Feature Letter of July 30th, 2025
Gilroy, Wilbert H.
Friday night I was coming home about 9 p.m. and it was getting quite dark. I had a premonition that something would happen so got as near the aerodrome as I could before coming down. I couldn't see the aerodrome for clouds but I thought I was near it so shut off. It was well I got as far as I did for the last 6000 feet down was without any assistance from engine as she failed to come on again. When I got clear of clouds at 2000 feet I could see the aerodrome and tried to glide in, but I saw I couldn't so my one ambition was to place her on the ground and to avoid hop poles, of which this country is full. When I was 400 feet from the ground. I told my observer we were for a crash but he knew it and was sitting tight and holding on with both hands. In the dusk telephone poles loomed up, so I stalled over the wires and dropped the last 25 feet like a stone. Of course the machine was considerably jarred, and with a little assistance from my observer I climbed out O.K. Neither of us got even a scratch, in fact we were not even shaken up. At least we didn't feel shaken at the time.
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