Richard Howells Watkins

“ Del O’Connell, with a quick spring, brought his other foot up out of the cockpit and, clinging with his hands, crouched on the edge of the fuselage. His legs bent more sharply for the leap that would carry him far out into space.
But just then the eyes of Jim Tyler caught a sudden flash of white from the pack on Del’s back. The next instant the great silken parachute whipped out of its confining envelop. Del’s rip-cord had fouled on something inside the cockpit, and his eager jump to the rim had jerked it. ”

“ The truth does not belong in an argument. This theory of their conduct was drowned in a combined shout of protest, but Del O’Connell was a bit faster on the tongue than Burt.
“I’ll make that first jump; I’ve got to!” he cried, springing to his feet and thumping a quick fist on the parachute packs. “You can’t trust this fellow, and if he bungles it, we’re gone!”
“I’ll not bungle it,” retorted Burt Minster stubbornly. “And as for nerve, I’ve more nerve than he has language, which is some.”
Jim Tyler slumped wearily against the side wall of the shack and waited for the argument to subside. ”

“ LIVES was what the morning paper shouted to the city at large, and the growing clientele shriveled like a violet on a griddle, and the bank account was not slow in following it. Of course Del O’Connell hadn’t fallen an inch; he had merely glided down without motor ”

“ Del O’Connell’s eyes glinted.
“’Tis not a bad idea at all,” he admitted, and looked upon Burt Minster with less rancor. “I like it fine.”
“Wait a minute,” interposed Jim Tyler. “You mean you’ll both jump, and let yourselves fall a quarter of a mile or more? Why, that’s the craziest—”
“And the man who pulls his rip-cord last wins, for he’ll land first,” Del O’Connell explained. “As good a test of nerve as ever I heard of.”
“Well, you can fly yourselves, then, for I’ll not have a hand in it,” Jim Tyler announced firmly. “It isn’t necessary for you two to kill yourselves to prove you’re fools. ”

“ Tyler broke in hastily. “And when I nod, jump! One from each side. And jump hard, so you’ll clear the tail.”
“Right,” assented Del O’Connell eagerly, and Burt Minster nodded agreement.
The infield was clear at last. With a final glance at the fastenings of their harness and the rip-cords that would release the parachutes, the two men silently climbed into the rear cockpit. They wedged themselves into the narrow seat. Then both turned automatically and studied the direction and force of the wind, as revealed by the whipping flags on the grandstand.
Jim Tyler gave the ship the throttle. ”

“ The strict aeronautical aristocrats consider such antics in commercial flying equivalent to the employment of a puller-in outside the store in the retail clothing business.
Prospects were good, though the company was not yet prosperous. Then, one morning when Burt Minster took off alone to test-hop his ship, he banked a bit too much just after leaving the ground and came down in a side-slip that completely washed out his plane and left him in the wreckage with a split ear and a bad headache.
That reduced the T. M. O. Transportation Co.’s assets to Jim Tyler’s ancient training-ship. ”

“ Well, instead of that, we’ll both jump, you and I, at the same time.”
“And what would that prove?” snorted Del.
“I’m not through yet,” Burt rebuked him. “We’ll announce the thing as a race to earth, the man landing first winning. You see, you don’t have to pull the rip-cord that opens the parachute the minute you leave the ship. ”

“ The hard work of building up reputation in a business generally considered the apex of the risky was begun again. They carried hundreds of passengers in safety. Not once did one of the pilots yield to the desire for a jazz ride and tailspin a ship or even roll it over once or twice. ”

“ An air pilot and the field of broken wings NERVE ENOUGH
By Richard Howells Watkins The time was when the T. M. O. Transportation Co. occupied a proud position in the latest infant industry—aerial passenger carrying.
The T., who was Jim Tyler; the M., Burt Minster; and the O., Delevan O’Connell, each had a plane of his own. The company leased a field on the edge of a sizable little city and erected hangars. No less than three mechanics labored to keep the ships in the air.
The three partners had a bank account and a growing clientele among the more progressive members of the community. ”