Evening Star Newspaper, December 15, 1929, Page 116

THE SL{I}TD:\Y___SIAR, \Yx‘\vSHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER 15 1929. hrills of BY MARION GILLESPIE. AY back in the quiet days of 1910 Sydney Bonnick decided that he would rather be an aerial photographer than anything else on earth—or, more strictly. above it. At that time this meant leaning over the side ©f a swaying balloon basket and taking pictures ©f the pleasant countryside below with an ordi- nary camera. It was long before the days of “fiying dark rooms” and special aerial cameras. ‘But it was thrilling business even if it didn't take one very far away from civilization. Now, aeronautical improvements have ine creased the flyer's margin of safety while in the air, but additional thrills have been brought into the life of a flying cameraman by the fact that these same improvemenis have made all the wildest and littlest known parts of the earth “especially inviting to him. It is now possible, for instance, for two men— ‘the photographer and his pilot—to fly over un- known terrain and in 10 hours’ flying time chart & country that would have taken an engineer- ing crew on the ground three months. The finished product of such an aerial survey is a composite photograph that shows at a glance ‘the actual topography of the section. Bonnick recently returned from his second merial survey of parts of Mexico never flown ever by man., His pictures show close-ups of mountains whose jagged edges could rip the plane wing from wing in the twinkling of an eye. And jungles so impenetrable that getting into them for any distance would require days of arduous labor cutting a path as wide as a ‘Mexican’s hat. His adventures included argu- ments with pythons, wild boars and alligators. Bonnick’s recent Mexicar expedition was over an almost inaccessible region in a country in- ‘habited by ancient ruins and hostile Indians. ‘_“WE left Brownsville, Texas, for a destina- tion far in the interior of Mexico,” Bon- . ‘nick relates. “As far as civilization is concerned it was the original and well known jumping-off lace. . “We were to survey some 1,500 square miles of weird country—all mountains, jungles and swamps. We carried parachutes, of course, but I often wondered up there at 13,000 feet, if we _should have to pile out in a hurry, which would be the best course to drift. There was smeil choice between snake-infested swamps and jun- gles and streams alive with alligators. “We made a reconnaissance flight over the area to be photographed and went to work in earnest. A large part of the survey was shot in a flight of 7 hours and 20 miffutes. “The next morning my pilot, George Kraigher, who had served in the Serbian and French avia- 4ion services during the war, rushed into my quarters to greet me with ‘Shake, old man, we're in the war again! Go over and look at the plane!’ “I followed him outside and found eight fed- eral soldiers, with guns extended, guarding our plane, and they wouldn't let us near it! After some- inquiry I found that the guard had spe- cial orders from the general in command of the district. Owing to the outbreak of a revolution, we would be unable to take our plane off the ground. We were assured, however, that our equipment would be protected. “This condition lasted for several weeks, dur- ing which time we gazed at a cloudless sky and tore our hair. Photographic days were going by and we weren't able to take a single picture. “The average aerial photographic time is one day in seven, and naturally our organization makes sure when a favorable day arrives that pictures will be made. It checks closely on weather reports, advance notification of weather ‘conditions and last-minute notice by phone or radio. . If a photographer fails to turn in a roll of films after all these checks have been made, he has to furnish a first-class alibi. “When I sent the New York office a picture of our plane resting in the hangar with eight Mexican soldiers standing guard in front of the entrance, my alibi was perfect! “ATonetlmevewerecommndedmgoahft and make a survey of the rebel lines, and under guard of one Mexican soldier who went in the plane with us, we flew over the territory Sydney Bonnick, Who Took Pictures of Mexican Volcanoes and Maya Ruins a ‘gear Before Lindy’s Recent Flight of Discovery to Central America, Has Been qutogmphing From Planes Since 1910 am{{He Has Explored Vast Jungle and Mozmtam Regions Without Ever Setting Foot on. Them. A forced landing over mountainous regions like this would mean certain death. and photographed the situation. When we landed we were surprised to find 12 bullet holes had damaged our fuselage, and we hadn’t even known that we were being fired on! “Aside from this episode we took no part in the revolution, although geographically we were in the thick of it. During the time the federals chased the rebels and vice versa, we spent our time developing the pictures we had already taken. “At the conclusion of our mapping we made trips between Mexico City and Tampico to secure views of the volcanoes Popccatepetl and Ixtac- cihuatl, known as the sleeping lady because of its formation. This location was 18,000 feet above sea level and the scene of the battle be- tween the Aztec Emperor Montezuma and the Spanish invader Cortez. “On one of our flights, 16,000 feet above the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, we were rewarded with a view that perhaps no one in the world had ever seen before—the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico at the same time, with the isthmus stretching narrowly in between. “After making pictures of the volcanoes we proceeded to Merida, Yucatan, and took the first