f Lowell Smith’s Boyhood Pranks and Early Lite
Fitted Him tor Courageous Nerve-Racking Task
of Piloting Flagship on Historic Air Voyage
Commander of World Flight Shocked Rangers in Sierras
W hen, as Fire Patrol Pilot, He Climbed Out on His
Speeding Ship’s Wing to Adjust Radio and Re
Establish Communication.
(Continued From Face One.)
Angeles and landed a job as a me
chanio in an automobile repair shop,
but soon gave It up to Join Villa's
army In Mexico.
He found the bandit general a fas
cinating character, a genuine ideal
ist fighting for the peons. Villa’s
army, according to Lowell Smith, had
the best morale, the best espiit de
corps, that he has ever seen before
or since.
■ Villa had an air service consisting
■ of three planes piloted by three Amer
ican soldiers of fortune. Lowell
Smith was the engineering officer at
tached to the squadron. But when
one plane collided with an adobe hut
" and the second was riddled with bul
lets and the third took a nose dive
into the ground, Villa's air service
vanished into thin air and Smith
came north and went to work on the
‘'Betty O'Neal,” a silver mine at Bat
tle mountain, Nevada.
In 1917, when America entered the
war, he went to San Francisco, angled
his way into the air service, took a
special course in aeronautics at the
University of California, and then was
assigned first to Rockwell field, near
San Diego, and then to Kelly field
in Texas.
He showed such a ^natural aptitude
for flying that for a long time they
wouldn't let him go to France, but
kept him as an instructor. When
ho eventually did arrange to get over
seas he arrived too late and merely
stayed In England for a short course
In handling Handley-Page bombing
planes.
I.ed Forest Fire Patrol.
Returning to America he was put
In charge of the airplane forest fire
patrol work In California, Washing
ton and Oregon. In the dry season
In these states when fierce fires con
stantly menace the timber lands Low
ell Smith and the men of his squad
ron day after day cruised Up and
w down the backbone of the Sierras
* and Cascades. It was only once In
a blue moon that they ever saw a
spot even half large enough to come
down on In case of a forced landing.
Below them were jagged peaks and
cliffs. On either side uf the moun
tains were the forests of giant trees
that they were guarding.
But only once in his four years of
forest fire patroling did any member
of his squadron have a forced landing.
There were no fatalities. In the
course of a single year he and his fel
low pilots spotted 600 fires and flashed
^ - the news by radio to the forest
rangers.
It was while In command of this
fire patrol that ‘‘Silent” Smith gave
one of his most famous exhibitions
of nonchalance and daring. Up to
that time he had had a perfect record
for radio communication between his
plane and the ground. This day he
happened to have a forest ranger
along as passenger. Suddenly the
r~ _ •— «
Lieut Lowell Smith.
Photo taken October 24. Hfil.
pllot of another plane in the squad
ron saw Smith’s ship go through a
series of eratlc maneuvers. Something
had gone wrong with the radio ap
paratus and Smith, turtting the con
trol of the plane over to the ranger,
who had never flown before In his
life, climbed far out on the wing,
kicked the guard from the generator
k propeller, and clambered back into the
cockpit again .lust in time to keep the
Photo shows Jasper Smith, father
of Lieut. IvOwcl Smith (commander of
the ’round-tlie-worhl flight) as lie gave
» speech of welcome lo die airmen on
their arrival at San Diego, Cal., Oc
tober 23.
ship from going into a tailspln in the
trembling hands of the terrified
ranger.
Saved Government Million*.
“Had to keep up communication,”
was “Silent" Smith's laconic ex< Utilis
ation when they got down.
Under Smith's leadership this aerial
fount fire patrol saved the govern
ment many million* of dollars' worth
of tin- most valuable limber in Ameri
ca and gave Smith ills first import
ant training in crosscountry flying
and navigation, a training that later
enabled him to accomplish the seem
j ingly impossible when he led a squad
ron of world cruiser* across strange
continents, for thousands of miles
over billowy cloud-sens where no
plans had passed before, and all the
way round the globe without once
getting off the course.
