FLYING ATLANTIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 3, 5 January 1931, Page 7

FLYING ATLANTIC.

American Pair Turn Back Near Bermuda,

ACCIDENT WITH SEXTANT.

NEW. YORK,. January 4.

Mrs. Beryl Hart, a widow, aged 27, one of the few Women who hold an unlimited transport license, and Lieutenant William MacLarcn, formerly an aviator in the United States Navy, left yesterday in the monoplane Tradewind, with cargo, in order to prove that ocean flying can be put on a paying commercial basis. They intended to fly to Paris, via Bermuda and the Azores. Lieutenant MacLaren was at the controls when they took off, but Mrs. Hart was cxpected to replace him after the start and to do the bulk of the piloting. They had planned to stop for three hours at Hamilton, Bermuda, and they were hoping to reach Paris within 50 hours. The ship is a black and white' Bellanca monoplane, similar to the Columbia, of 300 h.p., and is fitted with a Wright Whirlwind motor. It is equipped with pontoons, but has no radio. A message to the "New, York Times" from Norfolk, Virginia, states that the Tradewind, after reaching a point believed to be only 75 miles from Bermuda, was compelled to return and landed last evening at the Hampton Roads naval station, more than 15 hours after the departure from New York. A damaged sextant and a change in the wind caused the failure of the venture. The Tradewind had flown about 1500 miles when it landed. It is intended to resume the flight on Monday and to follow the same route. Lieutenant MacLaren said: "Where we took oft* there was no wind to help us climb, so wo had to 'rock' the machine in order to gain altitude. Our sextant fell to the floor and was put out of commission. "We decided to go on, anyway, taking the chance of picking up the steamers Bermuda and Veendain at sea. We sighted the vessels about 400 miles from New York, hut when at 2.30 p.m. we did not make a landfall we decided to turn back. Wo reachtd here before ten last night. We had about an hour's .fuel supply left. We travelled at the rate of a hundred miles an hour."