Air Stories — page 32: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AIR STORIES Rodriquez had jumped out, for he remembered how its rays illumined the parachute when it opened. So now he must be flying in precisely the same direction as he was when his pilot left him—towards British Guiana—and free- dom. He had only to fly on and land ! Scraps of information picked up from Rodriquez came back to him as the Dragonfly roared through the night. He realised now that he had moved the stick too far and too hard when he endeavoured to correct that first dip ; just the slightest pressure on the controls would do the trick. He experimented, and was delighted to find how well the Dragonfly responded to his manipula- tions. There did not seem to be anything particularly difficult in this flying business. For a while he was so interested in - his new-found power over the machine that he forgot his perilous situation and the task before him. Then he looked at the watch on the dashboard and dis- covered that more than an hour and a half had elapsed since the Dragonfly first took-off. Knowing her cruising speed to be 128 miles an hour, he felt sure that he must by now be flying over British Guiana. But, determined to make sure, he let the machine fly on for a while longer. Ten minutes later he heard an ominous coughing in the port engine. He knew what it meant. Once before, when Rodriquez had been flying him to Santa Rosa on the western frontier, they had run out of petrol, with the result that they had had to spend the night in a verminous peasant’s hut. He still had unpleasant memories of that mishap. Now he would have to land, and a shiver ran through him, for he remem- bered Rodriquez telling him that land- ings were the most difficult part of a pilot’s job. He also recalled that it was necessary to shut off his engines, but he had no idea as to how to do it. He tried several levers and switches at random, and at last happened upon the magneto switches. The rough sounds of the engines ceased, and the Dragonfly nosed silently downward. Vivid recol- 30 lections of fearful things that happened if a machine lost flying speed prompted the President to keep his machine gliding as steeply as he dared, until at last there came the moment when the ground was near and he realised that he must nerve himself for a landing. Away on his left an even stretch of turf lay bathed in the brilliant moon- light. He did not relish the idea of going into the turn he needed to reach it, but knew it had to be done. He handled the controls gingerly this time and, though he skidded dangerously, luck was with him. He came in low over level ground that looked ideal for his purpose. Then he remembered that he had to land into the wind. So far as he could tell, the night was windless, as might be expected at that time of the year. He decided to take the risk and carry straight ahead. He had no notion of the correct landing procedure, and the best he could manage was to let the machine sink and then, when he thought it was going to hit the ground, to pull the stick back. The machine dropped. There was a mighty bump as the wheels hit the ground, and the Dragonfly leapt twenty feet into the air. The President thought his last moment had come. Frantically he pushed the stick forward. The ’plane hit again, bounced heavily and fell back. Then the wheels were running smoothly over the turf and he knew he had pulled off the landing. He had done the impossible ! He had beaten Rodriquez after all. He was safe in British Guiana! Once more visions of the gay life in Paris and on the Riviera danced before his eyes. EN ran alongside the Dragonfly when its wheels came to a stand- still. They peered in at the President as he sat there, exulting in his hour of triumph. Then they helped him down. ‘‘Where am I?’’ he asked them, and was amazed when two men grabbed his arms and hustled him away from the machine. They seemed to be angry with him about something. CO LDOO)