Refueling

Three U. S. planes took on their fuel while in flight last week. Two of them used the well-tried hosing method. The third used a new catapulting device.

Hosing. A Keystone Army bomber over Manhattan and a Ryan monoplane over Fort Worth, Texas, each last week received their gasoline by hose. This was the method which enabled Captain Ira Eaker and his crew of four to keep the Army Fokker Question Mark above Southern California 150 hrs., 40 min., 16 sec., last January (TIME, Jan. 14), longer than any human had ever stayed in the air.

As the gas-thirsty plane flies in a straight course and at a steady speed, the refueling plane maneuvers into position above. When the two planes are in line, at even speed and 15 to 25 feet apart, the upper one drops a rubber hose. As the hose whips about, a man below catches its free end and inserts it into his fuel tank. Thus the two planes are connected by a sort of umbilical cord through which gasoline flows. In the Question Mark experiment, the feed hose would sometimes break loose, the men below would get drenched. But drenching was an incident which did not invalidate this refueling method. Food and messages were also passed between the two planes, a rope substituting for the hose.

Catapulting, previously experimented with, was tried out for the first time last week as an aid to a duration flight. The catapult roughly resembles a cannon on wheels. It can be trundled over a flying field wherever desired. Within the trough of the barrel a can of gasoline, oil or food is placed. The container rests against a powerful spring and has attached to it a rope. The rope hangs over two vertical, widely spaced arms fixed to the catapult chassis. In the mechanics of catapulting, a plane comes sweeping toward the machine about 20 feet from the ground. From the underside of the fuselage a rope dangles. At the rope's end is a metal hook. As the plane passes over the catapult the hook engages the contraption's rope (held horizontally by the vertical arms) and pulls. That pull releases the spring, which instantly projects the container from the trough at a speed of about 45 miles per hour. Such speed prevents a destructive jerk at the pick-up plane. Shock is further reduced by absorbers within the plane. After the flyers have snaggled their package they draw it into the plane through a trap door in the bottom of the fuselage, by a winch which the propeller air stream operates. Archie W. Card and Henry Bushmeyer invented the catapult.*

Army Bomber. As a spectacular climax to the Army's air maneuvers in Ohio last fortnight, a Keystone bomber was despatched from Dayton to attack Manhattan. It passed over the stormy Appalachians without trouble and reached the island without a stop. There it dropped trick bombs over Wall Street and the precious neighborhood, and continued on to Boiling Field near Washington. Next evening it returned to Manhattan with a Douglas service plane. While the com munity gawked into the twilight the Doug las pretended to refuel the bomber. Five times the gesture was made, always successfully, although the men in the Key stone did get soaked by spraying gasoline.

Three Musketeers -- Martin Jensen, Lieut. Henry B. Clarke, William Ulbrich-- shook hands and smiled before starting their flight at Roosevelt Field. Their cata pult refueling device worked successfully the first five times. The sixth time the hook rebounded, tore their rudder and stabilizer. Damage was repaired. Again they shook hands, smiled, mounted. Four times again the catapult served them efficiently, except that the hook tore small holes in the fabric bottom of their fuselage. Once when a gasoline line-leak developed and again when their motor needed adjustment Flyer Jensen went out on the catwalk and made repairs. Then, after 22 1/2 hours, the Three Musketeers landed. The crew climbed out grim and furious with one an other. Lieut. Clarke had decided that the fuselage holes would grow dangerously larger. Flyer Jensen believed that the holes could be repaired. Flyer Ulbrich considered the air quarreling foolhardy.

Fort Worth.-- The new refueling-endurance world record is 172 hr., 32 min., 1 sec. Two flying novices accomplished it Reginald L. Robbins, 26, onetime rail road mechanic, and James Kelly, 23, cattle puncher. Cowboy Kelly was graduated from a flying school only a month ago, at the time of his marriage. Flyer Robbins has been at the game about five years. He too is married, and has a six-year-old son. The families watched the two take off from Fort Worth a fortnight ago, in a rebuilt Ryan brougham which had flown 50,000 mi. and with an overhauled Wright Whirl wind motor which had run 500 hours. Few others watched the takeoff, for news of new air record-seekers has become boresome even in facilely enthusiastic Texas.

Thrice daily they were refueled by hose, and received their meals and messages by rope. It was Cowboy Kelly's job to grease the motor rocker arms twice daily. He would crawl out of the cabin and cat walk along a narrow support. The second day up as he greased he came too close to the propellers. The blades struck his belt button, which gouged a notch in each blade. They slept one hour nightly in a seaman's hammock slung over their extra gasoline tank. They counted the hours, minutes, scratched their unshaven faces, dropped notes. They rejoiced when they passed the trimotored Question Mark's 150-hour record. Last Saturday rain, thunder and lightning came upon them. They were scared, but kept going. The rain made their propeller swell and crack from the accidental notches. The motor began to vibrate at its fastenings. It might rip off. But they continued on until last Monday afternoon. Night might bring them death. They descended. Most of Fort Worth was on the muddy flying field. Women lost their slippers in the muck. Men carried Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. Robbins and the Robbins son on shoulders.

Cried Son Robbins: "When I get big I'll beat anyone who tries to beat you, Daddy." Shouted Benedict Kelly, deafened by seven days back of the motor: "Honey, I'm glad they didn't send those parachutes we asked for last Monday, because I was pining for you and I'd have jumped down to you about Thursday."

