Confederate Air Corps officers are at a loss to explain the disappearance of five Grumman E1 Avengers dispatched out of Ft. Lauderdale for routine patrol over the Atlantic last Tuesday afternoon. The Avenger is favored by some coastal units of the Confederate Air Corps due to its increased range, fuel efficiency, and engine redundancy, which reduce the risk of trouble during flights over the Atlantic ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Known as the "Beach Burners" for their habit of using the long deserted barrier island beaches for strafing practice, the lost unit leaves behind unanswered questions, strange stories, and a half-dozen widows.

The flight was led by Lt. Jack "Rat-a-tat" Earnest, an experienced aviator with knowledge of the area. The weather was clear at take off, but went foul unexpectedly a short time later. Reliable sources have told AWN that the flight made contact with Ft. Lauderdale by radio several times, and claimed their compasses were all giving different readings. Earnest reported seeing a lighthouse, then said it had (impossibly) gone out on him. After a time the flight simply stopped responding, though their fuel should have been sufficient to remain in the air for some time after that.

Based on Lt. Earnest's best guess of the flights' position, a rescue flight was launched from Ft. Lauderdale. That aircraft also never returned from its mission—radio contact was lost suddenly and never reestablished. In the following days, no debris has been recovered.

Six planes and more than 20 men gone, and the CAC isn't taking it sitting down. "This is a tragedy," said Major Gary Wheeler, Base Commander of Ft. Lauderdale CAS, "but we're not yet prepared to call it an accident. Those men were competent pilots, level-headed Confederate aviators—I refuse to believe they simply got lost. Something happened out there, and we're going to get to the bottom of it."

—Liz "Canary" Calloway, AWN Dixie correspondent