PILOT STORIES: Black, Grover C.

On September 28, 1920, Grover Black took off from the Salt Lake City airmail field at 10:55 am (Mountain time) with de Havilland airmail airplane #171 en route to Reno, Nevada. While landing at Elko at 12:35 p.m. (Pacific time), Black noticed that the motor had stopped while taxiing in a way as to suggest he was out of gas. While the crew gassed up the airplane, Black went to get some lunch. The crew only put in 60 gallons, not realizing that the tank was empty.

"By making a dangerous flat glide I made the field and a safe landing." The problem, a leak in the filler cap of the main tank, was finally located. Black was furious that the mechanics did not catch this problem at Elko. He raged in his report that this showed "either the chief mechanic or field manager at Elko to be incompetent."