The Flying Reporter

  E-text prepared by Roger Frank and Sue Clark

  THE FLYING REPORTER

  by

  LEWIS E. THEISS

  Wilcox & Follett Co.Publishers--1945--Chicago

  Copyrighted, 1930,Wilcox & Follett Co.All rights reserved

  The Flying ReporterMade in United States of America

  FOREWORD

  It will probably come as a surprise to many readers to know that whenthis story was written, more than one hundred American newspapers ownedand operated airplanes as a regular part of their news-gatheringequipment. By the time this tale is between covers, there will doubtlessbe many additional planes cleaving the skies in the swift search fornews, in the carrying of relief to marooned and endangered human beings,in the hunt for those who are lost, in the transportation of newsphotographs, and not infrequently in the carrying of important papersand documents. For although the primary end of the newspaper is tocollect and distribute news, it also carries on a host of activities forthe direct benefit of mankind.

  Some of these news planes are elaborately equipped for their work, withdesks and typewriters for reporters, darkrooms and developing equipmentfor photographers, and special equipment for the taking of aerialphotographs. Some of these planes ordinarily carry as many as fourmen--a pilot, a mechanic, a camera man, and a reporter. Thus they areequipped for almost any emergency.

  Among the eight airplanes used by the Hearst newspaper forces to "cover"the arrival of the _Graf Zeppelin_ on the Pacific Coast were some hugetri-motored ships. One of these was equipped like a real news room. Itcarried one reporter, one photographer, one announcer, one radiooperator and technician. The plane flew two hundred miles along thecoast, and sent descriptive stories direct by radio to the _Examiner_office in Los Angeles, where a short-wave station copied the despatchesand rushed them to the editors at their desks.

  It would be easy enough to "invent" adventures for news fliers, but itwould be foolish to do so for the reason that few "made-up" storiescould equal in interest the actual experiences of flying reporters.Consequently, practically all the material in this book is based uponactual occurrences.

  The bit of Warren Long's parachute that Jimmy Donnelly prized so highlyis merely the counterpart of a piece of the parachute of that fine youngpilot, the late Thomas Nelson. It is from the parachute he had when hestepped out of a burning mail plane at Ringtown, Pa., in the fall of1929. This keepsake was given to me by Dr. Leigh Breisch, of Lewisburg,Pa., with whose father Pilot Nelson spent several hours after thatthrilling leap. His parachute was partly burned, and the bit of silk inmy possession is scorched by fire. It is a prized possession, for I knewand greatly admired the dauntless young man who wore it.

  The descriptions of the radio beacons are as accurate as the writer canmake them. The installation of these beacons marks a great step forwardin the development of flying. Radio beacons are being erected as fast aspossible along the entire transcontinental airway, and will also be usedto guide befogged fliers on other routes.

  In the course of this story Jimmy Donnelly awakens a sleeping familywhose home was afire, by diving at the house and making as much noisewith his plane as possible. On various occasions Air Mail pilots havedone exactly this thing. That excellent flier and former Air Mail pilot,Paul Collins, is one of the airmen who performed this trick.

  Covering floods, scouting out the marooned and helpless, and makingaerial surveys of districts suffering from great calamities, is acommonplace among news fliers. Time and again they have carried food andmedicine and clothing, and even newspapers, to persons marooned infloods or on ice-blocked islands or on stranded ships. In this storyJimmy Donnelly transports the stereotype matrixes from a floodednewspaper office to another newspaper plant miles distant, where thestereotype plates are cast and the edition printed. This thing actuallyhappened in the Middle West, when a flier took the "mats" of theHutchinson (Kans.) _News and Herald_ to the plant of the Wichita_Eagle_, where the papers were printed and then rushed back by plane toHutchinson for distribution in that city.

  Many of the incidents pictured in the chapter about the New Hampshireflood are actual occurrences.

  Incredible though it may seem, even the affair with the bootlegger, inwhich Jimmy Donnelly is forced to fly a rum runner to Canada, actuallyhappened. Shirley Short, former Air Mail pilot and flier for the Chicago_Daily News_, told me the story. Hamilton Lee, piloting a plane for theChicago _Tribune_, transported food to folks marooned on an island inLake Michigan. A bootlegger, flying over the island at the same time,broke a connecting rod bearing and got down safely, although his enginewas torn half out of his plane. He clapped a pistol to Lee's head andforced Lee to carry him the rest of the way to the mainland. For thepurpose of this story it was necessary to transfer the incident to LakeOntario, but that does not alter the essential truthfulness of the tale.

  The fact is that almost everything in this book is based upon an actualoccurrence, or was suggested to me by fliers as the result of theirexperiences. I mention this fact because, although this book is purely apiece of fiction, the purpose of the book is to show the part thatfliers play in news coverage. Hence it had to be truthful in essence.

  For material and other assistance, the writer is indebted to manypersons connected with the business of flying. In particular I wish toexpress my indebtedness to Pilot Warren J. White, of Albany, who "flew"the New York _Times_ from Albany to Lake Placid. Mr. White has had yearsof experience as pilot and manager of flying enterprises. He suppliedmuch material, suggested many situations and incidents for this book,and finally checked the manuscript for inaccuracies and "touched up" theflying technique to give that part of the story a truly professionalair. To Mr. C. G. Andrus, chief of the Eastern Division of the AirwaysWeather Bureau, I have long been indebted for information concerning thework of the forecasters in aiding pilots. To these men and to manyothers who have assisted me in the work of collecting material forflying-stories, I wish to express my hearty thanks.

  News fliers do the most remarkable things and have the most wonderfuladventures. But like most other things connected with the business ofcollecting news, these adventures are seldom heard of excepting innewspaper or flying circles. If this story makes these achievements moreevident to readers, the writer will be gratified.

  Lewis Edwin Theiss.

  _Lewisburg, Penna._