Sedgwick High School - Comet Yearbook (Sedgwick, ME)

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THE COMET 11 As he flew over the summer White House in the Black Hills, Lindbergh dropped a message to President and Mrs. Coolidge. Approaching Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake from the moun- tains, the planes descended slowly, and Lindbergh and his companions watched the old Mormon city take form. The great tabernacle stood out distinctly. On their left they saw the Bingham copper mine. In order that they might see Yellow- stone National Park and Glacier Park distinctly, the planes cruised over them leisurely. on the Montana plains Lindbergh saw a large flock of sheep. He swooped down to wave to the shepherd, but the result was different from that expected. The sheep ran in every direction and the angry herdsman, all unaware of the distinguished occupant, shook his fist at the retreating plane. To repair the harm done, Lindbergh circled to the other side of the herd and in his usual efficient manner brought the sheep together again. Old Faithful Geyser disappointed them, as it was the wrong time for it to be in action. They visited Port- land, Oregon, and spent the follow- ing day in flying around San Fran- cisco sight-seeing. On the day that the planes' left Santa Fe, the fliers had to get up at 1 o'clock in the morning. By means of automobile lights and flash- lights, they succeeded in hopping off. Touch stops were made at Dallas, Abilene, and Fort Worth. The roughest air of the tour was en- countered beside Stone Mountain, on the side of which the Confederate memorial has been carved. Rain fol- lowed them to J acksonville, Florida, xphich was their next stop. The girl students of Converse College, Spartanburg, S. C., of- fered their dining room to Colonel Lindbergh for the banquet, on the condition that he walk through a lane which they would form. Wlieii Lindbergh learned of this he came near withdrawing his consent to the plan. The rest of the tour was an al- most direct flight north, the last of- ficial stop being at Philadelphia. Lindbergh has said that great credit is due to all the cities through which he passed. All these showed a great interest in aviation, and did their ut- most to have everything possible done for the entertainment of the Colonel and his companions. On October 23, the planes were back in their hangars at New York. It has been proved that the modern airplane can keep to a regular schedule as well as can a railroad train. The Spirit of St. Louis had covered 22,350 miles, and had made the trip in 260 flying days. One fact which had impressed the fliers was the advantage of the air- plane over other forms of transpor- tation, especially in mountainous country. Some day air tourists will follow many of the invisible trails along which Colonel Lindbergh passed in his nation-wide tour. They will look down upon the garden spots of America from comfortable trans- ports in which they will travel with the same feeling of safety as they do now in railroad trains. To such travelers alone will come the fullest appreciation of this beautiful coun- try of ours. Only from the air can

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10 THE was well policed. Lindbergh spoke on commercial aviation, and then, in an automobile, was slowly driven through the streets while the thou- sands of onlookers cheered. At 5 o'clock, Lindbergh and the three oc- cupants of the advance plane had luncheon, and at 7 o'clock the ban- quet began, ending at 9. The rest of the evening was devoted to planning the next day's flight. This was an example of the Colonel's daily routine. In Boston, on the third day, the fliers attended a breakfast given in honor of Commander Byrd and the crew of the America, also the San Francisco-to-Honolulu fliers, Lieut. Maitland and Lieut. Hegenberger. The next day was foggy, but a small thing like that did not daunt Lindbergh, although he has since de- clared that it was the worst day he has ever experienced. With the help of his instruments he made his way toward Portland. The fog was so dense that he did not dare to make an emergency landing. Instead, he we11t on and moored at a hangar in Concord, N. H. The following day he flew to Portland. Cn his way to Schenectady, Lind- bergh dropped to two cities messages in canvas bags, explaining that he re- gretted not being able to land there. These bags had orange ribbons at- tached to attract attention. The men then had their first holi- day. They went to Canada, where they spent Saturday and Sunday swimming and fishing. The next day they gave Kusterer, the representa- tive, his first airplane ride. The pilot purposely made the engine sput- ter several times when they got near COMET the water, and the other two pre- tended to get ready for a forced landing, advising Kusterer to get out his life preserver. When the plane arrived in Cleveland the swore he would never get into a plane again that had in it any one of those per- sons. On the tenth of August they land- ed at Detroit. While there, Lind- bergh gave Henry Ford his first air- plane ride. From there they went to Grand Rapids, where Lindbergh gave his mother a ride in the Spirit of St. Louis. She has not the least fear of the air, and is an enthusi- astic advocate of flying. During the trip there was some ar- gument about the baggage in the ad- vance plane. The pilot argued that the men did not need pillows and books, the men maintained that they must travel in comfort. There were good-natured attempts made to tease the men in this respect. Lindbergh heard of it, and whenever the planes were near together he would go ahead and disturb the air with his propeller in such a way that those in the rear plane had rather a bumpy ride. The pilot had discovered that pushing the control stick forward quickly caused quite a jolt. He would wait until the men were comfortably asleep, and then would suddenly push in the stick. The unexpected impact would send men, books, cam- eras, etc., flying in every direction across the cabin. In the course of the flight across South Dakota a herd of range horses was seen. It was evidently the first plane that the horses had ever seen, for as the plane swooped down over them, they ran as if terror stricken.

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12 THE COMET one attain to a complete realization of the vastness of the continent, of its everchanging panorama, and of its thousands of beautiful scenes. -A. L. S., '28. ...-1-0.i..... SEEING LINDBERGH. At last! At five-thirty in the morn- ing, here we were speeding towards Old Orchard, in the hope of seeing Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, the famous trans-Atlantic flyer. Having learned that he had landed at Old Orchard only the night before, we started early that we might be sure to sec him. When we reached the resort, we parked the car and walked up the beach to the hangar. How hot and tired - but expectant - we were! How great was our disappointment on reaching' the hangar to be told that the monoplane was there, but that Colonel Lindbergh, after having spent the night in the hangar, had left at four o'clock to go to Port- land. He was not expected to take off until about 11 o'cleck. What a long wait in the hot sun! VVe sat down on the sand and tried to be patient. The crowd was already gathering. Soon the officers opened the rear doors of the hangar. Everyone flocked around to see the aeroplane. How small. it seemed, with its silvery body and its one broad wing! Was it possible that it had really crossed the wide Atlan- tic? We went back to our seats some- what encouraged. Before long the front doors of the hangar were pushed back. This time, as we had a front view, we could see the name. The crowd pushed against the ropes, anxious to see everything. We took pictures, how many .cam- eras we saw! We sat down again for the seemingly interminable stretch of time that must pass before we should first see the hero of the day. Nearly four hours! Could we ever stand it? We walked down to the drug store to get another film, we watched the waves break, we watched the bathers, we listened to the specu- lations as to what Lindbergh would do. The time passed somehow, for at last a member of our party who had strolled away returned with the wel- come news that Lindbergh had ar- rived. The young tlier, he said, had ridden up to the rear entrance, had paid absolutely no attention to the crowd, and seemed to be anxious only to see if his plane was safe. Soon we heard shouts and the clapping of hands. Oh, why weren't we near the ropes so that we could see? VVe might have saved ourselves that worry, however, for everyone had a chance to see the famous avi- ator that morning. He walked the length of the roped-in section, climbed upon his escort's plane, and looked the length of the beach, to see how far out the tide was, apparently to judge how soon he might take off. How young he looked! He seemed to hurry, as though he wished to finish his business and return to the seclu- sion of the hangar. He did not give us the privilege of seeing his famous smile, but looked as if he resented the presence of the crowd and as if he would prefer to have the beach cleared of the last person, thus mak- ing it perfectly safe for his plane. All too soon he jumped from his vantage point and walked back to the hangar. Then followed more wait-