CAPTAIN GILES RETURNS

Evening Star, Issue 19722, 24 November 1927, Page 5

CAPTAIN GILES RETURNS

BAD WEATHER STRUCK AVIATOR'S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE MACHINE TWINS UPSIDE DOWN. DETERMINED TO MAKE ANOTHER ATTEMPT. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. SAN FRANCISCO, November 22. An Associated Press message states that'. Captain Giles returned and landed at Sail Simeon, near the ranch of Air William Randolph Hearst. Telephoning to the San Francisco ‘Examiner,’ Captain Giles said that he had down 500 miles towards Honolulu when the machine became quite beyond control and went completely “ haywire,” into a rain-drenched pocket, and finally turned upside_down, scattering the charts, food, and instillments into the ocean. Then in a magnificent exhibition of airmanship Captain Giles turned the damaged ’plane right side up, and, making a wild guess as to direction, turned her back into the mainland, making a safe landing one mile south of the Hearst ranch. “ I never expected to make it,” he said, “my centre section bracing wires had snapped, and I had dumped my main gas tanks to lighten the strain on the broken ’plane. My chances were just about zero, but luck stayed with me, and I hit the coast 60 miles north of where I landed. 1 had to kgep the ship in the air all that distance before I linally found a landing place.” When asked what he planned to do now, Captain Giles replied: “ Why, I am going to try again. I will fix the ship and fly her back to San Francisco. Then as soon as the moon is at the full and new charts are obtained I will be off again. I have started to fly to Australia, and I am going to do it.” Over the telephone Captain Giles sounded breathless and seemed to be trembling, signs of nervousness remaining in Ins voice after his harrowing experience, which was perhaps one of the most terrifying any aviator has ever undergone. _ Continuing his comments, Captain Giles said: “The weather was fine until I got about 300 miles out, when it started getting bad. It was cloudy, with rain squalls, and I began to feel those air pockets they have out there over the Pacific, the same things that must have spelled ‘curtain’ for Frost, Erwin, Pedlar, and Miss Doran. 1 figured 1 could get through, but my luck was out, or maybe it is in. I ran into utterly foul weather 480 miles out. The clouds were very thick_ ami low, and, there were incessant rain squalls. There was not much wind, but the pockets were awful. I think my experiences solve definitely the mystery as to what happened to the Dolo racers. I had a biplane, and it was only by the sheerest luck that I survived what I went through. A monoplane is much less stable than a biplane, and a monoplane would not have had a ch a nothin the weather that turned me over. You can see what must-have happened to them.” BAD WEATHER CONTRADICTED. -“CONDITIONS COULD NOT HAVE EXISTED.” SAN FRANCISCO, November 23. (Received November 24, at 11 a.m.) The violent weather conditions reported by Captain Giles were “simply impossible, and it is unreasonable to think that they could have existed,” declared the United States Weather Bureau officials to-day. adding that the ships scattered along the route reported calm seas and light winds. REPAIRS NECESSARY. SAN FRANCISCO, November 23. (Received November 24, at 9.20 a.m.) Captain Giles is expected to return here to-day by automobile. He notified his backers by telephone that the plane was unsafe for flying, and ho would have to make repairs before ho could bring it here for another take-off for Honolulu. Mr Peterson refused to comment on the possibility of another attempted flight until Captain Giles’s arrival. Mr Peterson declared that it depended entirely on the extent of the damage to the. plane. Captain Giles told the attendants at the Hearst ranch-that, hp would go to San Francisco to procure the necessary ■materials to repair the plane, then fly it to San Francisco, and make another attempt as soon as the weather permitted. .