Famous Flyers and Their Famous Flights

Bill looked at him fondly, seeing throughthe strange marks that time had left on thisman, the young, awkward boy whom hehad befriended in France, when he hadbeen just a young fellow himself, but notso green as the other. Then he said, “Whatdo you say we leave it up to the boys?” Heturned to them. “What do you say, Bob?How does a vacation up in the mountainssound to you?”

Bob, his eyes shining, could hardly answer.He hadn’t wanted to show too much eagernessbefore because he had remembered hismanners just in time, and was watching Billto see how they should respond to HankBrown’s generous offer. But now that hesaw that Bill was favorably disposed, hebreathed, “Oh, gee, I think that it would begreat! Just great! Let’s go, Bill.”

Hank was amused and pleased by thisenthusiasm.

The Captain turned to Hal. “How aboutyou?”

Hal, who had forgotten his misery duringthe recital of the exciting stories of waraces, and was once more fired with ambition, now that he was safely on the ground, wasalmost as enthusiastic. “But,” he said asan afterthought, “I don’t know whether Icould go, of course. My mother – ” hisvoice trailed off.

Bill reached over and grasped Hank’s hand.“We’ll take it, old scout. Don’t know howto thank you.”

“Don’t,” said Hank. “I’m glad you’regoing to go. All you have to do is to wireto Jake when you’re coming. He lights bonfiresto mark the landing field, and thereyou are. I’m going to be in town for twoweeks, so you can come up any time tomake arrangements. O.K.? Now I’ve gotto go. I’ve been spending too much timeas it is. Wish I could stay and see Pat, butI can’t. Tell him to come up and see me, will you?”

He bid them goodbye and left in his automobilewhich had been parked nearby.The next hour was spent in an excitinginspection of the various planes in the airport, from tiny two-seater monoplanes thatlooked like fragile toys, to huge biplanes; and in a growing impatience with Pat’s delay.Finally a tiny speck appeared on thehorizon, but the three of them had beendisappointed so often that they did not dareto hope that this was at last Pat McDermott.But it was. He stepped out of the greenmonoplane and pushing up his goggles, lookedaround him. He spied his three friendsimmediately, and hurried to meet them.

“Hi, Irish!” called Captain Bill. “I wantyou to meet two pals of mine.” He introducedBob and Hal. “We’re going to teachthem to fly.”

The two boys shook hands with Pat. Helooked like his name, a tall, broad, huskyman with a shock of curly hair that hadprobably once been red, but which was nowbrown, with a little gray at the temples; ayoung face – it was impossible to tell howold he was; and a broad grin that spreadacross his face and up around his eyes, disappearinginto the roots of his hair.

“Well,” he said, without ceremony, asthough he had been friends of theirs foryears, “They’ll make good flyers if they’renot too lazy. And if anybody can makeyou work, I can. And I will.”

The Captain laughed. “Don’t take Patseriously,” he said. “He’s too lazy to makeyou work very hard. But let me warn youthat he’s trained army flyers, so you’d betternot mind what he says, while he’s teachingyou.”

The boys had gone over and were lookingat the Marianne. She was a beautifullystream-lined craft, large yet graceful.

Pat noticed the boys’ admiration, and waspleased. “How about taking a ride in hernow?” he asked.

“They just got down to earth,” said theCaptain. He explained about Hank andHank’s plane. Pat was delighted that theirold pal had turned up, and decided thatthey would have to have a reunion verysoon. He also decided on the spot thathe was going along with them to the mountains.

“Try to keep me away. Although I don’tmuch fancy the riding on cushions, in a fancyplane. When I fly, I want to fly. Butif you let me do the piloting, I’ll make thebest of that.” Pat always decided thingsthat way, but nobody resented his high-handmanner, since he looked, and was, the sortof man who could make good on any jobhe undertook. “Well, Bob, my lad,” hesaid, turning to the boy, “how about goingup? It’s the first step in learning to fly.And don’t think that it’s going to be likecabin flying. You’ll notice the differencewhen you get up. Ready?”

“Sure,” said Bob.

Pat produced a helmet and some goggles.“It’s an open cockpit you’re sitting in,” hesaid. “And see that the goggles fit tightly.”

Bob wiggled them around. “They seemall right,” he said.

“All right, hop in,” Pat told him.

Bob climbed into the rear cockpit, noless thrilled by his second flight that daythan he had been by his first. He waved hishand to the Captain and Hal who werewatching them. Pat climbed into the frontcockpit. “Ready?” he called.

