Repairs on the Fly

BOARDING a flying plane by a sixty-five-foot rope ladder and leaving via parachute was the unusual performance of Dale Dryer, airplane mechanic, when an endurance plane over Buffalo, N. Y., sent a call for repairs.

Heavy weather had damaged the stabilizer of the airplane, which had been aloft more than 190 hours. First a rope ladder was passed from another plane to the endurance craft, whose crew attached it to the under part of the fuselage. Then Dryer went aloft in a relief machine, flew beneath, and caught the ladder on the third attempt. He scrambled up it, while the relief plane dived to keep out of the way. The repair was soon completed, and Dryer left by parachute.

The feat was all the more remarkable because it was entirely without previous arrangement. Despite the daring stunt, the endurance plane was forced down a short time later when it was damaged again in refueling.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 at 1:20 am and is filed under 1920's, Aviation, Transport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments and pings are closed.

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