Show AIR TRIP MADE HISTORY coast to coast flight 11 years ago a thriller chicago aviation history was writ ten in the skies eleven years ago when air mail pilots made an experimental transcontinental night flight over un lighted airways to demonstrate the value of flying mall mail at night as s well aa as by day to influence congress to make for the lighting of the present coast to coast airway of the nine pioneer pilots engaged in that historic flight made over un lighted airways and in old war time planes all but one are living and six are still flying three of them teem eay ray little frank prank lager and jack 1 knight now fly mail and passenger planes on the same route which Is Is operated by united air lines after a night and day east west flight had failed back in 1921 a relay of pilots pushed the west east trans continental mall aiom san francisco to new lork ork in 33 hours and 20 min utes at an average speed of miles an hour starting from san francisco farr nutter and pay ray little scaled the aler ras before dawn and were at keno reno pilots jack baton eaton and captain bill lewis flew the two planes from ileno reno to ell 0 where jimmy murray flew the load to cheyenne then the night sec alon of the flight began as frank ya ger roared through the falling dark ness toward north platte there jack knight swung into the cockpit and at one 0 clock in the morning landed at omaha there was no relief pilot but the big stunt was not off knight vol ered to fly the next leg from omaha to ch cago although he had never flown east of omaha he land ed at chicago before daybreak jack webster took the mall on to cleve land and ernie allison who Is now piloting air mall planes in china climbed the alleghenies and landed on long island that flight started an appropriation which resulted in the expend ture tare of approximately on the light ing and improving of the new york pacific coast airway which now car lies ties nearly one half of the nation s alp ai mall ind on which united air lines last year flew more than miles rf |