the rip cord | airplane cut out. The failure oc- ring, Lieut. Harris had fallen from | curred over the city of Dayton 25500 to 500 feet before his chute|on the return trip shortly after 10| opened. during which time his mind | o'clock. Had there been daylight, no | was clear and capable of thinking | doubt it would have heen possible to | Wwith great rapidity. glide the plane to a safe landing. This leap proved but the forerunner | After his attempts to start the engine of others in which lives were saved | had failed, his first idea was to glide under many varying conditions. the plane away from the city, so that _Lindbergh, while an officer of the |no one would be hurt by the landing. @5th Division Afr Corps, and pilot of | When the engine stopped, the alti- the air mail for the Robertson Aircraft [ meter showed 5,000 feet. Apparently Corporation between St. Louis and [ more open country was reached with Chicago, jumped three times to save | a loss of altitude to 3,800 feet. Lieut. his 1 He used the parachute the | Macready then tried to operate the first tme when, after vainlv seeking | flares with which the plane was equij # landing in the fog with the air mail | ped. but, though he jerked the fn and around Chicago, his gasoline | lease with all his strength and 100 supply became exh d and he aban- | below, there was no sign of lights. | doned ship, leaping at 4,000 feet in the | Nothing could be distinguished on the | fog and darkness, but landing safely. | ground. The following is an abstract The tradition of the air mail pre.)from Lieut. Macready's own account wailed. Cacheing his parachute in a{of his jump bush. he sct out on foot 1o find his| “The belt was unbuckled and the wrecked plane. Within an hour he | pilot stood up in the cockpit to i CLARENCE D. CHAMBER LIN anol COL.LIND BERGH™ both parachule jumpers. CHIEF PETTY OFFICER LYMAN FORD ready 10 jump froma Navy Plane Iv ail and sent it for- | that he was free, then sat dowr : 0. j waited for the interval of time W 1 became a two-time jump- | the plane was gliding 2,000 feet. The | . ¢ the space of four months in | flashlight was found and »ut in the | tive Position of the ring, the hold on Iving as part of a formation | pilot's pocket; then the pilot rose in | the wires was released and the pilot n combat maneuvers at 5,000 feet over | the cockpit to test out his ability to | suddenly left the plane in a very con- Kelly Field, Tex., with Lieut. C. D {control the plane while standing, and | fused manner in a dive of great speed. McAllister in a second plane, his plane | then lifted one leg over the side of the | From the rapid changing of the lights Bnd that of Lieut. McAllister collided { plane. It was found that the feat|of the city, above and below, it ap- in the air. Both pilots jumped. pack caused interference in xetting | peared that the pilot was somersault- Lindbergh himself wrote an account | the second leg over the side, and it | ing through the air. The two seconds of the crash. the leap and the landing | was necessary again to return to the | were counted and the ring pulled. #n a most complete, lucid and compre- | sitting posture and on the second trial | Although, probably, but a short time hensive manner. {lift the seat pack over the back and |before the openinz of the parachute, “I had no difficulty in locating the | side of the plane before the other leg | it seemed long to the pilot. The pilot's pullring and experienced no sensa- | could be lifted out of the cockpit. head must have been pointed to the ion of falling. The wreckage was! “While he was getting out of the | ground when this took place, as there alling straight down and for some |cockpit the plane was guided with the | was a jerk entirely on the shoulders. fime I fell in line with its path. Fear- | right hand on the stick, and an at-| “There was no sound until the al- Snz the wreckage might fall on me, 1[tempt was still made to guide the most immediate crash of the plane, dig not pull the rip cord until T had | plane after the pilot had climbed out | which was like a string of freight cars #allen several feet and into the clouds. | onto the wing, but while getting the hing together. Thers was an ex- 3 was falling flat and face downward. | second leg over the side the bodv had plosion and a burst of flame 25 or 30 ler withi | P feet high. a glance at the harness to get the rela- | The parachute functioned perfectly, All was intense stillness a!most as soon as 1 pulled the rip cord. *The risers jerked on my shoulders, ghe leg straps tightened, my head went down and the chute was fully opened “The wrecked ship passed, 100 yards | leave oway Lindbergh's third leap was June 2 1974, at Bridgeton Field. to lean very much forward, and the nose of the plane dropped into a dive. The pilot made an attempt to pull the nose up into a stalling position while clinging to the wires, =o that he might the piane without too much speed, but the pull was too great. “Before pulling the rip cord ring, it was decided to count twg seconds after again, and the falling man began to vell as loudly as possible. He wished | assistance in case he was injured in {landing in the dark. ‘Hello below,’ he called. ‘Finally an answering voice came up. ‘Where are you?' it said. “‘Up here in a parachute,’ was the Again his report i painstaking. letting go of the wing.” 