air pictures of the ancient ruins of Uxmal and Chicen Itza, remnants of the long-departed Mayan civilization recently visited by Col. and Mrs. Lindbergh. “We also flew over one extinct volcano in whose crater an Indian had built himself a home and planted his small farm. The rim of the crater afforded a natural protection, and the Indian probably felt that he was fortified for life against his enemies. “The Indians working in the fields sighted us and ran into the house as we approached. No doubt ours was the first plane they had ever seen, and we could well imagine their consterna- tion. “THIB country for hundreds of miles is solid volcanic rock which absorbs the heat of the sun, and in the low altitude at which we made our pictures there is an air condition that makes one feel there are a thousand devils try- ing to tear the wings from the plane. “When I took these pictures we struck just such an air disturbance. It knocked the camera against my face, broke a tooth and left me flat Mction aplenty accompapied the taking of this remarkable air view of two restored Mayan Temples, in Yucatan, Mexice. an Aviator-Photographer Flying Photographer Sydney Bonnick. on my back on the floor of the plane with a 38~ pound camera sitting on my chest. “An’' uncomfortable situation in the making of pictures in tropical climates is the extreme difference in temperatures. In preparing for a flight we are obliged to wear heavy fur-lined flying suits and felt boots. We have to wear these fireless cookers with a temperature on the ground of 100 in the shade. An hour’s climbing, and oppressive heat at an altitude of 15,000 feet gives ,way to penetrating cold. Returning to lower levels the gas tanks, camera and all metal is streaming with water due to the rapid con- densation. uDURING my last trip to Mexico, one of .my pilots had an interesting experience. One of the oil companies had had trouble with ban- dits holding up the paymaster, so they.decided to send the pay roll out to the wells-by plane. “The paymaster loaded about 1,000 pesos- in gold into a leather bag, sealed it carefully, then when the pilot would swoop down over the field where the men were working the paymaster would drop the leather bag over the side of the plane. “The pilot’s landmark was a point where' two rivers converged. When he reached this spot his course lay along the river to the right. He had flown the course many times, but this'day, through some error, he followed the river to'the left and after some distance realized he'had nbeenm flying long enough to be sighting the oil elds. ad “He looked out of the cabin and was surprised to see mountains looming up on either side of the plane and knew he was off his course. “There was no room between the rocky walls to turn the plane around, so he kept straight ahead, hoping to rise high enough to find turn- ing space. The mountains were rising higher and higher each moment and suddenly he sighted a sheer wall of rock some 9,000 feet high rising directly in his path! It took some quick thinking and quicker action! ’ “He nosed the plane at a downward angle, then suddenly brought it up to complete an upside down turn. At the moment the wheels were on top he pulled the stick, righting the plane, and found himself flying out of this cule de-sac over the route he had entered. “When the maneuver had been successfully accomplished the breathless paymaster managed to gasp, ‘I say, old man, was that stunt abso- lutely necessary?’ to which the pilot replied fer- vently, ‘You betcher boots it was!’ “I HAVE had one or two thrilling experiences in the States. On July 13, 1918, my pilot and myself flew under the International Bridge at Niagara Falls to get pictures that would be different. We got them all right and we came near getting our everlasting, too! “We were flying a two-place Canadian train- ing plane powered with 90-horsepower OX § motor. - The wind was blowing right down the gorge and some of the pictures were made from an elevation of-10 feet. . g “Because of the wind condition the plane would rise only to the level of the two lower bridges and we were forced to dive under and try to rise again. It was a foolhardy venture. We achieved the distinction of being the only fiyers to fly beneath all three bridges at the falls, and it's a record that can stand as far as I'm concerned. “All of the thrills are not confined to land flying. - When we were returning from Yucatan recently, C. H. Robinson, chief pilot for the Mexican Aviation Co.’s Merida run, told of hav- ing seen large schools of man-eating sharks off the Gulf coast. I decided we would photograph them. “When we were about 10 miles from shore and not more than 50 feet above the water sneaking up on the playful creatures, Robinson turned to me and asked casually, ‘Bonnick, did you ever get any dope on how long one of these planes will float if the motor quits?’ “But even with the possibility of a motor going dead over a school of man-eating sharks, flying holds its fascination. There is an urge to achieve further success in a profession which has little or no competition. Whether it is fly- ing 16,000 feet in an icy atmosphere with my fingers sticking to the camera and my mustache covered with icicles like Old Bill, or at a lower altitude photographing an estate, country club or harbor development along the waterfront, the interest is always the same.” The lure of the tropics has been too much for Bonnick. His visits to New York prove, at least to his satisfaction, that flights over Mexican mountains require less dodging than crossing New York streets. He recently returned to Mexico to conduct a third survey of little known parts of the eountry. / (Copyright, 1929.)