AIRPLANE PATROL OF THE FORESTS 



207 



first patrol startd August 2, and continud until August 22, 

 during which time seven Curtis type planes were used 

 four ships making two two-hour trips each day, flying at 

 an average speed of 60 miles an hour and making a total 

 distance of 20,160 miles during the 21 uninterrupted 

 flying days. August 23 the Curtis planes were re- 

 placed by the 







CRATER LAKE FROM THE AIR. IN THE DISTANCE MAY BE SEEN DIAMOND LAKE, MT. 

 THIELSEN, MT. BAILEY AND THE SISTERS 



larger DeHavi- 

 land type, as 

 they can re- 

 main in the air 

 nearly twice as 

 long. This type 

 was found to 

 be the more ef- 

 ficient and con- 

 tinued the pa- 

 trol work until 

 October 7, 

 when the fall 

 rains and cool 

 nights made 

 further patrol 

 unnecessary 

 for the season. 

 The DeHavi- 

 land planes are 

 American made 

 and contain a 400-horsepower Liberty motor, and are 

 capable of traveling at the rate of 120 miles an hour. 

 Although a more difficult plane to handle than the Curtis 

 type, they have a much greater gas and oil carrying 

 capacity and can safely remain for a period of four 

 hours in the 

 air. 



During the 

 35 actual pa- 

 trol days by 

 these five new 

 ships two fly- 

 ing six hours 

 each day at an 

 average speed 

 of 95 miles per 

 hour they 

 covered a dis- 

 tance of 39,900 

 miles. The 

 combined dis- 

 tance flown by 

 the Curtis and 

 DeHaviland 

 planes during 



the 56 patrol days amounted to approximately 60,060 

 miles, or more than twice the distance around the earth. 

 This distance was traversed with only six forced land- 

 ings ; three due to inclement weather, and resulting in 

 one wrecked plane. The other three were caused by 

 motor trouble, resulting in the loss of one officer and 



Hv. 



AN AVIATOR'S "CLOSE-UP" OF MT. HOOD FROM THE SOUTHEAST. ELEVATION 11,225 FEET 



the total loss of one ship. The entire operating expense 

 was borne by the Air Service. The State and Federal 

 Forest Service arranged the plan of patrol and gave the 

 pilots and observers the benefit of their knowledge in 

 fire detection and suppression gained through years of 

 experience. They also provided landing fields, arranged 



for gasoline 

 and guards for 

 planes at sub- 

 stations, pro- 

 vided transpor- 

 tation for the 

 men to and 

 from the fields, 

 and co-oper- 

 ated with the 

 Air Service in 

 every possible 

 way. 



The area of 

 effective visa- 

 bility depends 

 somewhat upon 

 the atmos- 

 pheric condi- 

 tions and the 

 altitude of the 

 plane. At a 

 height of 10,000 feet, under fair observation conditions, 

 a very small fire may be easily picked up at a distance 

 of 30 miles. 



It is during smoky weather that the airplane patrol 

 is much more advantageous than the lookout system. 



Neither smoke 

 nor a difference 

 of several 

 thousand feet 

 in altitude hin- 

 ders the visa- 

 bility as much 

 as o n e would 

 suspect. With 

 t h e lookout 

 system there is 

 nearly always 

 a section of the 

 country back 

 of the ridges 

 which cannot 

 be seen; with 

 airplane all 

 regions are 

 equally visible. 

 The airplane is not only effective for locating new fires, 

 but, as the past season demonstrated, is extremely valua- 

 ble in reporting progress on large fires or in exactly 

 locating a group or series of small scattered ones. Expe- 

 rience has shown that a trained observer, after a recon- 

 naissance from the air, can gain more useful information 