'After casting answer “Then the roofs of buildings and | forests and trees could be seen. The | pilot_came down through the trees, | grabbing and_ breaking off branches as he came through, hoping for one that would be strong enough to hold him. He was bumped against the side of an embankment, and the parachute caught in the branches of the trees through which he had fallen. “The ravine was over 90 feet deep. The pilot was left hanging against one of its banks until the people who had heard him calling found him and pulled him up from below by means of the parachute cords. He was unin- jured, The airplane was still blazing."” * K k¥ THE most interesting jump, and the one in which both pilot and pas- | senger were saved from certain death | by the use of parachutes, was that in | which Lieut. L. L. Koontz .and Pvt. | W. E. Goggin leaped from the cockpits of a Vought airplane over Bolling Field, both pulling the rip cord rings after clearing the airplane and landing safely. While flying at ag altitude of about '4 qmiles from Bolling 3,500 feet, about Many Lives Have Been Saved by This Means When Collisions and Other Mi.shaps Have Brought Flyers Face to Face With Emergencies Aloft—Courage and Skill Required to Leap Away From Plane and Manipulate_Big Chute—Great Care in Folding. A REMARKABLE FLYING FORMATION at Hendon England PA‘éAcu'u‘Ts JUMPING. flom a plane-at Kelley T4 eid. @ UNDERW00D . ARCHIE ATHERTON, dropping from.a. plane wit) iwo P arachides. Field, Lieut. Koontz decided to kill some of his altitude by making a se- ries of one-turn spins, first to the left | was cut off and Pvt. Goggin had no and then to the right. Suddenly the plane went into a dive, from which he attempted to right it without success. “At this instant,” said Lieut. Koontz, “I'began to realize that I had no control of the airplane and also noticed the great velocity with which it was falling. I moved my stick in a!l positions in an attempt to find a point where there would be a pressure on the controls, and finding there was absolutely no pressure at any point, I realized that the only hope of saving our lives was to jump. I became slightly hysterical when I thought of the very few seconds remaining for us- to. leave the ship, and began to shout to Goggin to get out. It was Pvt. Goggin's second time in the air. “My next thought was that I must be calm or I would never get him out of the front seat. Up to this time Goggin had not looked round, and was evidently ignorant of the fact that there was anything wrong. Opening the lid door behind the front seat, I pounded Goggin on the back with my left fist, calling to him, in as steady a voice as possible, to get out quickly, | that the ship was falling. The motor difficulty in hearing what I said. “He loosened his belt and suddenly jumped straight up, his head striking the trailing edge of the center section with considerable.force, knocking him back into the seat. I thought, ‘He will never get out that way,’ and shouted for him to climb out. During this time I kept glancing at the ground to see if we had still sufficient altitude to make the jump; as we were falling with terrific speed. I also wondered whether we would know when we hit the ground. Goggin put his foot upon the fuselage and grasped the trailing edge of the left wing with his left hand and held on in this position until I shouted several times for him to jump. He stated later that I pushed him from the plane, but I do not remember this. The instant Goggin left the ship I also took off. I believe we jumped at almost the same instant. I left backward, giving a kick against the fuselage as I let go. The instant I kicked, the ship and I separated a considergble distance. T grabbed the parach! ring with my right hand—I had grasped it with my left hand be- fore leaving the ship—and as I was instantly clear of the ship, ripped the chute with both hands. “My first sensation after the para- chute had opened was that I had stopped quite still and was not settling at all. T looked for Goggin and saw him with his chute open. Beyond him I caught sight of the plane just as it struck the ground, throwing up a great cloud of what looked like smoke, I then looked up at my parachute, which was shining very prettily in the sun, and had a feeling of great relief. Due to the excitement, the shouting and the velocity of falling, I was com- pletely out of breath, but by the time I reached the ground my breathing was almost normal. I was swinging slightly when I landed, but I touched with both feet at the same time, knees drawn slightly up, completely relaxed, sat down suddenly and rolled on my back without injury or severe shock. The parachute settled down behind mq “I sat still for a few minutes, col- lecting myself, then got up and folded my chute. Upon landing Gog- gin immediately released his harness and cried, ‘Lieutenant, are you hurt?’ I called that I was O. K., and after folding Goggin’s parachute we walked over and took agook at the plane.” The few fatalities caused by the use of the parachutes were traced to lack of care and foresight. A record of 400 drops with -parachutes shows four fa- talities, due to failure of the para- chutes to open or to burning planes falling upon them. Nowadays men train six months before packing the intricite chutes. At Bolling Field a small one-roomed temporary building has been erected for use in packing. It stands about 30 feet high in one section, 80 as to permit the hanging of the chutes for the required 24 ours drying of the skirts every 30 days. The other section of the build- ing has a ceiling ajmost halt the height, with a long, narrow table for the repacking. Pictures of parachutes and jumps line the wall, indicating the interest of the riggers who work at the packing and repacking. The riggers during their training jump several times every month for experimental purposes. These jumps are purely voluntary and are not per- mitted until a thorough physical ex- amination reveals the volunteer's fit- ness. * k% % PVT. MIKE KELLEY, a smiling, . _happy-go-lucky rigger at Bolling Field, has a record of no less than four Jjumps. His last jump occurred when Maitland and Hegenberger of Ha- walian flying fame were greeted IKJ Bolling Field on July 21. Pvt. Kelley: packs his own parachute before tak- ing the leap, as is the custom, since no man 1is willing to be held responsible for the packing should the chute fail to open. Upon the back of Pvt. Kelley's parachute his daring record sisted, on being questioned. Offering information about the parachute, he explained that it is made of high- grade Japanese silk, each seam rein- forced twice. The skirt of the para- chute is made up of 40 panels. The double seams protect it from further tearing should a hole be made in one panel. “The kind of clothes the girls wear nowadays, a girl could get about 90 dresses from the material used in one parachute,” he said. “It takes half an hour to fold and pack one chute.” Continuing, he said: “With good care, a chute should last no less than eight years. The Government pays $316 for each chute, Civilians must pay at least $365. In a few years all planes, commer. cial and private, will be equipped with parachutes. The imports of silk from Japan will undoubtedly swell to an unbelievable extent. People who are being initiated fnto the mysteries of the air are desirous of adopting the new means of flying for transporta- tion purposes. During the last year alone the number of paying passen- gers transported in the United States was close to 700,000, and almost 100,- 000 passengers were carried free of charge. If the Army, Navy and Coast Guard flying time were to be added to this figure, the total American mile. age would be more than 48,500,000, And the airplane is hardly more than 20 years old. "y It was in 1903 that the world was startled by the first successful flight of a self-propelled machine with a 12. horsepower engine. Orville Wright flew the amazing distance of 120 feet. The entire flight lasted only 12 sec- onds and consisted of straight flying into a wind of about 27 miles an hour. Today such a flight would be consid- ered foolish, but then it was sufficient to encourage the Wright brothers to continue with the work which has led to the present remarkable success of aeronautics. In this day it took & transatlantic flight to awaken aston- ishment, Man, today, is able to fly over 4,000 miles in a single non-stop flight. It is as usual for men to make cross-country flights without a single mishap as it is to go by automobile, the only difference being that the plane is safer. The commercial air services in Eu- rope publish interesting statistics.as to safety. The British, in one of their reports, show that a distance equal to 37 times around the earth has been flown for each 1loss of life in their commercial aviation. The statistics in our own country are even more inter- esting, though startling. The “Pony Express” of the air, the oldest and first long-distance air pas- senger line, stretches for 4,383 miles across the