PILOT STORIES: Basker, Earl F.

On October 19, 1920, Basker was flying the new (and soon abandoned) airmail route between Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri. At 1:15 p.m., he was forced down near Worden, Illinois when a right hand upper drift wire bolt broke in the air. Basker fixed the problem himself with a pair of pincers from his toolbox and took off again 20 minutes later.

On January 6, 1921, Basker was flying his airmail airplane #11 on an evening flight into St. Louis. The airplane he was to have taken did not have recordable oil pressure, so he took a airplane that was damaged and needed two hours of repair, making him late out of Chicago. He stopped at Rantoul, Illinois, as scheduled for gas and oil and took off for St. Louis. As Basker noted in a report, "The field at St. Louis lays in a hollow with hills and high trees encircling it. That night the wind was from the southeast and strong, so I had to come in over the highest trees northwest of the field, and drop down into the hollow, landing down hill. But landing gear struck tree top, throwing right wing up and causing me to fall. Fortunately the ship struck in very soft ground breaking only the propeller, blowing a tire and slightly damaging the leading edge of the right lower wing. The strong wind prevented the ship from turning over when it was up on its nose."

Basker noted with relief that the trees at the edge of that field were finally being removed. However, he also complained that the field's flood and spot lights remained inadequate to the task.