AVIATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20288, 22 December 1927, Page 11

AVIATION

THE ENDURANCE FLIGHT. ATTEMPT AT RECORD FAILS. (Press Association —By Telegraph—Oopyrigati SAN FRANCISCO, December 20. Captain Smith landed at 9.47 this morning with his petrol exhausted, the endurance flight failing by approximately three hours to break the record. A message received at 8 o’clock in the rorning declared that the ’plane would probably be able to remain up an hour and a-half longer, which would make the total time more than two hours below the record. The message stated that the ’plane was functioning perfectly, but the petrol was low. The airmen landed at Mills Field, having kept the ’plane aloft until practically the last drop of petrol was drained from the tanks. The unofficial time for the flight was 49h 20min, which is 2h 53min below the German record. —A. and N.Z. Cable. STRAIN OP THE LONG CRUISE. PILOTS ON VERGE OP COLLAPSE. SAN FRANCISCO, December 20. Both the pilots were almost lifted from the cockpit of the ’plane as it came to a stop. They seemed on the verge of collapse from the strain of the long cruise. Their lips were cracked and their faces were drawn as they left the ’plane. Their bloodshot eyes told of sleepless hours at night. Captain Smith said: “I’m sorry we could not make the rest of it, but we will do it next time.”—A. and N.Z. Cable. DETERMINED TO TRY AGAIN.

GREATER PETROL CAPACITY.

NEW YORK, December 20. Captain Smith and Lieutenant Pond announced that they would make another attempt after the petrol carrying capacity of the ’plane had been increased. They started their last flight with over 1400 gallons, and declared that this was partly responsible for their failure. The airmen were unaLle to hear the barrage of questions shot at them on landing by scores of friends and journalists, having been temporarily deafened by the roar 0 the giant motors and the sweep of the wind. They were so tired that they leaned on their comrades shoulders for Captain Smith' asked for a cigarette then volunteered the information . We had to climb out of the fog on Monday night, and went up to 4500 ft. f> That made a big hole in our gas supply. Lieutenant Pond declared that the nervous strain, the rocking of the plane, and the sound of the motors prevented much sleep during the long, monotonous flight. He stated that they got approximately one hour sleep each during the 49 hours in the air.

’PLANE FUNCTIONED PERFECTLY. INTENSE INTEREST IN FLIGHT. SAN FRANCISCO, December 20. (Received Deo. 20, at 5.5 P- m -) Tho three motors of the ’pl an ® tioned perfectly. Lieutenant lend said: “ Tho motors missed only a few times. That was to be expected. We learned a lot that will be advantageous to us m our next attempt.” , Just before landing they piloted the ’plane low over the Administration Buildings on Mills Field, and flashed a signal licht Die field was cleared immediate!}, and in less than a minute later the piano nosed down through the haze and rolled on to the runway, and soon taxied back to the hangar. swarmed over the craft and commenced inspections and repair work. , ~ The destination of tho flyers when they wore taken to rest was not announced, to prevent disturbances. They did not get hungry on the flight, as indicated by three bottles of sour milk and some mouldy sandwiches found in the cockpit. ihe fivers took two bottles of coffee, one of which was found broken in the plane on Sunday night, when the effect of the constant pulsation was most keen. Dio flyers explained that after a few hours their senses became dulled and they just plodded along. . , The intense interest taken in tho flight was shown by the number of telephone calls received at the Mills Field day and night. Operators were kept busy all the time the ’plane was in the air. Captain Smith said that before landing he swooped over the field twice ‘ to keep the boys awake.” As dawn appeared the ’plane’could be seen hanging abov e the fog that reached up to over 1000 ft. The ’plane seemed to be barely moving. Messages said that the flyers were conserving every ounce of petrol, as the motors were turning fewer than 1400 r.p.m. for a long time. Speculations were rife as to the time they would alight. It was hoped that the flyers had overlooked the 170gallon tank under the seat, but when they landed they had less than five gallons left.—A. and N.Z. Cable.

NEW SEAPLANE SPEED RECORD. A BRITISH ATTEMPT. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, December 20. (Received Dec. 21, at 5.5 p.m.) Early in the New Year a British seaplane will attempt to establish a new speed record by flying over 300 miles an hour. A Napier craft will be used over a measured course of three, kilometres. The present record is 295.4 miles hourly, and to establish a new record involves exceeding this speed by five miles an hour on the average of two flights, one with the wind and on e against the wind. The present land aeroplane speed record of 278 m.p.h., which was set up in 1924, was unofficially beaten by Flight-lieutenant Web. stor during the Schneider trophy race, when he averaged 281.6 miles an hour over a triangular course, and put up a new 100 kilometres’ record of 283 miles 1555 yards an hour.—A. and N.Z. Cable. EXPLOSION OF GASOLENE. HEAVY LIST OF CASUALTIES. NEW YORK, December 20. At San Diego one man was killed and fourteen injured, four iseriously, in an explosion and fire aboard the United States aircraft carrier Langley. A gasolene leak was responsible, for the disaster. —A. and N.Z. Cable.