“Take a wheel up to him,” replied Tim.
Turning to the field manager, he asked, “Have you got a spare wheel that will fit that ship?”
“Two of them,” said Hunter. “I’ll have them in in less than a minute.” He hastened to the parts room and returned with a spare wheel. Together they ran to hangar No. 5 which was the home of the Good News. The plane, repainted and with its motor and rigging carefully checked, was ready to go again.
“You handle the controls,” Tim told Hunter, “and I’ll do the plane changing stunt.”
Hunter warmed up the Good News and Tim secured the extra equipment he needed. He tossed a coil of rope into the forward cockpit and put an assortment of wrenches of various sizes into the pockets of his tight-fitting leather jacket. Then he vaulted into the cockpit and signalled for Hunter to open the throttle.
The Good News flipped through the open door of the hangar, made a short run, and then, its powerful motor thrumming steadily, nosed skyward in a steep climb.
Hunter took the Good News alongside the slower mail plane and Tim signalled to Ralph what he intended to attempt. Mitchell, who was now aware of the danger of their situation, was watching anxiously from the mail cockpit of Ralph’s plane. Himself an expert flier, he was fuming impatiently at his helplessness.
Hunter and Ralph coordinated the speed of their planes and Hunter gradually edged over the other plane.
Tim made one end of the rope fast to the cockpit and to the other he tied the spare wheel. He lowered the wheel over the side of the fuselage and slowly let it down until it was just above Mitchell. The mail flyer reached up and took the wheel, untying the rope to which it had been fastened.
Then Tim pulled the rope back, knotted it in half a dozen places, and tossed it overboard again.