LINDBERGH JUMPS

                                                 LINDBERGH    JUMPS

                                                      Norman   v,  kelly

 

First US Mail Delivery was by Charles Lindbergh and   Phillip  LOVE   on

4-15-  1926….Varney Filed  out by Mount Hawley  referred to as Airfield number 2    we have a monument out there to commemorate this event…

 

Guy named Phillip Love was part of that…Pictures are part of that history…

 

But to answer john’s question more specifically I will tell you about his Parachute jumps during 1926  harrowing  terrifying jumps that would test any normal   average pilot  but LINDY took them in stride and from what I have read his real concern was to make sure he headed his airplane out into the wilderness and that he recovered the mail…that is what I learned from the actual written record.

 

Our field  owned  by Mr. Varney was just about accurately described as a Cow field…so u can imagine that way back in 1926…..

 

                                                         9-16-1926

 

Lindbergh took off from Saint Louis at 4:25  now this is evening  he flew by looking down on the lights and of course knew the route   when it got too cloudy to see he used his compass…

 

He got to  Peoria at 5:55 landed and took off  he delivered mail in little sacks and that is what he did for his living…He took off from Peoria at 6:10   now please remember folks it is dark…I think this is unreal to me but what do I know about flying?

 

25 miles out from Peoria   heading for Chicago…. Clouds roll in the ground is getting hard to see and as he dives down to look around he notices that fog is rolling in…nice huh?

 

He flys over MARSELLESS AND IS THINKING  of landing and waiting out the conditions…down at 600 feet  He tossed a flair just to see what he can see  but the damn thing did not work so he climbed higher.

 

He set his nose for Maywood Illinois…hoping for better conditions…  He is flying blind only his compass which he looks at with a flashlight…

 

At 7:15 he sees a glow on the ground and heads towards it….He circles trying to see if he can land his plane… He dove down   get under the fog   and       quickly gave that up…the ground is not visible..

 

Climbs to 1,500 feet puts his flashlight in his belt and decides that he will have to jump….

 

He spots another glow but that does not help him…he climbs to 5,000 feet and directs his plane away from the glow  he said he was not worried about an explosion because he was now on his ten minute reserve gasoline tank.

 

At five thousand feet in   total darkness he manages to leave the airplane and falls about 100 feet before the chute opens…he forgot to turn off the switch and the airplane engine is still running and it is headed his way  got as close as 300 yards when he slipped down  into the fog/clouds but he still heard the plane  afraid it would hit him…but he managed to keep dropping…

 

He is falling  his flashlight aimed towards the ground which he finally sees….He landed safely in a cornfield and followed the tractor tracks to a farm house   The farmer had heard the plane crash and he was out looking for it…  Lindy used the phone and then went looking for the plane  they found it 2 miles from the farm.

 

The OTTAWA  Sheriff came to the house and took Lindbergh to the Ottawa Post office and they put the mail on the train to Chicago…he took the train to Chicago and got another airplane…..

 

                                                      SECOND   JUMP

 

                                                              11-3-1926               to Peoria

 

Now he is in a DH as he calls it a  Dehaviland Airplane and he is still carrying the mail and to cities in Between…..Chicago and Saint Louis.

 

                            11-3-26                                          11-3-26

 

Left Saint Louis    visibility GOOD   He always used the phone to check on the weather and he took off   11-3-1926….at  4:20  his usual time  lands in Springfield and heads for Peoria, Illinois   He left Peoria and encountered a light snow….  At 600 feet out of Peoria he h could see about 600 feet in front of him…not to worry he uses the compass and continues to FLY…

 

 

He is down to 200 feet and cannot see…..he decides to climb to 2,000 feet and then finally to 2,600 and kept flying away from Peoria  he tossed a Flare and quickly he could not see it as it fell… so he knew he was in trouble again and slowly climbed to 13,000   feet…

At 7:50 he was out of gas   switched to his 10    minute reserves and prepared to jump…..

 

He was at 70 MPH and still at 13,000  he said he simply dove over the left side and  began to fall into a heavier   snow…. He was in snow….by the time he began to get closer to the ground it turned into rain….

He held his flashlight down and could not avoid the barbed wire fence which he claims softened his fall...his thick flying suit saved him from injury.

 

                                                               COVELL    ILLINOIS

 

In  a corn field once again and he was met by a farmer….They looked for the plane but he did not find it  even then he told the farmer to please   Protect the mail if he found the plane.

 

He then went to Chicago with the help of the farmer and got another plane...he took off for COVELL  Illinois and located the plane.   He  landed   recovered the mail and flew it to Maywood, Illinois so it could be delivered….( Covell, Ill over near Bloomington.)

 

 

No wonder this incredible man made it to PARIS IN 1927…There is a lot more story about him…but I think I answered  John’s question..  ( so many books about him including the phony one about   Not Playing in Peoria)  I did not write about him because he was not a Peorian  but he was here  he knew a lot of Peorians and he was  AT one time a tremendous hero   Peorians loved him  then his association with Germany turned most Peorians against him….. It would take a Year to read everything written about Lindbergh  His baby’s Kidnapping would take another 6 months….

 

 

Norm Kelly

 

 

 

He rolled up his chute and walked off toward a light in the East……