For the flight from San Diego to St. Louis and New York I carried maps of the individual states and one of the United States with the course plotted on each. For the flight from New York to Paris I had two hydrographic charts of the North Atlantic Ocean containing the great circle course and its bearing at intervals of one hundred miles. In addition to these charts, I had a map of each state, territory and country passed over. This included maps of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ireland, England and France. Also a map of Europe.
I expected to be able to locate my position approximately on the coast of Europe by the terrain. Ireland is somewhat mountainous; England rather hilly on the southern end; France is a lowland along the coast; Spain is mountainous. Therefore the coastline should indicate the country, and my accurate position could be obtained by the contours of that coastline and by the position of towns, rivers and railroads.
During the time of construction it was necessary to arrange for all equipment to be carried on the flight; including equipment for emergency use in a forced landing. After the first few hours there would be enough air in the fuel tanks to keep the ship afloat for some time. I also carried an air raft which could be inflated in several minutes and which could weather a fairly rough sea.
In addition to food for the actual flight, I carried five tins of concentrated Army rations each of which contained one day’s food and which could be made to last much longer if necessary. I carried two canteens of water; one containing a quart for use during the actual flight and the other containing a gallon for emergency. In addition to this water, I had an Armburst cup which is a device for condensing the moisture from human breath into drinking water. The cup is cloth covered and contains a series of baffle plates through which the breath is blown. The cup is immersed in water and then removed and blown through. The evaporation of the water on the outside cools the cup walls and baffle plates on which the breath moisture collects and runs down to the bottom of the cup.
The following is a list of the equipment carried on the flight:
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2 Flashlights
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1 Ball of string
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1 Ball of cord
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1 Hunting Knife
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4 Red flares sealed in rubber tubes
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1 Match safe with matches
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1 larger needle
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1 Canteen—4 qts.
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1 ” —1 qt.
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1 Armburst Cup
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1 Air Raft with pump and repair kit
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5 Cans of Army emergency rations
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2 Air cushions
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1 Hack saw blade
Near the end of April the factory work was completed and early one morning, the 46 ft. wing was taken out of the second floor of the factory onto the top of a freight car and then lowered to a waiting truck by means of a gasoline crane. A few days later the plane was completely assembled in its hangar, and on April 28th, or sixty days after the order had been placed, I gave the Spirit of St. Louis her test flight. The actual performance was above the theoretical. The plane was off the ground in six and one-eighth seconds, or in 165 feet, and was carrying over 400 lbs. in extra gas tanks and equipment. The high speed was 130 mph and the climb excellent.
The load tests were made from the old Camp Kearney parade-grounds near San Diego. At daybreak, one foggy morning, I took off from the field at Dutch Flats and headed for the Army’s three kilometer speed course along Coronado Strand. The visibility became extremely bad over San Diego harbor and I was forced to land at Rockwell Field, North Island, and wait for the fog to lift before running the speed tests. The sun soon dispelled the fog and I took the plane four times over the speed course at an average of 128 mph in a slight cross wind. I was carrying about 25 gals. of gasoline and over 400 lbs. of extra tanks and equipment. On the way to Camp Kearney I ran a number of tests on the relation of motor rpm to air speed, and by the time I reached the old parade-grounds’ field I had collected quite a bit of valuable test data.
I decided to run one more test before landing and had it about halfway completed when I allowed the data board to come too close to the window where a gust of air carried it out of the cockpit. I was flying over mesquite, over five miles from Camp Kearney, at about a 1,200-foot altitude at the time, and could only spiral around and watch the board flutter down into the top of a mesquite bush. There was a small clearing about 200 yards from the bush, in which it was possible to land a slow ship. I landed at Camp Kearney and sent for one of the cabin Hisso Standards used by the Ryan Airlines for their passenger service between San Diego and Los Angeles. When the Standard arrived I flew over and landed in the clearing near the lost board which was clearly visible from the air; but, after a fifteen minute search, I was unable to locate it from the ground in the thick mesquite. So I took off my coat and spread it over the top of another bush, then took the air again with the Standard to locate the board in relation to the coat.
I had no difficulty in locating them both and found them to be about fifty yards apart. I landed again but could not locate the board, so moved my coat to the spot where I thought it should be and took off again. This time I had placed the coat within twenty feet of the data board, but it required several minutes’ search in the thick mesquite to finally locate it.
After I returned to Camp Kearney with the Standard, we made preparations for the weight tests of
