HAZARDOUS FLIGHT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22326, 28 July 1934, Page 18

HAZARDOUS FLIGHT

“BLIND” ATLANTIC DASH LANDING IN IRISH FIELD. Two intrenid airmen are the heroes of the latest ‘achievement in transatlantic flying. Not attempts .to cross from America to Europe have succeeded under more trying hazards than those which almost brought disaster to,them and their machine. Encountering weather of the worst type, the two flyers took 31 hours to travel from New York to the west coast of Ireland, and for 21 hours they flew “ blindly,” or entirely by .the guidance of instruments. The engine of their machine completely gave out almost infr mediately after they got their first eight of land. The survivors ipf this gamble with death are Captain George - P.ond, a.former United States Navy Mot; and Lieutenant Cesare Sabelli, an Italian war ace. Some time ago Captain, Pond participated in an attempt to fly nonstop to Buenos Aires, but got no further than Long Island. ■ His companion. Lieutenant Sabelli, had' planned to fly the Atlantic to Rome since 1928, when. ho and Mr Roger Q. Williams; a well-known American aviator, made • an _ attempt which ended on the coast of Maine, ihe failure caused the Bellanca - Company, which owned the aeroplane, to claim the machine. • Lieutenant Sabelli s other troubles included suing the Bellanca Company, • being sued by a doctor he had arranged to take as a passenger, and finally being sued for divorce by his wife. Sabelli and his companion boldly defied superstition inasmuch as up to' date. 13 lives have-been lost in five previous attempts to reach Rome from New York, this was their thirteenth attempt to make this flight, the license number of the aeroplane was 13,137, Signor Sabelli is the thirteenth child of his parents. The airmen took off in the presence of a handful of spectators from the. Floyd Bennett field. New York, in an orange and maroon monoplane named the Leonardo daWinci; They had aboard enough petrol for 4SIUU miles, and a wireless receiver. Their rations included sandwiches, tomato juice, chocolate, tinned vegetables, and biscuits. As a precaution, a fence into which the Marquis di Pmedo crashed and was killed when taking off. for an. Atlantic flight last: September was removed from the aerodrome before the machine, with Captain Pond at the controls, got into motion.. It taxied for 3000 ft, then rose perfectly, and, after circling the field, disappeared in sea mists. Following the start, extremely bad weather developed over the Atlantic, and the worst fears were enter-/ tained until, after the lapse of 32 hours without any news, word was received that the Leonardo da VinCi had landed in. a field at Moy, on the coast of County. Clare, Ireland. After obtaining shelter, in an hotel at Lahinch Captain Pond gave, a- thrilling account of how he and his: colleague almost lost their lives. lao not believe any Atlantic airmen can ever have experienced so much fog and continuous rain as we did,” he said. 1 had to do most of the flying, as my companion had no experience of blind flying. He attempted to relieve me once, _ but I had to take control again from him.; There, were no blind-flying instruments at the time when he was a pilot in Italian Army during the war. After cruising at about 7000 ft we tried to find out. the range of the wind. Once we dropped until we nearly touched the water, and then almost met disaster. Just before sighting Ireland we, had almost decided that we were finished, as our engine had been giving trouble and the fog over the sea was very bad. First of all a stoppage occurred in the flow of petrol from the main tank. . Sabelli then fearlessly clambered out of the aeroplane, connected up the spare tank, and so cleared the flow. Later, the engine faltered so badly that we almost had to make a force landing in the sea. Sabelli, however, came to the rescue again by successfully working the oil pump. .We had almost given up hope when Sabelli saw land ahead. At the same moment we spotted some thatched cottages, and I knew at once we were over Ireland. We were about to prepare to land when the engine suddenly stopped completely, and we had to make a forced landing in a small field. The result was that the undercarriage of the machine was damaged. We have at least 150 gallons of petrol, and that will be sufficient to take us on the journey to Rome.” The time occupied by the flight from New York to Moy, although fast, is not a record. Colonel Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris in May. 1927, in 331 hours; and in July, 1931, Herndon and Paugborn flew from New York to Cardington (Bedford) in 31 1 hours.