Barnstorming Detective: Fallen Aces by M. J. Finn

Author:M. J. Finn [Finn, M. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Planes and More Planes

Saturday, August 23rd, dawned clear and bright, although cooler than a typical August day in Chicago. TJ was up and out early to pick up Steve at the camera shop. They wanted to miss the traffic leading to the airfield, but that wasn’t entirely possible. Instead of heading directly to the field, they went up Milwaukee Road, then cut back on Techny and south on Shermer to get to the field. TJ dropped Steve off at the press gate before heading to the pilot’s entrance near the main building. As predicted, given the crowds, no one took a second look at Steve’s press badge. They met at the medical tent and proceeded to the flight line, TJ pretending that he was conducting an official tour for an important press photographer.

The gates officially opened at 10 a.m., but the stands were filling up before then as the crowds were too big to hold in check. In addition to those driving in from all directions, people were walking from the train station and being dropped off by express buses from downtown. The VIPs and most of the pilots were fortunate to come in via limousine or chartered bus from the Hotel Sherman downtown. These were given priority by the traffic control police officers along the route, often frustrating fans waiting in the traffic to get through. TJ hadn’t seen so many people outside of Chicago Bears games at Soldiers Field. The Chicago Tribune had estimated a crowd of 40,000, but by 11 o’clock, it looked to exceed that level.

Even though he couldn’t fly, TJ was wearing his canvas flying jacket and scarf and kept his flying helmet in his hand. Coupled with the brightly enameled pilot’s pin, TJ was able to position Steve in the pilot check-in area to get photos of the pilots as they arrived. Since many of them weren’t racing today, they were okay with getting their pictures taken. Some of the ones with official sponsors wanted to include the sponsor logos and names in the photos. Probably to ensure their sponsorships continued. So, Steve and TJ spent the first few hours trotting back and forth between the gate, the pilot’s tent, and the parking apron. The airfield was still open for brief periods to allow passenger and private planes to fly in, bringing in more VIPs who were hanging out in the main building. Many of these were less interested in being photographed, so Steve and the other photographers were kept at bay.

There wasn’t much for the crowd to see in the air other than passenger planes coming in during the windows when they were allowed to take off or land. Fans were taking pictures of the planes parked near the grandstands and the fences keeping the fans off the field, just what the sponsors of planes wanted. Shell Oil Company, in particular, had made sure their plane would stand out with its red and yellow livery. Jimmy Doolittle had acquired a Mystery Ship as part of the Shell promotion campaign and had it painted in the Shell livery colors.

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