Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol

by Henry Harley Arnold

The smoke pall made it practically impossible to distinguish the few landmarks which were present. Everything was considerably dimmed by the smoke. He had the choice of flying under the smoke and skimming the tree tops or of flying above the smoke and dropping down through when a fire was sighted. During the first part of the patrol Bill flew under the smoke.

The first forest fire was sighted before they had been twenty minutes out of Eugene. The smoke rising from the burning timber joined to that already hanging in the air made an impenetrable barrier ahead of the plane. Bill guided the machine around the area, while Kotok obtained data as to its size, nature of material burning and the limiting natural features. Bill then flew a short distance north to the railroad in order to accurately locate the fire. It was a rather small fire, covering between two hundred and three hundred acres.

After getting the data concerning the first fire, they continued on their patrol. They picked up one fire after another. Some were quite large and evidently had been burning for a considerable time. Others were small, which would indicate that they had started but recently. At times it was necessary for Bill to fly right over the fires as they were bounded by high mountains with peaks extending into the smoke pall.

While flying over the burning timber, Bill thought that he could hear the crackling fire above the deafening roar of his engine. The trees sent pillars of sparks and smoke high into the air when they fell. The heat was intense and the air so rough that it was terrifying. The air conditions put a severe nervous strain on Bill, for there was always the possibility of his engine cutting out. If that had happened the plane would have been forced to land right in the midst of the burning trees, for with the limited ceiling the plane was just clearing the tree tops.

The bumps threw the plane around so violently that Bill was kept busy continuously working the controls. One wing dropped and Bill threw the stick across to bring it up. Before he had the plane level, the nose went down and the plane dropped at a terrific speed right toward the burning inferno below. Several times they missed the tree tops by inches. However, Kotok, at first more or less nervous on account of the conditions under which they were flying, was soon hard at work making his notes.

The heat from the fire finally sent the plane up with a bound into the smoke cloud overhead. Once in the cloud, the fire became a glow against the haze and then finally disappeared. Bill turned and looked at Kotok for instructions as to what was to be done next. If Kotok was through with that fire, they could continue the trip. If not, Bill must dive through the smoke and brave the turbulent air above the burning timber again. Kotok gave a sign which Bill interpreted as meaning that he was through. Bill headed his plane along the patrol route.

Gradually climbing, they soon emerged above the smoke cloud. They had reached an altitude of seven thousand feet. The ground was hidden, except when occasional mountain peaks penetrated through the cloud. For a while they flew along above the cloud, following the compass course. Then Kotok pointed to the right and Bill turned in that direction.

There was a peculiar hemispherical hump protruding above the general level of the upper surface of the smoke cloud. It looked like a mushroom thrusting its top through the ground. As they came nearer they could see that there was a violent disturbance of air around that hump. The smoke had a golden glow which indicated a fire beneath. The much needed data could never be obtained without dropping through the cloud. With the troubles and dangerous flying conditions which Bill had encountered above the last fire still fresh in his mind, Bill hesitated about plunging down into the unknown.

As long as they remained above the smoke, Bill could see what was ahead of the plane and all dangers of crashing into mountain sides was eliminated, but driving a plane down into that thick smoke was different. They had been sent out to get information, however, and that data could not be obtained without seeing the fire. Accordingly Bill pointed the nose of his plane down and hoped that they would not run into anything before emerging from the smoke into the murky air beneath.

Bill was not so sure that he was going to like forest patrol flying if it necessitated much of this blind navigating. A little of it was not so bad, but when a pilot was required to fly for mile after mile through the muck and haze of countless fires, it put a different aspect on the subject. Bill endeavored to get a glimpse of the ground beneath as he circled down to the fire, but it was impossible. He was up against a proposition of putting his entire trust in Lady Luck. If she was with him, they would come out all right. If not, then it would be too late to worry.