LONG DISTANCE FLIERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19658, 9 June 1927, Page 11

LONG DISTANCE FLIERS.

GREAT BERLIN WELCOME. TRIBUTES TO AMERICANS. FRIENDLY BONDS CEMENTED. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyricht. (Received June 8, 7.24 p.m.) A. and N.Z.-Sun. BERLIN. June 7. The American airmen, Messrs. Clarence D. Chamberlain and Charles Levine, who have flown from New York to Germany, reached Berlin to-day after an hour s flight from Kotlbus. A hugo crowd awaited their approach and greeted them with a storm of cheering. The Bellanca monoplane, the Columbia, with an escort, continued the flight over the city and workers left their offices to join in the welcome. The aeroplanes then returned and alighted at tho Tempelhof aerodrome amid renewed demonstrations. A cordon of police immediately surrounded the Columbia. • The United States Ambassador to Germany, Mr. J. G. Schurmau, who was accompanied by all the members of the staff of tho Embassy, was tho first to greet the airmen. In the course of a speech the Ambassador hailed them as "celestial messengers" who had carried goodwill and friendship from America to Germany. 1 The German Minister of Economic Affairs, Herr Curtius, congratulated the airmen on behalf of Germany. He remarked that they had cementetl the bonds between the two countries. Mr. Chamberlain says he has no intention of flying back to America, although he will adhere to his decision to fly to Paris, Vienna and London. STUDY IN CONTRASTS. CARR-GILLMAN EFFORT. NO WELCOME FORTHCOMING. (Received June 8, 9.57 p.m.) Sl 'n- LONDON, June 8. Whereas 200,000 people welcomed Captain Lindbergh at Croydon and 60,000 acclaimed Messrs. Chamberlain and Levine it Berlin, only 12 persons, including relatives and journalists, welcomed FlightLieutenants Carr and Gillman at Victoria station to-day. Yet these two men risked their lives in an attempt to secure the long-distance flying record for Britain, failing by the narrow margin of 185 miles. The two airmen drove home from the station without a single cheer. ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. STRONGER ENGINES NEEDED. EXPERIMENTS IN AMERICA. A and N.Z. WASHINGTON, June 7. The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Wilbur, | stated the naval engineers who had helped to develop the air-cooled engine of the planes which carried Captain Lindbergh and Mr. Clarence Chamberlain across the Atlantic are working on the improvement of the engine and plane. This, it is hoped, would make trans- j atlantic flying practical instead of experimental. Mr. Wilbur declined to reveal the extent of the engineers' accomplishments, but he said the motors in the planes used by Captain Lindbergh and Mr. Chamberlain were of only 225 h.p. Experiments were being conducted toward perfecting motors of from 500 to 800 h.p., both air-cooled and water-cooled. The naval authorities are eagerly awaiting the forthcoming Atlantic trip of Commander Byrd, who will take three passengers in a three-engined monoplane. It is believed that his success ( would mean much for airplane travel. TASMAN SEA_ PROJECT. AUSTRALIAN AIRMEN EAGER. MONEY THE ONLY OBSTACLE. A. and N.Z. MELBOURNE, June 8. Colonel White, the president of the Victorian section of the Aero Club, referring to the proposal for a flight from Australia to New Zealand, said money was the difficulty. There were plenty of machines at Point Cook which were capable of the flight, and hundreds of pilots vvTio were only too eager to undertake the attempt. An experimental flight of this nature would cost a few hundreds of pounds, but tho money was not forthcoming. The Aero Club would stand behind any such flight, and he hoped that in the Dear future the flight would be made. An American " Whirlwind " engine would be capable of a flight to New Zealand and back without landing. "In forging tho links between tho Dominions, said Colonel White, "Australia should take pride of place." RECORDS TO DVTE. REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS. BRITISH AIRMEN AMBITIOUS. (British Official Wireless.) A.'and N.Z. RUGBY. June 7. | Tho new record non-stop flight of 3906 miles from New York to Germany which has just been accomplished by the American airmen, Messrs. Chamberlain and Levine, is the subject of high tributes in the British press. Preparations are in hand for according adequate recognition to the airmen when they visit England next week. The Columbia is heavier than tho Ryan plane in which Captain Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris, but is of the same general type. It flew 296 miles further than Captain Lindbergh's machine. The Atlantic has now been crossed in aeroplanes eight times. On five of these occasions, however, the airmen made halts at Cape Verde, the Canary Islands or Noronha Island. Apart from the flights of Captain Lindbergh and Mr. Chamberlain, the only non-stop transatlantic flight was by the late Sir John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown in 1919. Four flights of more than 3000 miles have now been accomplished. The French airmen. Lieutenant Costes and Captain Rignot, in their recent flight to Russia covered about 3200 miles. This is 200 miles less than the distance flown by the Englishmen, FUght-Lieutenants Carr and Gillman, on their recent attempt to reach India. The Daily News says a new attempt to beat Mr. Chamberlain's record will be made by British airmen in the near future.