April 20th
April 20th
Daily Flight Information:
The World Flight airplanes "Chicago", "Boston", & "New Orleans" will remain in Dutch Harbor until "Seattle" is repaired at Kanatak, Alaska and joins the others at Dutch Harbor later this month.
Wind & Weather threatens
World Flight Airplanes
Daily Report
by Lt. L.P. Arnold, Chicago Mechanic
At 5 a.m. a guard rushed in & awaking Smith & Nelson with the news that one of the planes was drifting & they being "big hearted" let the rest of us sleep when they went out to look after it.
Just before noon #3 "Boston" was towed up to the dock where the freighter Brookdale swung out a boom & hoisted it onto the dock where a new motor will be installed. In the afternoon runways were built on the beach and #2 & #4 run up onto the beach. The wind is howling outside now & it is a relief to know that our pet planes are safely tied down on land, and not tossing around on the water where any one of a hundred things might happen that would cause them to sink or be broken up.
The entire of the Haida are at our disposal and anything we suggest they are only too anxious to do for us, certainly a fine crowd and their spirit is wonderful. We all wish they could be at all of our stops.
Daily Report
by Lt. L.H. Smith "Chicago" Pilot
Upon being assured that the moorings had been prepared as requested, no changes were made in them and we retired for the night [April 19th]. However, at 3 a.m. [April 20th], the guard that had been placed over the planes informed us that one of the planes had broken loose and that another was drifting dangerously. Temporary precautions were immediately taken to secure them until morning when it was decided to beach the planes on temporary runways which will be described in the Engineering report.
At Kanatak, Alaska - Part 2
by Maj. F.L. Martin Commanding
From late in the evening, April 19th, until Monday evening, April 20th, there were constant high winds, accompanied by "woolies" and snow. "Woolie Wahs" or "woolies" is a name given locally to winds of intense velocity, resembling small hurricanes, which sweep down through the passes in the mountains, out over the water. They seem to gain tremendous velocity as they pass through the mountain canyons. They are very dangerous and destructive. Many incidents were related of the damage caused by these winds, such as tearing boats loose from their moorings on the water, picking up skiffs left on the beach and dashing them to pieces, and tearing life boats on larger vessels from their fastenings and breaking them to pieces. This will give some idea of the force of these winds while we were in this locality. We labored under constant dread that the "Seattle" might be destroyed at any time, night or day.
It is believed that only due to constant vigilance, assisted by men of the village of Kanatak accustomed to lightering supplies from the boats that come into the harbor, that the "Seattle" was protected against destruction. An incident is recited - on Sunday evening, April 20th, Sergeant Harvey and I had just returned from examining the lines holding the plane when we heard the howling of a "woolie" passing through the village. Upon rushing to the window, we were just in time to see the water in the creek directly in from of the "Seattle" whipped into a spray, the airplane lifted bodily until its left pontoon was clear of the water and dropped upon the right pontoon, forcing it under the water. We rushed out, knowing that the water was shallow, expecting to find this pontoon crushed, but luckily no damage could be found. This was probably due to the fact that it had been lifted against tension of the four heavy lines which radiated out from the plane to hold it securely in position.