country, serving air corps activities in 35 cities. A total of one million airplane miles have been flown over this route from its inauguration tol October 15, 1926, with but one fa- tality. In the year 1926 statistics show that 20,819 people were killed in the United States in various traffic mishaps. The fatalities due to train accidents reach- ed a total of 6,332 lives. On upper Broadway, New York, a tiny marble statue stands as a_memorial to more than 300 people who lost their lives in trafic accidents in the same year. In the field of aviation only 135 peo. ple were killed in 1926; 75 were ei- villians. T'tie number of accidents in the field of aviation will decrease now that the Government will exercise a regulatory power over all aeronautics. The alr commerce. act of 1926 laid the legis- lative coner stone for the development of civil aeronautics in America. Action by the Government, after years of striving for just such legislation, is looked upon as the greatest step in the progress of avlation. Under this act the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, William MacCracken, Jr., is charged generally with the en- couragement and regulation of the use of aircraft in commerce. Under the jurisdiction of the Gov- ernment the safety of aircraft is fully assured. Those who were formerly afraid to follow in the footsteps of the pioneers of the air will now attempt the new means of travel, just as their fearful and distrustful forefathers pushed reluctantly into those first bumping, swaying railroad cars and shoved unceremoniously into the early contraptions called automobiles— finally became encouraged to try the new means of travel. The new act makes it compulsory for flyers to submit to examinations to test their physical and mental fit- ness to pilot planes. Their practical ability, their knowledge of air navi- gation and their experience in flying carries much weight in the final rat- ing. Pilots of the Army or Navy need only present a copy of their physical examinations, which are accepted in lieu of the department’s examination. Air traffic rules will also be regu- lated by the air commerce act. The rules will deal with various altitud with flights over cities and elsewhe: the passing and crossing on airways, landings and take-offs on airports and landing fields, as well as acrobatic fi, ing and navigation. Evyen the air !s not free of daring and foolish pilots Planes, too, do not escape the regu- latory powers of the Government. An aircraft is licensed when found air- worthy. The licensing involves an intelligent and continuous inspection, after which licenses for one year are issued. However, owners are charged with the duty of maintaining their planes in good condition at all times. The air license must be dsplayed in the cockpit in much the same manner as licenses are displayed in taxicabs. The establishment and maintenance of civil airways and intermediate land- ing fields, as well as lighting facilities for day and night flying, are also a part of the agronautic program, In the large industrial cities where land- ing fields are necessary it is difficult to find the required area within a con- venient distance of the cities. Wash- ington, fortunately, is so situated as to have available the necessary area for several airports. Groveton, a small subdivision in Virginia, is just 10 miles from the heart of Washing- ton, and has all the requisites for a good landing fleld. The site has been selected by the Department of Com- merce for an emergency field and & beacon site for the convenience of air mail flyers carrying mail from New York to Atlanta. By the last of Au- gust the field will be in readiness for night flying, having a beacon 51 fest high with a revolving light. The bea- con will be visible from a distance 30 miles. A concrete arrow, 60 long, will point in the direction of the mail route, with a light focused on it from the emergency fleld tower. At present the spot serves as a landing and practice fleld for an avia- tion school, where the art of flying is taught by Aubrey Burdette, a v¢ eran pilot of eight years' standing. Mr, Burdette, the president of the school organization, gained part of his flying experience in the air mail service at Lambert Field, St. Louls, Mo., where he found a real friend and buddy who shared his ideas on the possibilities of long-distance, non-stop flying. Later his buddy won unprece- dented fame because he carried out his ideas for a transatlantic flight. Pilot Burdette now teaches youths of Washington and Virginia to follow in is printed in ink. Just below the rec- ord in large black letters one may read, “In Thee I Trust.” He is not afraid tfl Jump, he in- Charles Lindbergh, who proved to the footsteps of his pioneer friend, [ '« 1 doubting public the safety of fiying.