Picture stuff

by Raoul Whitfield (1896–1945)

• Free to read
• 20 min read
• Reading level: 5th grade

"Picture stuff by Raoul Whitfield" is a pulp aviation adventure short story written in the late 1920s. It centers on barnstorming pilots hired for a newsreel, highlighting the perils of stunt flying, camera-ship coordination, and the pride and nerve that drive aerial daredevils. Veteran pilot Russ Healy, soured on camera-ship work after a past near-fatal crash, is pressed by circus boss Bob Brooks into a wing-to-wing transfer stunt featuring fearless performer Joan West, with her fiancé Steve Lott flying the camera plane. At altitude, Joan climbs from a DeHaviland onto Russ’s patched-up Jenny—the “Old Lady”—just as the camera ship collides, crippling the D.H. and tangling with the Jenny. The pilots of the wrecked planes bail out, but Joan’s parachute is fouled, forcing her to cling to a wing loop. When the two locked aircraft spin apart, Russ throttles and steadies the battered Jenny and dead-sticks her to the field with Joan still on the wing. The footage is lost and two planes are gone, but Joan’s scorn turns to admiration, and Russ reveals he never meant to scare her—only to defend the Old Lady—concluding that picture work takes real nerve.

• Short stories
• Air pilots
• Airplanes
• Stunt flying