Visibility was little more than a mile when Colonel William H. Councill sent his pencil-slim Lockheed P-80 fighter whooshing down the runway at Long Beach, Calif. With its turbojet propulsion, the Shooting Star could cover a mile in six seconds. Councill climbed out of the mists, turned on his oxygen, headed for New York. Cities seven miles beneath him began to flash past: La Junta, Colo. (870 miles) in 1 hr. 38 min.; Salina, Kans. (1,190 miles) in 2 hr. 9 min.; Chanute Field, Ill. (1,700 miles) in 3 hr. 2 min. A...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
