,/r;

KITPINff UP

ITIHE residents of Lancaster- Penn-

I syluuniu. have long giu"r, up
the idea of trying to "in""
keep up with
the Jones family. That's because the
Joneses are up in the air so much of
the time. As America's most outstand-
ing llying household, the Joneses have
accumulated approximately IS-thou-
sand hours of flying time, and every
day bring. many new entries for their
guartet of log books. There would
have been five log books for these
Pappy explains the fundamentals o{ aerob.tica to C..olyn, Jesrio and Helen.
daily entries but Mrs. Jones, years
ago, decided that some one in the
Iamily should keep the accounts. She
4.ms^ica a- elected herself to this position while
funtmotL {L/inq- {anilq- her husband was carrying his 6rst rev-
enue passengers in a patched up Jenny,
hnn- 15,000 hnana- herthded and every since, she has served as
business head for the other members
in- ib- IoqlooL.a-. of her flying family.
There was a time 25 years ago,
when prospective passengers failed to
consider Jesse P. Jones a capable flyer.
His former reputation as a motor-
cycle and auto race driver led them to
believe that he inight be just as dar-
ing at the controls of an airplane.
Jesse did not share this opinion, He
had soloed his Jenny after little more
than three hotrrs of instruction and
had completed a full hour of solo
practice before announcing that he
rras ready to carly his first revenue
passenger. The passengers were not
forthr"oming. Those rvho might be in-
terested in buying a ride-wanted a
ride with an expert,
The popular definition of an expert
was a "dressed-up so-and'so from out
of tol'n." The definition gave Jesse
an idea. He would dress up, get away
from his home torvn and become an
Just a{ler lhis expert, The experiment was a suc-
cess, A hundred miles from home, he
lhe.irpl.n6 went found any number of individuals
cigare+, droppod eager to take their first rides with
from the bridge, him, the first of these being an elderly
as the Cub was gentleman,
boing laxied be-
nealh ihe span, The pilot had not learned about
cross winds during his brief course
suspectingly, ae
of instruction, and there was a definite
fire smoulders in breeze from 90 degrees across the
the wins. two-way field in which he had elected

