Mal was the only child of Jay Monroe Freeburg and Bonita Bryan, both of Iowa.
Mal became a pilot and is one of only 10 pilots to receive the "Airmail Flyers Medal of Honor". He was the first to receive this award. The medal was presented to Mal by President Roosevelt on 13 December 1933.
Citation:
On April 12, Pilot Freeburg, with co-pilot Joe Kimm, departed from St. Paul, Minn., at 3 p.m. en route to Chicago. The plane carried 8 passengers, 6 men and 2 women, besides a load of mail. The plane made its regular stop at Minneapolis at 3:09 p.m. and left at 3:15 p.m. en route to Chicago via Milwaukee. Approximately 45 minutes later, while flying at an altitude of about 2,000 feet in ideal weather, with everything functioning perfectly, the pilot suddenly experienced a terrific jolt. A glance showed that the left outboard motor was vibrating terribly, due to a portion of the propeller having let go. While in the act of cutting the switch, the motor broke loose from its mounting and the pilot, not knowing for the moment what its effect would be on the other motors, cut all the switches and then investigated further. He found that the motor had lodged on the left landing gear struts. Again Freeburg switched on the other two motors and still had an altitude of about 1800 feet. The plane was operating very well considering the additional resistance caused by the motor shell still being in place with a large opening remaining, due to the loss of the motor.
Pilot Freeburg stated that his next thought was to get rid of the motor, but as he was flying over a farming district he was apprehensive that it might land on a dwelling. As a result, the course was altered and the ship pointed its nose over the Mississippi River. Freeburg intended to shake the motor off the landing gear and drop it into the river, if possible. On approaching a fair sized island in the river he succeeded in maneuvering the plane so that the motor fell off. The pilot then turned the plane around and proceeded to the Wabasha emergency landing field, about 235 miles east. The damage to the landing wheel was such that the wheel would not revolve and the tire was cut open. But a safe landing was made without any further damage.
The incident had already been reported to the operating headquarters at St. Paul by radio at the time of occurrence and a relief ship was immediately dispatched to Wabasa where pilots Freeburg and Kimm transferred their passengers and mail and continued the trip to Chicago.
One of the distinguished features of this occurrence is the fact that during all of this time, Pilot Freeburg was talking into his radio phone, advising St. Paul of what had happened and outlining what he was attempting to do.
(Because there was only a short delay in the flight, it was not recorded as an interrupted flight.)
Mal became a pilot and is one of only 10 pilots to receive the "Airmail Flyers Medal of Honor". He was the first to receive this award. The medal was presented to Mal by President Roosevelt on 13 December 1933.
Citation:
On April 12, Pilot Freeburg, with co-pilot Joe Kimm, departed from St. Paul, Minn., at 3 p.m. en route to Chicago. The plane carried 8 passengers, 6 men and 2 women, besides a load of mail. The plane made its regular stop at Minneapolis at 3:09 p.m. and left at 3:15 p.m. en route to Chicago via Milwaukee. Approximately 45 minutes later, while flying at an altitude of about 2,000 feet in ideal weather, with everything functioning perfectly, the pilot suddenly experienced a terrific jolt. A glance showed that the left outboard motor was vibrating terribly, due to a portion of the propeller having let go. While in the act of cutting the switch, the motor broke loose from its mounting and the pilot, not knowing for the moment what its effect would be on the other motors, cut all the switches and then investigated further. He found that the motor had lodged on the left landing gear struts. Again Freeburg switched on the other two motors and still had an altitude of about 1800 feet. The plane was operating very well considering the additional resistance caused by the motor shell still being in place with a large opening remaining, due to the loss of the motor.
Pilot Freeburg stated that his next thought was to get rid of the motor, but as he was flying over a farming district he was apprehensive that it might land on a dwelling. As a result, the course was altered and the ship pointed its nose over the Mississippi River. Freeburg intended to shake the motor off the landing gear and drop it into the river, if possible. On approaching a fair sized island in the river he succeeded in maneuvering the plane so that the motor fell off. The pilot then turned the plane around and proceeded to the Wabasha emergency landing field, about 235 miles east. The damage to the landing wheel was such that the wheel would not revolve and the tire was cut open. But a safe landing was made without any further damage.
The incident had already been reported to the operating headquarters at St. Paul by radio at the time of occurrence and a relief ship was immediately dispatched to Wabasa where pilots Freeburg and Kimm transferred their passengers and mail and continued the trip to Chicago.
One of the distinguished features of this occurrence is the fact that during all of this time, Pilot Freeburg was talking into his radio phone, advising St. Paul of what had happened and outlining what he was attempting to do.
(Because there was only a short delay in the flight, it was not recorded as an interrupted flight.)
