AMERICAN AIRMEN BACK AT NEW YORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 165, 15 July 1938, Page 9

AMERICAN AIRMEN BACK AT NEW YORK.

ENCIRCLED GLOBE.

Kecord Flight in Less Than Four Days.

ItADIO TROUBLE EN ROUTE

United Press As S ociatlon.-Copy right ,

(Received 9.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, J,,ly 14 His A Til C if\ airman ' Mr - H "<™d .nugnes, vith his crew of four landed in the twin-engined "fS laboratory" monoplane, 0 <Sw fe World's Fan-, 1939," at 2.37 p ni ;:f t,n " the fl round An earlier cable stated that he had armed at Minneapolis and taken off from there for New York at 10:13 a.m. The airman decided not to land at Winnipeg f or reasons not known He had planned only a brief stay to refuel He also intended to stay probably not more than 30 minutes at Minneapolis before taking off on the. final leg for fcew York which he expected to reach Sn the mid afternoon. The weather conditions at Minneapolis almost perfect. The flight from Fairbanks had taken 12 hours 2 "minutes. The plane Mcked into headwinds most <oi the way. ■ Mr. Hughes said the reason he had toot reported for six hours was the failure of the radio transmission, with Iwhich he had had intermittent trouble •ver since he left Paris. 44 A Lot of Things Went Wrong." "A lot of little things went wrong the 'plane," he said, "but we will fcot stay to repair any of them. We ibelieve the ship is ready for the flight po New York, and we are going on."

A message from Old Saybrook, Connecticut, stated that Miss Katherine Hepburn, the film actress, left hurriedly in an automobile, presumably for New pfork to greet Mr. Hughes, though no Announcement was made. A hint of fcomance was given following a visit to JMiss Hepburn by Mr. Hughes before he started on the flight last Sunday.

It had been previously reported that the flyers had left Fairbanks for New pfork at 9.36 p.m. on Wednesday.

From the take-off at New York to the landing at Fairbanks, the elapsed (time was three days 58' minutes, the jßying time 54 hours 40 minutes, the jtverage speed 209.4 miles an hour, and Pie distance travelled 11,330 miles.

Mr. Hughes reported by radio at 3 fc.m. to-day that he would, refuel at [Winnipeg. He indicated that the aerotolane had cleared the dangerous jpfcKenzie range and all was well.

' Holder of the United States transcontinental record of 7h 29m 28s, created fn January, 1937, Mr. Howard Hughes, who ie in hie 34th year, is a wealthy (American filih#producer. He hae won many *sr races, and set a world record for land aeroplanes at Santa Ana on September 14, H935, when, in a 14-cylinder 1000 horsebower low-winged monoplane, he covered * measured' course eix times at epeede fcanging from 252 to 353 miles an hour, fhiu beating ..comfortably the previous fc-ecord of 314.319 miles an hour set by the ffrench ace M. Delmotte. Previous flights round the world have (een made ae follows:— In 1924, by United States Army aerotolanes in 175 daye, or 14 daye 15 hours of fctual flying. In 1929 by the Graf Zeppelin, July 31 fo September 4 (2i;700 miles). In 1931 by Messrs. Wiley Poet and Harold Gatty in the monoplane Winnie Mae around the northern air circumference (15,474 mflee), 8 daye 15 hours 51 fcninutes. In 1932 by Mr. Poet eolo in the, same Inachine, and by the eame route (15,596 Jniles), in 7 daye 18 houre 49% minutes.

1 LONG FLIGHT.

1 BRITISH 'PLAHE TESTED.

I (Received 12 noon.) LONDON, July 14. The Mercury, the upper unit of the Mayo pick-a-back 'plane, completed §700 miles endurance flight over England in 12 hours.