FLIGHT TO HAWAII.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 9

FLIGHT TO HAWAII.

RACE FROM CALIFORNIA. FIVE MACHINES SET OUTONLY FOUR CONTINUE. MISHAPS AT Till! START. WOMAN IN ONE PLANE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received August 17. 5.5 p.m.) A: and N.Z.-Suu. SAN FRANCISCO. Aug IG. Five planes hopped off from Oakland, California, (o-day in the race for Mr. Dole's prize of £7OOO for a flight to Hawaii. , The first machine left, at noon. It was estimated the flight would take 22J, hours. There were originally eight starters as follows: Miss Doran.—Miss Mildred Doran, a Michigan teacher, with J. A. Peddlar, pilot; Lieutenant Vilas Knope, navigator. Golden Eagle.—Jack Frost, pilot; Gordon Scott, navigator. Aloha.—Martin Jensen, pilot; Captain Paul Schulter navigator. Woolorac.—Arthur Goebel, pilot; Lieutenant William Davis, navigator. Oklahoma.—Bennett Griffin, pilot; A. Henley, navigator. Elencunto. —Goddard, pilot; Hawkins, navigaf on. .Dallas Spirit.—Captain William Erwin, pilot. Pabco.—Major Livingstone Irving, pilot. Mr. Charles Parkhurst's Air King was disqualified and did not start. Of the eight starters the Golden Eagle, Aloha and Woolorac were still in flight an hour and a-half after the start. The Oklahoma, Miss Doran, and Dallas Spirit returned. but after repairs had been effected the Miss Doran set out again. Crowd oi 200,000 at Start. The Eleocanto was wrecked in taking off. The occupants escaped injury. The Pabco failed to rise. 1 lie race was begun in the presence of a cheering crowd of 2C0.000 spectators. Griffin and Henley in the monoplane Oklahoma were the first to depart. This plane was heavily loaded. It glided down the runway promptly 'at noon and soon soared into the air. Goddard was the next to start off the runway two minutes later in the Elencanto, but the machine did not leave the ground. It rocked from side to side down the course and the left wing snapped in the middle. Competitors' Varying Fortunes. Major Irving tried to take off in the Pabco at 12.04 p.m., but stopped one minute later, as the plane did not leave the ground. The pilot explained that the machine got awav too quickly. He announced that he would try again as soon as possible. Charles Parkhurst, whose plane, Air King, was disqualified shortly before the take-off, admitted after these two failures to rise that the committee was absolutely right in barring him. Frost, in the Golden Eagle, took off successfully at 12.30 p.m. and was followed a minute and a-half later by Peddlar and Miss Doran in their plane. Jensen followed in another minute and a-half in the Aloha. Goebel took the runway one minute later in the Woolorac and Captain Erwin in the Dallas Spirit departed at 12.36 p.m. Four Planes Still in the Race. Toward the end one plane started across the field almost as soon as the wheels of the preceding one had left the ground. The Aloha flew very low, worrying the spectators. Peddlar and Miss Doran, who is the onlv woman essaying the flight, returned to the field within 12 minutes owing to the backfiring of their motor. Captain Erwin and Griffin returned next Early reports from steamers indicate that only the Aloha has been sighted. She was seen less than 200 miles from San Francisco. In addition to the Aloha the Golden Eagle, Woolorac and Miss Doran are. still in the race. There were originally 18 entrants who paid the fee for competitors in the race for the Dole prize from California to Hawaii. Of these, several had to drop out for various reasons. Lieutenants George Covell and Robert Waggcner, of the United States Navy, and Lieutenant Dyer, a passenger, were killed on August 10. when their plane crashed at San Diego. Of the other 15 machines 12 were monoplanes, two single-strut biplanes, and one a triplane. All h«id Wright Whirlwind engines. Captain Kingsford SmiAi, of Australia, who is in San Francisco trying to purchase a machine for his flight, says he doubts whether any of the planes had been sufficiently tested with full loads in the air - ~ T Of the competitors, Martin Jansen. whose plane is named Aloha, is the only one whose home is in Honolulu.