“O. K!” shouted Bob.

Pat started the motor, which was a self-starter.The plane taxied gently across thefield, and Pat turned her nose into the wind.Bob felt her lift from the earth; there wasa bump – they hadn’t quite cleared; Patspeeded up, until Bob, looking over the sideof the cockpit, could see the ground slippingby dizzily. Then the bumping stopped; they had left the ground. This time theydid not again bump; the Marianne soared intothe air.

Bob could feel the blast of air againsthis face, and he was glad his goggles fittedwell. The motor roared, the wind screamed.Bob tried to shout, but could not hear himselfuttering a sound. He looked down.The airport looked as it had from the otherplane. Now he had more of the feeling offlying. There was a sudden bump. TheMarianne dropped suddenly. Bob felt asthough he were in an elevator that had descendedvery suddenly – there was the samepit-of-the-stomach feeling. Air bump, hethought, and it was. He looked over the sideagain, and could see nothing. They weretraveling pretty high.

Then suddenly the roar of the motor stopped, and they began to descend at what Bobfelt must be an almost unbelievable speed.At first Bob was frightened, but then realizedthat they were gliding down. Everynow and then Pat turned on his engineagain. Bob, looking over the side, couldsee the fields coming up to meet them. Theylanded so gently that he hardly felt the joltof the wheels touching the ground.

How funny to stand on the stable groundonce more! The sound of the motor wasstill roaring in Bob’s ears. He pulled offthe goggles and helmet. “It was marvelous!”he shouted loudly to his friends.

“We can hear you,” said the Captain.“You needn’t shout!”

“Was I shouting?” laughed Bob.

“You are,” said the Captain.

But Pat had turned to Hal. “Well, lad, you’re next.”

But Hal said what he had been rehearsingfor many minutes, in fact, ever since Bobhad taken to the air. “Don’t you thinkit’s rather late? We haven’t had any lunch.Maybe we could go up again after lunch.”

Captain Bill, who knew the struggle thatwas going on in Hal’s heart, and who wasgetting hungry anyway, said, “Lunch.That’s the idea. We’ve got a great picniclunch, Pat.”

“Lead me to it,” said Pat.

“Knew that would get you,” laughed theCaptain.

They left the plane in charge of a mechanic, who was to look after it, and went overto the automobile that the Captain hadparked. They decided, on Bob’s suggestion,to eat on a grassy slope from which theycould see the airport.

“I’ve got an idea,” said the Captain. “Youcan start your story about Lindbergh.”

“I’m ready,” said Bob, “if you’re readyto listen. I think I know the story backwardsand forward.”

“Begin at the beginning, always,” theCaptain warned.

They reached the spot where they hadchosen to picnic, and settled back contentedlyin the long grass to hear part of Bob’s storybefore lunch.

CHAPTER V – The Eagle

“Well,” began Bob, “I guess my storyisn’t going to be very new to any of you.Gee, I know it almost by heart, and I supposeeverybody else does, too.”

“Don’t apologize,” said the Captain.“We’ll be only too glad to stop you if we’veheard it before. I don’t think that we will, though. It’s a story that bears repeating.”

Bob’s eyes lighted up. “You bet,” hesaid. “I never get tired of reading about it.”He plucked at the grass beside him. “Gee,it makes a fellow want to do things. Itmakes him feel that the older folks don’tknow everything – ”

“A-hem,” interrupted Captain Bill.

Bob laughed. “You’re not old folks, oldbean. Don’t flatter yourself. Anyway, they told Lindbergh that he couldn’t do it.They told him that his plane was carryingtoo much, and he’d never be able to makeit alone.”

“Did he?” said Pat.

Bob looked at him disgustedly. “Did he!Don’t make fun of me, you old Irishman!”

The old Irishman looked grieved. “Well,I just wanted to know. I’m always willingto learn somethin’ new. And you’d betterget started, or we’ll never know. We’ll beleaving the lad up in the air, so to speak.”

“Ignore that ape,” said Captain Bill, “andproceed.”

“Lindbergh didn’t listen to them. He justwent ahead and did what he thought wasright, and by golly, he was right. It makesa fellow feel that even if he is young hecan do things. He doesn’t just have to sitaround and do what everybody else has donebefore. There’s got to be a first every time.Lindy wasn’t afraid just because nobodyhad ever flown the Atlantic alone before, andthe wiseacres said that it couldn’t be done.He just went ahead and flew it.”