Sky Billboards (1935)

well this business of Sky riding is simple enough but of course there's a act to it same as anything else some folks learn quickly and some have to give up after years of trying I suppose there's only about a dozen Smoke Riders in the country mechanically it's not so complicated step up here and I'll show you see this little trigger here that's a part of the pen we write with when the trigger is pulled back it opens a valve which permits chemicals to shoot out into the exhaust pipe the exhaust pipe being just about red hot heats up the chemicals and makes makes the smoke you see from the ground the tanks in the cockpit have to carry about 400 lbs of smoke oil when we have to write long sentences we use two planes in our team we have three planes working together well we're off switch off switch off contact contact of course it's all all in the Viewpoint the planes must be light and fast so they can be easily maneuvered they've got to be quick on the [Music] climb about 2 mi up most of the riding is done at that height the wind is tending in a gentle breeze words will drift 10 or 20 miles before they break up and the writing is done horizontally the way you'd write on a desk and not up and down as it appears from the ground to make it trickier they have to ride backwards or upside down depends on how you look at it so it will be right side up to you on the ground when he writes it this is the way it looks to the Sky Rider and this is what happens when three Smoke Riders go into action at once they've got to give each other Elbow Room but then it's a pretty big slate looked like a collision that time had to be Mighty close timing on that one but when you get around under it it begins to make sense to make it a little bit easier they have the words already written out upside down on the instrument board but they've also got to keep their eyes on all those dials and instruments and smoke gauges while they're using the sky as their billboard and smoke riding's got to be done right the first time no Hoy racing up here in the air they've got to travel fast even a short word means a 15 to 20 M trip and it's nothing to turn around and go back two or three miles to cross your tee to stand the terrific strain of turning and twisting the planes have to be strong yet capable of a cruising speed of over 120 mph Sky riding must be done into the wind so the letters won't spread too much and out of the Sun so folks watching won't have the glare in their eyes these chaps have to do about all the stunts known to Aviation to make all those little turns and twists vertical Banks Loop and diman [Music] [Applause] turns that calls for pretty good pilots and sharp eyes to follow them but when the weather is right and they've finished a good job the Smoke Riders get a Big Thrill and enough satisfaction to make up for all the Duds and floaters that result from wind and clouds a human bumblebee buzzes across the sky a million cubic feet of smoke left hanging in the blue each minute like a long white rope but remember there are a lot of people looking over your shoulder so don't start writing love letters in the sky [Music] oh