On another occasion a wing, prrfb
. *bly due to some hidden fault in con
7 structlon, crumpled up on hlin while
In the air over the city of Portland.
He wa* not flying very high, so when
one plane hit the ground, although it
smashed up, it was not entirely de
molished and did not burst into
flames.
Bystanders ran over, expecting to
find Smith either dead, or seriously
injured. But they were nonplussed
to hear "Smitty's" vplee coming from
under the debris assuring them that
he wasn’t even scratched, but would
be deeply Indebted to them if they
would lift the plane oft his neck.
In 1919 he took part in the trans
continental reliability and endurance
contest from San Francisco to New
York and return. On this flight he
broke one record when lie reached
Chicago as the first person ever to
arrive in the AVlndy City from San
Francisco by air. But an unfortunate
accident happened to him in Buffalo,
where his much beloved Bluebird was
destroyed by fire while he was absent
from the flying field.
Refueled Danes in Midair.
However, his first real claim to
fame came when he conceived the
seemingly mad idea of refueling from
one plane to another in midair with
both planes in full flight.
A.s everybody knows, it is an ex
ceedingly dangerous thing for two air
planes to fly close to each other.
Both are usually hurtling through
the air at a speed of anywhere from
10 to 150 miles an hour. And If so
Father of lieutenant Smith Ad
drosses Fliers at San Diego.
rntich as the tip of the wing of one
happens to touch the other a tragedy
is almost certain to result.
Secondly, it seemed absurd to most
people to think of two planes flying
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s'
Smith Greets Parents on Return
iMsMTWBk III Wyj » 1- !
ROCXD-THE-YVORLD FI, IERS REACH SAN DIEGO.
The round-the-world fliers reach ed Rockwell field, San Diego, where
their machines were put through me ehanlcal tests prior to the hopoff six
mouths ago, on September 22, This picture shows Lieut. Lowell Smith,
commander of the flight, greeted by his fattier and mother, Mr. and Mis.
Jasper Smith, just after their aril val at Rockwell field,_
at high speed and attempting to keep
together long enough for any appre
ciable quantity of gas and oil to be
transferred. Airmen had discovered
that It was a mighty risky and dif
ficult thing for two planes even to
keep one above the other long enough
to enable one harebrained birdman to
catch a rope ladder and change
planes.
But, as usual, Smith had thought
i.lie matter out before he said any
ihirtfc about it, and know whereof fie
*poke. He and his fellow pilot, Lieut.
John Paul Richter, remained aloft In
their Pe Havlland all through the
Jay from dawn to dark, all through
that night and even through the sec
ond day.
Never once during all this time did
either of them have a moment's
chance to sleep. They were fed, wat
ered, oiled, and gaso'Iined by means
of a little hose dangling from another
plane. The first time they attempted
to make contact with the hose sheer
luck saved them from going up In
blames.
Richter caught the nozzle In his
hand and accidentally turned It too
quickly, with the result that he was
drenched by a stream of gasoline.
But Dame Fortune smUed upon them
that day and not a drop landed on the
engine. Sixteen different times con
tact Was established between Smith
and Ttlehter and a refueling plane.
From 50 to 100 gallons of gas were
transferred nearly every time.
The aviators Indicated when they
were hungry by rubbing their stom
achs and opening their mouths so
that a pilot of another plane flying
near by saw them and descended "to
get feed for the birds.”
AU during the night they had fog
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to add to their difficulties, and twice
before dawn they narrowly escaped
disaster. The first time the motor
began to sputter Smith's trained car
told him there was dirt in the feed
pipe. Picking up his spotlight, he
smashed It against the pipe In an
attempt to jar the dirt loose, and then
he kept tapping the pipe with a
wrench until the sputter was elim
inated.
