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Settin' 'her Down on the Hump
Oakland Tribune ^
| October 7, 1923
| Jack Bell
Posted on 12/06/2021 10:08:06 AM PST by mairdie
Another Jack Bell story. The first airmail pilots who flew the new route between Reno and San Francisco, going over a hundred miles of mountain peaks without emergency landing spots.
TOPICS: Books/Literature; Outdoors; Travel
KEYWORDS: airmailpilots; earlyaviation
I was fascinated, as a kid, by the World War I pilot stories that were on TV at 4pm after school ended. Jack’s stories are put just a few years after the war ended, but the pilots seemed to go into this to maintain that old adrenaline rush. Jack makes me picture things – like the pilot who couldn’t get out of his cockpit because the blizzard had snowed him into it. And he teaches me things I never thought about, like the pilot diagnosing the condition of his plane by the sounds of the wire harmonics. Sadly, when you look up these dare-devil friends, they almost all end up “going west,” as they put it.
1
posted on
12/06/2021 10:08:06 AM PST
by
mairdie
To: stars & stripes forever; bagster; generally; Aquamarine; TXBubba; smileyface; blu; LSAggie; ...
PING to Jack Bell story about first airmail pilots
2
posted on
12/06/2021 10:25:27 AM PST
by
mairdie
(Winter Birds - 1993 - https://youtu.be/XBkqOxMNP4E)
To: mairdie
For FReepers who like this sort of thing I'd strongly recommend Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. These were guys who flew mail through the Andes. In other words, crazy people...
To: Billthedrill
Thank you. I’ll definitely look that up.
4
posted on
12/06/2021 10:35:10 AM PST
by
mairdie
(Winter Birds - 1993 - https://youtu.be/XBkqOxMNP4E)
To: Billthedrill
Wikipedia
Night Flight, published as Vol de Nuit in 1931, was the second novel by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It went on to become an international bestseller and a film based on it appeared in 1933. Its popularity, which only grew with the ideological conflicts of the 1930s – 1940s, was due to its master theme of sacrificing personal considerations to a cause in which one believes.
The book is based on Saint-Exupéry’s experiences as an airmail pilot and as a director of the Aeroposta Argentina airline, based in Buenos Aires. The characters were inspired by the people Saint-Exupéry knew while working in South America. Notably, the character of Rivière was based on the airline’s operations director Didier Daurat.
5
posted on
12/06/2021 10:37:05 AM PST
by
mairdie
(Winter Birds - 1993 - https://youtu.be/XBkqOxMNP4E)
To: Billthedrill
6
posted on
12/06/2021 10:39:03 AM PST
by
mairdie
(Winter Birds - 1993 - https://youtu.be/XBkqOxMNP4E)
To: mairdie; Billthedrill
7
posted on
12/06/2021 10:59:14 AM PST
by
rlmorel
(If the Biden Administration was only stupid or incompetent, some actions would benefit the USA.)
To: rlmorel
Eddie Rickenbacker designed the 13 stage air mail route from the east to the west coast, whose last two stops were Reno and San Francisco.
Absolute GREAT colorizing!
8
posted on
12/06/2021 11:10:43 AM PST
by
mairdie
(Winter Birds - 1993 - https://youtu.be/XBkqOxMNP4E)
To: Army Air Corps
9
posted on
12/06/2021 11:24:37 AM PST
by
Army Air Corps
(Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
To: mairdie
10
posted on
12/06/2021 12:05:24 PM PST
by
greeneyes
( Moderation In Pursuit of Justice is NO Virtue--LET FREEDOM RING)
To: mairdie
Please remove me from your ping list. TIA
11
posted on
12/06/2021 12:21:58 PM PST
by
Bigg Red
(Trump will be sworn in under a shower of confetti made from the tattered remains of the Rat Party.)
To: mairdie
Yep. A Man’s Man, was Eddie Rickenbacker...:)
12
posted on
12/06/2021 3:56:02 PM PST
by
rlmorel
(If the Biden Administration was only stupid or incompetent, some actions would benefit the USA.)
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