Mal was the only child of Jay Monroe Freeburg and Bonita Bryan, both of Iowa.
Mal became a pilot and is one of only 10 pilots to receive the "Airmail Flyers Medal of Honor". He was the first to receive this award. The medal was presented to Mal by President Roosevelt on 13 December 1933.
Citation:
On April 12, Pilot Freeburg, with co-pilot Joe Kimm, departed from St. Paul, Minn., at 3 p.m. en route to Chicago. The plane carried 8 passengers, 6 men and 2 women, besides a load of mail. The plane made its regular stop at Minneapolis at 3:09 p.m. and left at 3:15 p.m. en route to Chicago via Milwaukee. Approximately 45 minutes later, while flying at an altitude of about 2,000 feet in ideal weather, with everything functioning perfectly, the pilot suddenly experienced a terrific jolt. A glance showed that the left outboard motor was vibrating terribly, due to a portion of the propeller having let go. While in the act of cutting the switch, the motor broke loose from its mounting and the pilot, not knowing for the moment what its effect would be on the other motors, cut all the switches and then investigated further. He found that the motor had lodged on the left landing gear struts. Again Freeburg switched on the other two motors and still had an altitude of about 1800 feet. The plane was operating very well considering the additional resistance caused by the motor shell still being in place with a large opening remaining, due to the loss of the motor.
Pilot Freeburg stated that his next thought was to get rid of the motor, but as he was flying over a farming district he was apprehensive that it might land on a dwelling. As a result, the course was altered and the ship pointed its nose over the Mississippi River. Freeburg intended to shake the motor off the landing gear and drop it into the river, if possible. On approaching a fair sized island in the river he succeeded in maneuvering the plane so that the motor fell off. The pilot then turned the plane around and proceeded to the Wabasha emergency landing field, about 235 miles east. The damage to the landing wheel was such that the wheel would not revolve and the tire was cut open. But a safe landing was made without any further damage.
The incident had already been reported to the operating headquarters at St. Paul by radio at the time of occurrence and a relief ship was immediately dispatched to Wabasa where pilots Freeburg and Kimm transferred their passengers and mail and continued the trip to Chicago.
One of the distinguished features of this occurrence is the fact that during all of this time, Pilot Freeburg was talking into his radio phone, advising St. Paul of what had happened and outlining what he was attempting to do.
(Because there was only a short delay in the flight, it was not recorded as an interrupted flight.)
Mal became a pilot and is one of only 10 pilots to receive the "Airmail Flyers Medal of Honor". He was the first to receive this award. The medal was presented to Mal by President Roosevelt on 13 December 1933.
Citation:
On April 12, Pilot Freeburg, with co-pilot Joe Kimm, departed from St. Paul, Minn., at 3 p.m. en route to Chicago. The plane carried 8 passengers, 6 men and 2 women, besides a load of mail. The plane made its regular stop at Minneapolis at 3:09 p.m. and left at 3:15 p.m. en route to Chicago via Milwaukee. Approximately 45 minutes later, while flying at an altitude of about 2,000 feet in ideal weather, with everything functioning perfectly, the pilot suddenly experienced a terrific jolt. A glance showed that the left outboard motor was vibrating terribly, due to a portion of the propeller having let go. While in the act of cutting the switch, the motor broke loose from its mounting and the pilot, not knowing for the moment what its effect would be on the other motors, cut all the switches and then investigated further. He found that the motor had lodged on the left landing gear struts. Again Freeburg switched on the other two motors and still had an altitude of about 1800 feet. The plane was operating very well considering the additional resistance caused by the motor shell still being in place with a large opening remaining, due to the loss of the motor.
Pilot Freeburg stated that his next thought was to get rid of the motor, but as he was flying over a farming district he was apprehensive that it might land on a dwelling. As a result, the course was altered and the ship pointed its nose over the Mississippi River. Freeburg intended to shake the motor off the landing gear and drop it into the river, if possible. On approaching a fair sized island in the river he succeeded in maneuvering the plane so that the motor fell off. The pilot then turned the plane around and proceeded to the Wabasha emergency landing field, about 235 miles east. The damage to the landing wheel was such that the wheel would not revolve and the tire was cut open. But a safe landing was made without any further damage.
The incident had already been reported to the operating headquarters at St. Paul by radio at the time of occurrence and a relief ship was immediately dispatched to Wabasa where pilots Freeburg and Kimm transferred their passengers and mail and continued the trip to Chicago.
One of the distinguished features of this occurrence is the fact that during all of this time, Pilot Freeburg was talking into his radio phone, advising St. Paul of what had happened and outlining what he was attempting to do.
(Because there was only a short delay in the flight, it was not recorded as an interrupted flight.)
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