For material and other assistance, the writer is indebted to many persons connected with the business of flying. In particular I wish to express my indebtedness to Pilot Warren J. White, of Albany, who “flew” the New York _Times_ from Albany to Lake Placid. Mr. White has had years of experience as pilot and manager of flying enterprises. He supplied much material, suggested many situations and incidents for this book, and finally checked the manuscript for inaccuracies and “touched up” the flying technique to give that part of the story a truly professional air. To Mr. C. G. Andrus, chief of the Eastern Division of the Airways Weather Bureau, I have long been indebted for information concerning the work of the forecasters in aiding pilots. To these men and to many others who have assisted me in the work of collecting material for flying-stories, I wish to express my hearty thanks. News fliers do the most remarkable things and have the most wonderful adventures. But like most other things connected with the business of collecting news, these adventures are seldom heard of excepting in newspaper or flying circles. If this story makes these achievements more evident to readers, the writer will be gratified. Lewis Edwin Theiss. _Lewisburg, Penna._ Table of Contents I—Jimmy Donnelly Scents a Story in a Scorched Piece of Parachute II—A Flight in Quest of News III—Jimmy Meets an Old Friend—Johnnie Lee, of the Wireless Patrol IV—Jimmy Makes Good V—The Long Flight to a Fire VI—Flying Blind Over the Graveyard of Airplanes VII—A Forced Landing in a Fog VIII—Jimmy Saves a Boyhood Friend IX—Covering a Great Flood by Airplane X—Jimmy Visits a Lightship off the Coast XI—Jimmy is Tricked by His Rival XII—Jimmy Lands a Job for Johnnie XIII—Jimmy Has an Adventure with a Bootlegger XIV—Taking Help to Marooned Islanders XV—Jimmy Joins the Caterpillar Club XVI—The Bootlegger Repays Jimmy’s Kindness XVII—Jimmy Triumphs Over Rand The Flying Reporter CHAPTER I Jimmy Donnelly Scents a Story in a Scorched Piece of Parachute Jimmy Donnelly had just arrived at the hangar at the Long Island flying field where his plane was housed. To be sure, the plane really wasn’t Jimmy’s, because it belonged to the New York _Morning Press_; but Jimmy was its pilot, and had flown it ever since that great newspaper had decided that it must have a plane of its own. And Jimmy had piloted it so long, and had taken such loving care of it, that he felt as though it were his very own. Indeed, he could not have lavished more attention on the plane if it _had_ been his own. He was forever polishing and cleaning it, and checking over the engine, and keeping it tuned up to concert pitch.