"Thing of Beauty"

Last thing anybody would take James Henry ("Slim") Carmichael Jr. for is an air pilot. Tall, gaunt, pale, anemic, he looks much more like an undernourished ledger clerk. But "Slim" Carmichael is an iron-nerved airman who got his training in a tough school: flying passengers over the Alleghenies in single-motored Lockheeds. One night last week his nerves and training stood him in good stead.

Taking six passengers from Washington to Detroit in a trimotored Ford of Central Airlines, he got as far as Hancock, Md. when the left outboard motor exploded, tore loose from its moorings, crashed through the landing gear and plunged earthward. The other two motors sputtered, the plane vibrated heavily, all lights went out. Pilot Carmichael stuck a flashlight out the window, calmly took stock of the situation.

Rather than risk a crash landing in rough terrain, he decided to return to Washington, radioed Boiling Field to have a crash, crew and ambulance ready. Covering the 85 mi. without difficulty on two motors, he circled the field, glided in with one wing high, made a one-wheel landing which resulted in nothing more serious than a groundloop. Army flyers called the landing "a thing of beauty." Few minutes later Pilot Carmichael took off in another plane with three of his passengers, set them down safely in Detroit next morning.

To Pilot Carmichael will probably go the Air Mail Fliers' Medal, first awarded to Northwest Airlines' Mai Freeburg in 1932 for a similar feat.

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