FLYING
That evening Paul and Jack approached their parents for permission
to be taken up in an airplane. Paul encountered little difficulty,
much to his surprise. Of course, he was cautioned several times to be
careful and he reiterated all the arguments he could muster about how
safe flying had become and that there was no danger involved at all.
Jack, on the other hand, found his mother set against any such thing.
His father was reasonable and consented, but only on condition that
his mother did not object. But she did, very strenuously! Jack argued
his case as well as the best lawyers until his mother would no longer
answer him but merely shake her head. Finally he told her that if
Paul’s mother didn’t object he didn’t see why she should. So she called
up Mrs. Morrison and then reluctantly gave her consent. Jack jumped
high in the air and whooped for joy.
That night both boys found it difficult to fall asleep thinking of the
adventure that was in store for them. And when they finally did fall
asleep they dreamed of all sorts of things. Jack dreamed that he was a
pilot flying across the country. Paul dreamed that he and his chum were
flying across the jungles of South America and that they crashed and
became lost in the jungles. And just as a wild animal which he couldn’t
recognize was about to jump at him, he woke up and tumbled out of bed.
At about noon, Jack met Paul at the latter’s home and, mounting their
bicycles, they were off to the airport. They were so thrilled that they
couldn’t talk. So they peddled along briskly and when they arrived at
their destination they found the Carberry twins and Nuthin’ already
there and waiting for them. As Paul and Jack came in sight, the three
boys set up a yell. Major McCarthy came out of the office building and
waved to them. “Hello, there,” he said. “Are you ready to go up?”
Paul cried, “Sure. And we can hardly wait.”
Jack said, “And our parents gave us permission, too.”
The major smiled cheerfully. “I don’t see any reason for them to
object,” he said, “but then some parents object thinking that it’s
dangerous when it isn’t at all.”
The boys agreed with him. Nuthin’ cried, “You fellows don’t know how
lucky you are. I’d give a right arm to be in your place.”
William offered higher stakes. He said, “I’d give a right arm and a
right leg to change places with either of you two.”
Major McCarthy grinned. “Maybe I’ll take you boys up on that,” he said.
“I can always use a couple of right arms.”
William jumped high in the air and whooped. “Say, do you mean that?” he
demanded.
“I’m not saying a thing,” the major replied. “We’ll just wait and see.”
He went into the office and returned a few minutes later. “Already to
go up?” he asked. They answered eagerly that they were and he said,
“Then let’s go.”
The two boys fell in alongside of him with the three others trailing
behind. At the hangar, one of the mechanics helped the major wheel out
the plane. Then the mechanic hunted up a couple of jackets and goggles
for the boys. When everything was ready, the major said, “All right,
boys, climb into the observer’s seat. If you make yourselves small
enough, there will be plenty of room for both of you.”
They climbed in. The other three boys were told to retreat about a
hundred yards away. Finally the major got into the cockpit. Turning to
the boys, he asked them, “Everything all right? Not frightened?”
They shook their heads and assured him that they felt perfectly at
ease. The mechanic grasped hold of the propeller. “Ready! Switch off!
Suck in!” he shouted.
“Switch off! Suck in!” answered the pilot.
The boys leaned over to watch what the pilot was doing. As the mechanic
turned the propeller over about half a dozen times, the pilot, with
a few strokes of the doping pump, sprayed gasoline vapor into the
cylinders. “Contact!” cried the mechanic.
“Contact!” replied the major. He pressed down the switches and quickly
turned the handle of the starting magneto. Brrr ... brrrr ... went the
engine. The mechanic sprang away. The mechanic made as though to bound
forward but was checked by the wooden chocks, placed in front of the
under-carriage wheels.
Just as he was ready, he turned back and asked, “Are you ready boys?”
“Yes, sir,” they replied.
“Very well, then, we’re off.”
The three boys at the sheds cheered lustily as the machine began to
move and Paul and Jack waved to them. And before they realized it the
machine was about six feet off the ground which seemed to be falling
away beneath them. The plane kept climbing steadily upwards. The boys
leaned forward. They saw that the air-speed indicator registered a
little over a hundred miles an hour, and they wondered because they
couldn’t feel the machine traveling at such a rate of speed. As they
continued to climb, the boys looked over the side at the scene below
them. The earth now appeared like a great colored map, with fields
showing up in different shades of green and brown. The airport which
they had only shortly left, was a little to the left of them. Sheds and
houses and barns appeared as very small rectangular blocks. As they
climbed still higher, things took on yet smaller proportions. Major
McCarthy spoke to them through the telephone. “Well, how do you like
it?” he asked.
Paul answered for both of them. “Marvelous!” he cried.
The pilot banked the machine and it steeped over on one side so sharply
that the boys instinctively clutched for support. McCarthy’s voice came
over the telephone “Don’t be alarmed,” he said, “there’s no danger and
you can’t fall out.” He straightened out the machine. Again they heard
his voice. “Feel a little giddy?” he asked. “If you do,” he cried,
“look down upon some fixed object on the ground and you’ll feel all
right.”
