Air Wonder Stories, July 1929 — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

44 mit, and closed the throttles a trifle more when we ‘were near the beacon in order to lose enough alti- tude to make a landing here.” “Yes, yes, but why did you lose so much alti- tude? Jameston says you were flying low all the way from the point where he first picked up your flying lights. Why, why?” “T wasn’t flying low, for I had the beacon well below me until [ was almost over it, I glanced at the instrument board for a moment, and when I looked back the light on its next swing around was almost above me! I saw it as soon as Tillotson did, and by opening the throttles wide we just managed to scrape over the top of the hill,” “Well, of all the—. Royce, ’'m going to put you on as second relief pilot for a month, under ‘Ace’ Howard, and we'll see if your eyes get any better. lf Tillotson swears you were not asleep jast night, that will be letting you down easy. If you were asleep, then you are through, understand?” and McCrea pounded the mahogany top of his desk to emphasize his words. “Good gravy! Don't you realize the plane carried more than fifty passengers and a ton of valuable express?” “Ves, sir.” Tommy Royce turned to leave but stopped when McCrea called, “Wait, just one thing more,’ The Manager reached into his desk for a blank fornt. “Take this to the company doctor and let him test you again. I want a full report from Ato Z. Tell him to test your eyes particularly.” The tests were entirely favorable, although Tommy had begun to have some doubts regarding his ability as a crack pilot, after so nearly wrecking the giant air liner. The Two Confer ILLOTSON came back to the barracks from his interview with McCrea, wearing a very serious and thoughtful expression on his face. He hunted up Tommy and the two talked during the rest of the afternoon without arriving at any de- finite reason for the contretemps. “I was watching the light out of the corner of my eye at the time it changed, old man, and I swear it suddenly blurred and then shot into the sky.” “Did you tell McCrea that?’ Royce asked, as they sat on his cot in his room. “No, I knew he wouldn’t believe me; would insist we were both asleep, but I did tell him the old beacon changed her position. Little good it did. He gave me an awful raking over, and said he couldn’t promote me to your place—I didn’t want him to—but would leave me on as second man, and to see that some stray mountain didn’t jump up and hit me in the face some day. He claimed the passengers had received the scare of their lives and that it was bad for the company, considering the new competition from the True Course line over the northern route. He expects a wigging from the ’Frisco offices,” “Probably he will get it too,” Tommy answered somberly. “I wish I could understand it.” Then after a pause he looked at his wrist watch. “Let’s hunt up Jameston at Number One hangar and try to get him to tell us just where we were flying last Then—then AIR WONDER STORIES night. We just have time before the west bound freight comes in.” Boundary and hangar lights at the field were flashing on as the two men made their way from the barracks past the Transcontinental offices to the southwest corner of the huge landing area. A crew of ground men was making preparations for servicing the huge twenty-ton freight plane, while the two pilots who would fly it on to Field Eight were seated on the bench before the communica- tions building, smoking and talking. One of the freight pilots called through the open window to the clerk on duty, “Phone up and ask Jameston if he’s picked up the old wagon.” “We're too late to see Jameston tonight; he must be on duty now,” Tommy said to his companion as they stopped before-the building. The gathering dusk was suddenly broken by the dip and swoop of the Sentinel Hill beacon as it started on its noc- turnal swing around the sky at the rate of nine revolutions per minute. The far-reaching beam dropped low to the east and west, with an upward swing of thirty degrees as it traversed the north and south, describing two giant arcs on the further- most confines of the sky. The men watched it in silence, The communications clerk leaned out of the open window above the pilot’s bench. “Jameston phoned down that he has picked up a piane way to the south, but no sien of the freighter yet. Says this ship 1s headed about west and will miss the field by three miles.” George Boyer, the larger of the two freight pilots, regarded Royce and Tillotson severely as they stood in front of the bench, waiting. ‘What's this I hear about you guys? The Field ‘Supe tells me that you swiped the beacon when you came in this morning and tried to tow it home on your landing gear.” “Aw, go fly a kite.” Tillotson answered. “I hope it don’t fool ‘you the way it did us, that’s all.” “Boy, no ten million candle-power torch is going to fool me. When it starts jumping around off its tower [ll quit flying.” Another Mystery Steen low drone of a miutlti-motored plane was heard, steadily increasing in volume. As all eyes were turned to the now dark sky, Tommy perceived the red and green wing lights of a huge monoplane. The clerk called to the ground crew. “That's the freighter, boys, she’s nine minutes late, and James- ton says she almost missed us.” The outline of the wings was now clearly visible to those at the field as the ship came onward at its one hundred mile an hour cruising speed and passed over the hangers. Cutting the western boundary of the airport, the craft settled in a grace- ful circle into the gentle evening breeze. It was once illumined sharply by the swinging beam from the beacon. A brilliant blue-white radiance had flashed over the field as the battery of landing lights were switched on and the plane settled into it with throttled motors. “There’s another good pilot gone batty”, Boyer remarked plaintively, as he picked up his helmet and moved toward the craft, now coming to a stop connmicldookks.com