The next morning Bill found that the truck train had departed long before his arrival. All of the Squadron messing facilities, tools and spares for the airplanes and engines, officers’ and men’s personal equipment and surplus flying equipment were in the trucks. A short time afterwards Captain Smith left with “B” Flight.
Bill Bruce immediately started to work, using the officers and men of his Flight to clean up the airdrome and close the hangars and other buildings. It was a long, tedious task, but was finally completed. At eleven o’clock the planes were lined up ready for the take-off. Bill taxied his plane to the end of the field and the others joined him in proper position for taking off in formation. He had five planes in his Flight. One of his pilots was absent on leave and would join the Squadron at Eugene at a later date.
The Flight took off and, once in the air, the planes swung into their proper places. Bill was leading and the other planes placed themselves along the sides of a large “V.” Each plane was slightly above and uncovered the one in its front so that the Flight looked like a flock of ducks as it flew across San Francisco Bay.
The first part of the trip took them to the north end of the bay. They passed over a portion of the fertile Napa Valley and then crossed the coast range at an altitude of about five thousand feet. Here they obtained their first extended view of the broad Sacramento Valley. They flew for miles over the level floor of the valley. Here and there they saw or passed over a small village or a railroad, but the greater portion of the flight was over large ranches.
Their course brought them closer and closer to the Sacramento River. At first it had been well off to their right and could be distinguished only by the trees along its banks, but as they progressed they gradually came closer to it and could make out the bridges over which the roads and railroads passed. They noticed that the towns became more numerous as they flew parallel to the river and railroad.
The Sierra Mountains, with their snow-capped peaks, marked the eastern boundary of the valley. Mount Lassen, the only active volcano in the United States, thrust its head well above the surrounding mountains. Straight ahead of them Mount Shasta seemed to stand as a direction post indicating the proper course for them to fly.