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ye wi ot | Pilot Rec eT § a oe . 3 July 1927 Dick Rankin Tells Of Odd Aircratt More reports of “flying flap- jacks” turned up Wednesday, one from no less than Dick Rankin, brother of the late Tex Rankin, and himself an expe rienced pilot of more than 7000 hours’ flying time. Rankin, who is recovering from an old back injury re ceived in an automobile acci- | dent, came to Portland over | the week end to spend the sum- jmer. He saw the “silver cau- |eers’ over Bakersfield, Cal. |June 23, while lying on the | |lawn sun bathing, he told The | Oregonian. “I hesitated to say much about them,” Rankin said, “un- til I noticed all the hullabaloo in the papers. I puzzled over their strange shape for a while and finally concluded that they were the navy’s ne@® XF5U-1 flying flagjacks, which are thin and round, with twin propellers and stubby tail.” Only One XF5U-1 Built ' (The navy and the manufac. turer have announced official- ly that only one such machine was built and that it never left Connecticut. “These planes were flying high, maybe 9000 feet, and fair ly fast, about 300 or 400 miles an hour. I first counted ten of them in formation, going north. About 2:15 P. M. they returned on the reverse course, headed south, But there were only sev- en in the formation. “They were not weaving or | bobbing in formation I couldn't |make out the number or loca- |tion of their propellers and |! couldn't distinguish any wings |' or tail. They appeared almost | round. They looked like pic- tures of the navy’s flying flap- jack,” Rankin said. Rankin, who plans to na the summer here at 834 N. E. Simpson street, is now able to resume a little flying for fun, but not commercially, he said. He now operates a string of auto courts, nding his win- ters at Palm Springs.