28 AIR PIIOT AND TECHNICIAN

llIITH TIT JONDSNS
to conduct his operations, During
the first take-oll. the Jenny drifted
rapidly torvard a fence rorr and only
a miracle averted an.arly.rcsh. This
prompted the barnstormer to do some
extra flight practice in order to com-
pensate lor lhe cros, rrind he r'.ould/
encounl.r rrhen landing, Thrr", r,itll
his passenger enjoying every man.
euver, Jesse Jones built up his ex-
perience, flying around the {ield until
the gas gave out and he rras cornpelled
to set down rvith a series ol bounces.
cnding in a ground Joop.
The passenger \r,as so elated that
he climbed from the cockpit, hauded
Jones a trvo dollar tip and said,..I
have ridden with many pilots. but
).ou
are the best of them all."
From that lesson, the pilot learned
never to accept public acclaim for
ability and realized that this l'as an-
other case where ignorance rvas bliss,
During the ensuing years, Jesse has
w_atched many nerv pilots rr'ho let ap-
plause go to their heads while thev
went to their grarcs. He ,e.
solved not to become such a "u.ly
victinr.
Thouscnd of passengers hare sin.e
Jessie Jones l6ft hsr s+udies at Srate
College fo instruct WTS studenrs.
J AN U ARY. I945
By Ann Delo
made their lirst llighLs rvith Je-.se on pontoons, along the Susquehanna
Jones at Lhe controls, and manv stu, Ilir er at Harrisburg.
dents have gained their civilian li- Next in line is Jessie E. Jones,20,
censes or have gorrc off to the armed rvith rvell over 2000 hours. She left
services after graduating fronr his her classes at Pelns,vlvania State Col-
training classes, Todav. as test l)ilot lege to aid in the training of Army
for the nanufacturers of Aero-Matic and \av1' pilots rrhen a shortage of
propellers- and nith more than 10. iD:Lruclors llrreslorpd llre warlime
thousand |ours in the air. he has rr<r prograrn, Her former students call
time to carrr' l)assengers or instruct her 'Junior" rrherr they u,rite of their
students. His claughters no\r carry on exploits along the r,''orld's far flung
that famih- tradition. ainral-s. She's busier than ever norv,
Helen Jones. rtho is nou' 21. has in:lrrrcling al Lanca-ler's original air-
been llying sirrce 1935, and her log port. and like the other members of
books shol- a total of approximatell' the Jones familv, is activel,v errgaged
2500 hours. She rvas the youngest of il the advancement of the Civil Air
girl pilots rlhen she received her li, Patrol,
cense, and soon after, was engaged in
Carolyn Jones, the youngest mem-
closs-country Ilying and instructing ber of the flying famil,v. is just lB and
civilian and militarr' -"tudents. As a still engaged in her college studies,
baby. she lleru jn her mothers' arms Her log books aren't so Jilled as those
rvhile her father transported his small of her sisters, but she is looking for-
femilv from field to field rlurine his rrard to l,uilding rrl' more air time in
barn-torming tours. Hclen. just ai her company rvith an airminded husband.
sisters. ri'as required to leam to fly no$' that Flving Cupid has got in
before her father rvould trust her $'ith some pin point bombing rvith his
tlre famil,v automobile. Today, she little borv and arrow.
conducts a flving class rvith a Cub (.Contin.ued on page 33')
A {loatins baree and ofice. moored in tfie Susquehanna River at Hanisbure, Pennsytvania.
29
 addition to the local operation, the
Joneses found time to participale in
J{rrpin4- W Ail" ltzz lonntnt- air shows, meets, and races in many
sections of the country. The head of
(Continued from page 29) the family is credited with originating
the comedy flying act, featuring a
country jake who finds himself in the'
The Jones girls have enjoyed many . erations at the centqrs where they cockpit of an airplane, and who later
ailvantages not always available to the serve. They agree rhat it is a relief, in cuts aerial capers to the astonishment
aviation student. Throughout their these days when engine overhauls come of the spectators. This act has long
careers, they have had the guidance every 450 to 600 hours, not to be since become a standard feature al air
o{ their flying father, who has taught working on the old type equipment shows,
them many tricks of the trade which where they used to aid their father Today, the Jones family is an es-
would not ordinarily be fortJrcoming. every 25 or 50 hours. tablished institution so far as aviation
All of their experience has been of It was a happy day for the Jones is concerned. Their fame is no longer
a practical nature. They can look family when "P"ppyl' as he became confined within the borders of this
back to the era when they accompa- known, decided to curtail his barn- country since their former students
nied a flying circus, serving as weights storming activities and settle down as fiscuss their instructors while stroll-
for parachutes being packed by the a fixed-base operator at Lancaster. ing along the narrow streets of Casa-
exhibition jumpers; selling airplane Now, they could have a home with a blanca, dodging sacred cows at In-
rides and shooing grazing cattle from fireplace, a shiny automobile to re- dian bazaars or toasting fellow pilots
the pastures where their father carried place the bamstorming jalopy and a at a bar in Paris.
on his barnstorming activities. Helen, kitchen where Mrs. Jones could turn Meanwhile, they carry on their fly-
Jessie and Carolyn learned while quite out home fried chicken. Since that ing traditions, and while tle girls pre-
young how to fuel an airplane, patch time, flying visitors are always as-
a wing, and stake down a ship when sured of a chicken dinner when they pare more pilol. lor
a future in avia.
storm clouds threatened, They learned let the Joneses know in advance of
tion, Mother Jones looks after the
both theory and the practical side of their arrival, bookkeeping and fried chicken, while'
aviation first hand, under the guidance Jesse Jones and his family kept Pappy advocates more landing fields
of an experienced teacher. Now, they apace and sonietimes ahead of the rap- and conducts his daily flight tests for
are'as capable as most men of equal idly expanding industry as the popu- the development of more practical
exferience in carrying on. aviation op- larity of their airport increased. In propellers for our post-war airplanes.

J AN U ARY, I945