Southern Skylines

In May, 1918, Woodrow Wilson read a press despatch that his Secretary of the Treasury had flown in a plane over San Diego, Calif. The President was furious. He had warned his Cabinet officers specifically against flying during the War, when they were precious to him. And now the man who was not only his Number Two man in the Cabinet, but his son-in-law to boot, had flown.

When the Secretary returned to Washington the President chided him : "Now. Mac, you know you have a big job on hand. You shouldn't take risks."

William Gibbs McAdoo placatingly ex plained that, after he had exhorted San Diegoans to buy Liberty Bonds and keep courage to win the War, he did not have face to refuse a proffered air ride. He would have seemed to lack courage.

His father-in-law finally said: "Well, Mac, I'll have to admit with reluctance that you were right in taking the air." For a decade after that, however, "Mac" let two of his sons who were in the Army Air Corps during the War, do the flying for the family.

Lately Mr. McAdoo, who now is practicing law in Los Angeles and Washington, D. C., bought himself a Wasp-motored Lockheed-Vega ship with seats for five. It can make 180 m. p. h. That is not fast enough to please the owner. He often makes his pilot shoot up at as sharp an angle as possible and nose-dive to the limit of safety. Few men of 65 dare put their hearts to the strain of such quick altitude changes.

The McAdoo plane cost $18,500. Mr. McAdoo can well afford it. He has long been rich. His law fees continually make him richer. For a merger which he is now bringing about he will get one more million dollars. After the 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco and a decision that he was through with politics, the Bank of Italy retained him as lawyer at $50,000 a year, on condition that he desist from politics. His Presidential ambitions cost him that job when he stalemated the 1924 Democratic Convention at Manhattan. He still has his western law office in the Bank of Italy's Los Angeles building.

Last week he was in Manhattan. He had hop-skipped there from Los Angeles, with a night's stop-over and sleep at Dallas. His purpose was to get eastern money to join his own in forming a new transcontinental airline--Southern Skylines, Inc.

The proposed main line runs: Los Angeles-Phoenix-El Paso-Midland (Tex.) -Fort Worth-Dallas-Atlanta. At Atlanta it contacts with a New Orleans-Mont-gomery-Atlanta line and with an Atlanta-Charlotte-Washington-Philadelphia-New York one.

Another section will run south: Chicago-St. Louis-Memphis-Jackson-New Orleans.*

A branch from the main line will run: Dallas-Little Rock-Memphis (junction)-Louisville-Cincinnati-Columbus (competitive Transcontinental Air Transport take-off)-Pittsburgh. Then Pittsburgh-Washington and Pittsburgh-New York.

A connecting line will run: St. Louis-Indianapolis-Columbus.

At each of the cities mentioned Airman-Lawyer McAdoo has leading citizens lined up, or about to be lined up, to speed his project through. Southern Skylines will compete mainly with Transcontinental Air Transport./-

Mr. McAdoo has also in contemplation an Atlantic coastal line: New York-Washington-Richmond-Raleigh-Columbia-Augusta-Savannah-Jacksonville ''-Miami. The cities between Washington and Jacksonville are not yet on even an air mail line. Pitcairn Aviation's mail planes go slightly west, through Atlanta.

Why Mr. McAdoo is just now cake-walking into aviation, he explained last week: "We're in a new era now. The rail-road boys must hustle to keep up. I ought to know." (He was War director of U. S. railways, 1917-19).

Mrs. McAdoo (nee Eleanor Randolph Wilson) absolutely refuses to fly. Last week she sailed for Europe. Her "Mac" will follow in a month, after he sets up Southern Skylines' capital structure.

In Canada

Winnipeg last week conducted an aviation meet and aircraft exhibition. It was the biggest, most important air event of Canada's year, surpassing in extent and influence Montreal's exhibition, earlier in May. More than 70 planes showed at Winnipeg. Many competed in races and stunts. They carried hundreds of passengers. Makes included: de Havilland Moth, Avro Avian, Huff Daland, Lockheed Vega, American Eagle, Fokker, Junkers, Cessna, Fairchild, Ford, Waco, Hamilton, Douglas, Laird, Ryan, Travel Air, Monocoupe, Curtiss Robin.

Instigator of the Winnipeg meet & show was the Winnipeg Flying Club. It is one of 16 local Canadian clubs, whose members have flown approximately 10,000 hours since 1927, when the Canadian Department of National Defence first started to foster them. The Government gives planes, engines and cash to clubs which provide their own flying fields, hire an instructor and air engineer, and have at least 30 members prepared to qualify as pilots (not less than ten must already be qualified). For every member who qualifies, the flying club gets $100 more. And if the club later buys planes on its own, the Government matches its purchases plane for plane.**

*The Leviathan on its next westward crossing of the Atlantic will experiment with an analogous device to pick up and despatch mail to shore. On a new platform above the poop deck a sack of mail will be laid. A plane with a steel ball hanging by a rope will pass over the ship, dragging the ball across the platform. The ball will engage the sack, which the plane will draw into its fuselage, as she flies to land.

*Manhattan air men last week reported that a Mid-Continent Air Express was being organized to operate between Chicago and New Orleans. They said that President Harris M. Hanshue of Fokker Aircraft Corp. was back of the project; also Chairman James Talbot of Richfield Oil Co., Western Air Express and Fokker. Supposedly Mid-Continent would tie up with Western and Standard Air Lines.

/-For other competitive lines, see map and timetable in TIME, May 27.

**England has a similar sponsoring system.