Both boys complied with his instructions and they soon got over their
giddiness. The pilot kept the machine sailing at an even keel. Soon
they were flying over a small town and they saw what appeared to them
as ants scurrying along. They knew that the ants were really men and
women and they marveled how small they appeared. As a matter of fact,
everything looked like toys from that distance and flying above a
railroad, the track seemed to be two thin lines drawn with a pencil.
Major McCarthy’s voice came over the telephone. “How would you boys
like some stunts?” he asked.
The boys grinned at each other. Paul answered for both of them. “Very
much,” he said.
“All right,” he said, “we’ll have to be satisfied with only one today.
Just to see how you fellows take it. First we’ll bank and turn around.
Ready!”
But before they could answer the pilot already had the machine keeled
over on one side. On an even keel again, the major asked them, “How
about your safety belts.” They adjusted their safety belts and told
him so. “Very well,” he said, “here goes.” And so saying, he opened
the throttle and the plane bounded forward. In a few seconds the nose
sprang upward. As it rose the forward speed decreased, yet the engine
continued to run at the maximum revolutions. The machine was not
pointing vertically upwards. For a moment the plane appeared to hang
on the revolving propeller and it felt as though the machine must
inevitably drop tail foremost. But right away the nose fell over to
one side and dropped and the tail shot up and the machine was shooting
sharply downward. For some distance they continued to dive, then the
pilot shut off the throttle and pulled back the elevator lever and
brought the plane again on an even keel. However, they were now flying
in the opposite direction. McCarthy asked, “How was it?”
The boys were thrilled. “Fine!” cried Paul.
“Were you afraid?”
“No, not in the least.”
“Well, that was an easy one, but the next time we’ll try a harder one.”
Jack couldn’t contain himself, so he cried, “How about now?”
Major McCarthy shook his head. “Enough for today,” he told them.
They were now flying over the airport and a minute later they landed.
The three waiting boys sent up a couple of greeting cheers and ran over
to meet the grinning two who were tumbling out of the plane. “How was
it?” demanded Nuthin’.
William was impatient. “Tell us about it, quick,” he cried.
Paul nudged his chum in the ribs and asked, “Do you think we ought to
tell them?”
Jack smiled and wiggled his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think we
ought to consider it.”
William was impatient. “Hey, come on,” he cried. “No stalling now.”
The major joined the group and the two boys thanked him. He said, “It’s
quite all right, boys, I’m only too glad to do it. And by the way, I
heard all about what happened yesterday. You tell that fellow, what’s
his name—”
“Bobolink,” cried Nuthin’.
“Bobolink,” repeated the major. “He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?”
Wallace interjected, “He certainly is. He is a grand fellow, too.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said the major. “So you tell him that just as
soon as he’s recovered, to come over here and I’ll take him up for a
ride.”
“Yea!” cried Nuthin’, “hooray for Major McCarthy!”
They gave the major three cheers. But William wanted to know something
else. “How about us?”
“Well,” he said, “I’ll think it over.” They were now at the door of the
office building. Entering, he turned around and said, “Don’t go away,
now. I’ll be out right away.”
The boys squatted on the ground, with Paul and Jack in the center and
the two boys were obliged to tell every detail of their experience.
It took about fifteen to twenty minutes to narrate the story and when
finally it was told, the boys sat back, speechless and lost in thought.
William said, “Gee, I hope the major gives me a ride. I’d do anything.”
Wallace said, “Getting a ride is all very well, but what I really am
interested in is to learn how to fly. I wonder if it’s hard to learn.”
“No, I don’t think so,” replied Paul. “Major McCarthy told us yesterday
that it was easy to learn.”
Jack said, “I was watching him all the time and it looks very simple.
But we could ask him.”
“Yes, we could do that,” remarked Wallace, “but what we want to know is
whether he would teach us.”
William spoke up, saying, “All of us.”
“Of course, all of us,” agreed Paul.
Just then the major came out and they called him over. He seated
himself on the ground beside them. Paul asked, “Do you think you could
teach us how to fly?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ve taught a lot of people how to fly.”
“Is it difficult to learn?” demanded Wallace.
“Why, no. On the contrary, it’s very simple.”
Again Wallace asked a question. “If you could teach us to fly, would
we—would we—” he hesitated. Finally he said, “Would it cost a lot of
money?”
McCarthy thought for a moment. “Well,” he said, “I don’t think so. As
a matter of fact, I’d love to teach you young fellows and I’m sure we
could come to some arrangement.”
“That’s mighty nice of you,” Paul said, voicing the sentiment of the
other boys.
“I think what you ought to do,” said McCarthy, “is to consider yourself
a single group and I’ll teach you as a group. Of course I couldn’t take
you up all together, but whatever ground-work there is to be done, I
could instruct you as a group.”
“That’s just what we were thinking, sir,” said Jack.
“In that case, everything is settled, except that I must insist that
you bring written permission from your parents. Is that agreeable?”
The boys were so surprised and shocked by the willingness of McCarthy
to instruct them that they were left almost speechless. William was the
first one to recover. “You mean to say that you’re actually willing to
teach us to fly?” he asked skeptically.
The major smiled and nodded. “That’s just what I said, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but you said it so casually and carelessly that we didn’t grasp
it at once,” said Nuthin’. “Say it again, please, sir,” he pleaded.
Major McCarthy reiterated his offer and the boys let out wild yells of
joy.