Early the next morning the drain
on the feed pipe again clogged and
the plane dropped 800 feet and came
within a few yards of plunging into
ffie Tiajuana river, when a hard blow
from Smith's wrench again cleared
the dirt and with the throttle wide
open they ascended to safety and
continued their gruelling flight.
It. was one of the most sensational
and dramatic flights in the history of
aviation. They established eight
world records for distance, speed, and
duration. They remained In midair,
traveling at an average speed of 88.50
miles an hour, for thirty-six hours.
They actually covered twice the dis
tance of the non-stop transatlantic
flight of Alcock and Brown.
First “Dawn to Busk” Flight
Shortly after this Smith and Richter
gained more fame on their "dawn to
dusk” flight, from Canada to the
Mexican border. This also was a non
stop refueling affair. For 12 hours
they sat in their cockpits as they
flew 1,280 nijjgs over Washington,
Oregon, and California at an average
speed of better than 100 miles an
hour.
Supply planes met them at Eugene
and Sacramento. Through an Inch
and a half refueling hose they re
filled their gas tanks at the rate of
fl! gallons a minute. The full moon
was just going down behind the
mountains of British Columbia when
they started the fight, and as they
approached the desert of northern
Mexico that same old full moon was
there to greet them and cast a bril
✓
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I
Uant light over the flying field at
San Diego.
This historic flight conclusively
proved that fleets of airplanes can
cross any part of the United States
at high speed to meet a possible In
vasion. and without the delay of de
scending for supplies.
Perhaps the most illuminating epi
sode in Smith's meteoric flying career
prior to the world flight was In 1922,
when he set out with a squadron of
planes from San Diego In search of
Colonel Marshall and Lieutenant Web
ber, who had mysteriously disap
peared while flying above the desert
en route to Huhuachuca, Arls., and
whose charred remains eventually
were found in the Cuyamaca moun
tains.
Smith's objective on this desert
flight was the hut of an old Indian
guide. Nothing much was known
about the Indian except that he lived
"somewhere about 110 miles south
west of Nogales." With the vaguest
possible description of the country to
guide him. "Silent” Smith led the
way from San Diego across barren
mountains and desert valleys off to
the uninhabited southwest.
Indian Hut Sighted.
There was neither railroad, river,
town, nor other landmark to guide
him, yet at the end of an hour and
a half Smith's plane made a sudden
dive and when the airmen followed
and looked over the metal edges of
their cockpits far below they saw the
shack of the Indian guide.
Rarely In the history of cross-coun
try flying has there been a feat to
equal this, except on the recent world
flight, when “Silent" Smith led his
squadron of world cruisers through
fog rind uncharted whs to the Islands
off the Siberian const.
"Silent” Sm.lh is a tall, daik caw
piegioned, agreeable looking young
man with Jaw and mouth that suggest
determination. His grey eyes suggest
reserve power and have a disconcert
ing way of looking through you.
About his lips there lurks a whfmsi
Arrival at Labrador—First Slop on
American Soil.
cal smile, lie Is sensitive and quiet,
quick to think, "but slow to speak.
In many ways this young Califor
nia-bred descendant of Daniel Boone
made the ideal leader for the world
flight. On all matters pertaining to
aerial navigation his fellow airmen
knew that they could rely absolutely
upon his judgment. And to men en
gaged in such hazardous enterprise
there is nothing that makes all the
hardships and dangers so easy to face
as implicit faith In one's leader.
History tells us that Daniel lloone.
In addition to being a great hunter
« faRin'ts Indian acuut and an Intrep
id explorer, was "mild mannered
quiet and unassuming.” And like bh
celebrated Kentucky ancestor. "Si
lent” Smith, leader of the first expedi
tlon to circumnavigate the world t>>
air, la likewise ail of these.
Fascinating and thrilling though
the career of "Silent" Smith has been,
the adventures of Erik Nelson, lb*
American Viking, have been ever,
more picturesque and romantic.
Rend Ihe next installment of this
story of the thrilling round-the-world
flight In Tlie Omaha Bee tomorrow.
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