News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

THEN THIS... and we were still ing could be attempted. Wecould probab17
cl1m'Mng. Abcn1t this time the variOllleter have made it through the pass, but there
in the front cockpit ceased functioniIl&, but vas no altitude to spare. I just couldn't
John kept me informed of our rate of climb push on the left rudder, and leave those
by telling me continually what the one in fields on the right.
the rear cockpit indicated. In my power plane experience, I have re-
At 10,000 feet the altimeter hit the stops turned to the Rio GrandeValley in the :Big
on the instrument but we continued to climb BendCountry, where as a young pilot I bad
for a period that I nowcomputeas seven flown the river bed, a few feet off the vaminutes
but which at the time seemed like ter and hundreds of feet below the cBn70n
an hour. Then the bank and turn indicator sides. But on my return trip eight years
went out. I could see the ice-covered ven- later, I just couldn't push forward on the
turi. I figured it was time for the cloud stick hard enough to get the airplans down
and me to part company. I had gotten r.- in the canyon. I guess it's just nold age"
ther acclimated to the rumblings of tb:u.nder --smart people call it nexperience." I
and its gratuitous gift of frozen precipi- found myself confronted with the problem
tat1on, but honestly I was a long we::r from here. I couldn't force myself to abandon
enJoying the situation. a course, whn. a good ludhg vas probable,
There was that beautitally arranged in- for a sweepatakes ticket through the narrow
strument board; airspeed inc11cator, vari- pass.
ometer, bank and turn indicator, altimeter, Wesettled to l,200feet, then 1,000. fhose
and compass. Of them all, only the compass level fields I saw at 3,000 feet all ..... d
continued to give me a reading. Fromthe to slope greatly at the lower altitude.
rate of climb indicator in the rear cockpit Eight hundred feet al t1tude and I selected
and the time of climb after the al t1meter my field, a narrowonewithout planted crop.
hit the stops, I am sure we had reached at and sufficiently long, provided I madea
least 15,000 feet. good approach. At 600 feet I changed my
I tried to hold a south course and after ide88 as to which way the field sloped, 80
I madea 180 degree overhea4, and put her
what seemeda lifetime, we broke out of the down. Except for a ditch, grown over with
side of the cloud. By this time, we really weeds, that vasn't apparent frOlllthe air,
had a nice load of ice. The bottom of the the landing was uneventtal. The ditch
inside of the sailplane was covered with bouncedus back into the air, but there was
what looked like snow. Robinson took: the still sufficient speed to control the sailcoatro1.
while I installed an additional
variometer in the front instrument panel, plane.
and hooked it into the trusty gallonj'ag. Weverejust 100 miles short of Willi ....
port but on the right e1de of the fence in
Wecontinued a south course, and I had no the field selected. Well, I gI18ssthat'.
idea where we were. The sky ahead wasclear better than being three feet short and on
with no clouds in sight. One by one the the wrong Bide of the fence in the right
instruments began functioning as the ice field. These hours whenyou await the armelted;
first the airspeed indicator, then rival of a trailer and ground crew give ycu.
the bank and turn indicator. The newvar- a lot of time to think. I decided to write
iometer in the front cock:pit was workiIl& the above experience 1mmediate17.
fine. Although we held the south course
for some time, and I had the map, I am This flight was truly the biggest k1ckin
ashamedto sq that I had trouble getting my fl;y1ng career. As I look back now, it
oriented. But we continued this course was really sport, but at the time I vas in
wi th a con.tant rate of descent and no ap- that cloud. gathering ice, it was more like
parent thermal activity. After some time, labor. To those novices whowould ~epeat
the altimeter dropped to 9,500, then 9,000; or better this flight, let me sq-;,. '"When
ev.n it vas working again. you try it, it's a mighty good feenD.i'to
have the National SoariD« Championin the
The sq was perfectly clear, and wewere back seat' with a set of controls.' _.
pretty lUre at 5,000 feet that we wouldn't ...,.,.-
malteWilliamsport. At 2,000 feet, we got a "So this is :, n the aviation ca4et
weak:thermal. After playing with it for a
few minutes we left with a 200-foot loss of of Olass 4l-G remarked expansivel)", as he
altitude. To the left was a mountain pus alighted at College Station, Texas.
that opened into a level valley. To the His instructor at Randolph )l18ld or4erecl
right vas a plateau between ridges running him to write 500 times "I em a 'dodo' tar
30 degrees to the right of our course. '!'he not stud;ying Jq maps before tak1DCoff on
latter appeared to have fields where alanet- a cro.s-country navigation flight."
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