Nerve enough

by Richard Howells Watkins

An air pilot and the field of broken wings

NERVE ENOUGH

By Richard Howells Watkins

The time was when the T. M. O. Transportation Co. occupied a proud position in the latest infant industry—aerial passenger carrying.

The T., who was Jim Tyler; the M., Burt Minster; and the O., Delevan O’Connell, each had a plane of his own. The company leased a field on the edge of a sizable little city and erected hangars. No less than three mechanics labored to keep the ships in the air.

The three partners had a bank account and a growing clientele among the more progressive members of the community. They had carried doctors to patients, ministers to congregations and judges to court. Yes, undoubtedly the T. M. O. Transportation Co. was the peer of any aeronautical outfit in the country.

As Del O’Connell put it, in one of his prophetic moods—

“The day will come when T. M. O. means as much in this country as C. O. D.”

That was rather strong, perhaps too strong, for not three days later, quite without reason, Del’s motor threw a connecting rod clean through the crankcase. In the consequent forced landing in a pasture some distance from the field, he cracked two struts of his landing carriage in a successful effort to save the wings.