© Wide World Photos
LONDON, ENGLAND—CROWDS PRESSING AROUND “THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS” AS THE PLANE LANDED. SOME OF THE SOUVENIR-HUNTERS MANAGED TO TEAR AWAY BITS OF THE WING
© Wide World Photos
LONDON, ENGLAND—“AT CROYDEN FIELD I ESCAPED TO THE TOP OF THE OBSERVATION TOWER OVERLOOKING THE CROWD”
One of the dangers which a mail pilot faces in flying at night through bad weather and low visibility is in suddenly losing track of the ground due to a fog bank lower than the rest. If he has been flying very close to the ground it is not advisable to go lower, and often the only alternative is to climb up through the fog and attempt to find a hole somewhere to spiral down through.
Being caught in a fog at night was the cause of two of my forced jumps, the official reports of which follow:
“I took-off from Lambert-St. Louis Field at 4:25 P.M., September 16, 1926, and after an uneventful trip arrived at Springfield, Ill., at 5:10 P.M., and Peoria, Ill., at 5:55 P.M.
“I left the Peoria Field at 6:10 P.M. There was a light ground haze, but the sky was practically clear with but scattered cumulus clouds. Darkness was encountered about 25 miles northeast of Peoria, and I took up a compass course, checking on the lights of the towns below until a low fog rolled in under me a few miles northeast of Marseilles and the Illinois River.
“The fog extended from the ground up to about 600 feet, and, as I was unable to fly under it, I turned back and attempted to drop a flare and land. The flare did not function and I again headed for Maywood (Chicago’s air mail port) hoping to find a break in the fog over the field. Examination disclosed that the cause of the flare failure was the short length of the release lever and that the flare might still be used by pulling out the release cable.