Chamberlain Takes Off Successfully at Cherbourg Harbor

Chamberlain Takes Off Successfully at Cherbourg Harbor By Claude C. Cornwall IT IS seven a. m. on the twelfth of October. A dull gray dawn is breaking over the Cherbourg hills. In the harbor the water is calm, a gentle wind blowing from the north. A fine mist of rain adds to the haze of coming morning. Clarence Chamberlain's Loen- ing amphibian craft is just being lowered from the deck of the S. S. Leviathan. It is hanging in midair from the long boom pole. This is a versatile aero- plane. Besides the equipment of wheels and spike landing gear CLARENCE D CHAMBERLAIN AND MRS. CHAM- ^m[X^\ j t0 ^ ZetodtOme, it is berlain standing on the "leviathan's" equipped with boats and floats DECK IN FRONT OF THE AMPHIBIAN CRAFT WhiCh permit it tO alight Safely in water. A few weeks ago, while in preparation for this flight. an accident occurred in a test take-off. While rounding a sharp curve, to gain distance, one of the tires was torn from the rim. Landing without a tire would have been difficult and dangerous. But Chamberlain, with his usual "wits about him" attitude, calmly lifted the wheels to the out of position, continued on to a small pond nearby and landed safely. Only a week ago Chamberlain and his group had flown from Washington to New York, landed in the East river, which is the usual mooring place, then the plane had been flown to the Hudson, taxied to the ship's side and hoisted on deck. And now it has again reached the water, after a three-thousand-mile ocean voyage. A tug comes alongside and tows the bobbing yellow bird about the harbor. Another tug transports two hundred gallons of gasoline and conveys it to the plane through a hose. The cover is removed from the motor. On the decks of the giant liner we wait, all expectant, for

294 IMPROVEMENT ERA Feb.. 1929 the take-off. Soon the propeller makes its first faint turn. It stops and kicks back. Another turn and a puff of gray smoke comes from the exhaust. Then we hear the purring rattle of the whirling blades. Six persons have climbed from the tug into the plane. Mrs. Chamberlain is with her skillful pilot husband. Walter Ludwig, Gibson Emerson, Nathan F. Vanderlip, Stephen Forberger, engineers and designers, are accompanying the expedition. C. S. Doran has already started by train on his way to Paris. Mrs. Doran and William P. Sullivan are with the expectant ones on the giant liner's deck. A row boat and two men shove off from the tug and release the towing line. The amphibian is left alone to taxi along the slightly rippling water. Out goes the plane, across the harbor to a favorable position along the wind. Purr! purr! — louder — louder! comes the smooth rattle of the motor and swiftly revolving propeller blades. The plane commences to take on speed. There is a slight rise, then a mormon missionaries on the s. s. "leviathan" pose for a picture in front of the Chamberlain plane Mrs. Millburn is going to Europe to return with her missionary son. Miss Margery Morris is on the way to Paris, where she will study music with her sister Marion (daughters of Geo. Q. and Emma Ramsey). At the extreme right is Wallace Toronto. Elder Hacking is behind the two women. Claude Cornwall is standing beside Miss Morris. Names of the others are not given- |

Ftb- >929 CHAMBERLAIN TAKES OFF 295 dip — and now it lifts slowly from the water. It is speeding toward the Leviathan. Higher — Higher! It sails like a graceful seagull across the bow of the ship. Then it banks into a turn. Back again it swerves once more in front of the big liner, close to the bridge. Hands are waved. Cheers! The motor takes on a sudden whirr of speed. Like a flying arrow it dashes away. On and on it charges at this lightning rate — across the mole and the breakwater — across the look- out tower and the lighthouse. Now it is only a black speck faintly visible as it follows the verdant French coast — on to Le Bourget. Six passengers, piloted by this inimitable Clarence Chamberlain, are speeding toward Paris. A new epoch in flying is accomplished. A passenger plane is successfully launched in the harbor from a passenger vessel. It was this same Chamberlain who, a little over a year ago, piloted an aeroplane across the Atlantic ocean with Chas. Levine as a passenger, landing at Kottbus, Germany, a few miles short of Berlin, their goal. This was the second of three planes to span the Atlantic at about the same time. Lindbergh, the lone eagle, was first and Commander Richard Byrd and his party of four were third. Commander Byrd is now on his way to the South Pole. Following his trans-Atlantic flight of a year ago, Clarence Chamberlain made a successful landing of an aeroplane from a super- structure built on the Leviathan's bridge. And now once again suc- cess has crowned his aeronautical adventures. Son of Mine Do the right, Son of Mine, All the time! In the light of the right Always shine. This the test — do your best Every day. Never fear — God is near — Ever pray. Head erect, self-respect, Conscience free! Garnish truth and, forsooth, Chastity! In your walk, in your talk, Just be straight! Always work, never shirk — JCeep the faith! Lethbridge, Canada. DAVID HORTON ELTON. Member of Author's Club. London, England