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Southland Times, Issue 22499, 8 December 1934, Page 7

NO TRACE

. PACIFIC FLYERS A FRUITLESS SEARCH BAD WEATHER EXPECTED MESSAGES RE-CHECKED (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 7 p.m.) Honolulu, December 6. Two thousand of .the army, navy and coastguard personnel finished the third day of their search for Mr C. T. P. Ulm without success. Navy planes and surface ships examined an area up to 300 miles northward besides searching in other areas. Rear-Admiral Yarnell ordered surface craft to continue to patrol all night, and twelve navy seaplanes are ready to start at 8 a.m. tomorrow. A conference of naval officials will be held at 7 a.m. to-morrow to determine further plans. There are indications that the search will be extended northward on a report from the liner Lurline that Mr Ulm was probably off his course 500 miles from San Francisco when he was unable to see the Lurline’s searchlights, although he should have passed over the ship. It is believed that he veered northward early. Weak signals thought due to radio trouble are now attributed to Mr Ulm’s distance from his objective as the naval radio station at Hilo, 75 miles south and 125 miles east of Honolulu, was unable to hear the signals on Tuesday The navy is handicapped by lack of position reports from Mr Ulm and failure to obtain radio compass bearings here due to the weakness of his signals. Stormy weather is moving towards the islands from the north and flyers report that visibility is bad. Two navy seaplanes are overdue, but no alarm is felt. Hawaii people are following the search closely in the papers and by radio. There is some talk of offers of a reward, but nothing definite yet. Wide Area Covered. Because southerly winds have prevailed most of the time since Mr Ulm was forced down, and because the currents flow north-westwards, it is presumed that the plane, if afloat, has drifted to near the north-western extremity of the archipelago. The weather is clear with moderate swells. Navy airmen estimated to-day that the searching planes had covered nearly 250,000 square miles. One of the most encouraging factors-is that the weather has been mostly good since the plane went down, and it is better. to-day than at any time since. Rain is forecast, however. The earlier belief that Mr Ulm sent messages after the plane struck the water, thus indicating a safe landing was practically eliminated, according to radio men, with the disclosure to-day that the plane carried a trailing antenna which would have caused the radio to fail when the plane hit the water.

A re-check of Mr Ulm’s messages as received by the Globe Wireless Company showed that at 9.8 a.m. on Tuesday a message stated: “We are just going to the water.” At 9.21 a.m. the following was picked up: “We are turning into the wind.” Then at 9.24 a.m.: “Come and pick us up. The plane will float for two days.” From 9.24 to 9.30, when the radio was silenced, there was a constant stream of S.O.S. calls. Rough Weather Predicted.

An ominous threat to the safety of the flyers, if they survive, and theii searchers loomed to-night when the navy Weather Bureau announced that rough weather was blowing up. Rain, poor visibility and poor flying conditions generally were forecast for Friday. Lieut. Stephens, the navy meteorologist, placed the spot where the plane is believed to havp touched the sea as 180 miles north north-east of Honolulu, the position being approximately latitude 24 north and longitude 157 west. He based his calculations on the weather and water conditions, the time consumed in combatting head and cross winds and the flying capacity of the plane. Most of the other naval officials agreed in the position figured by Lieut. Stephens. This area has been thoroughly searched during the past three days. A message from San Francisco states that the Lurline and the plane passed on Monday night. The Lurline was following exactly the same course plotted for the plane, but in an opposite direction. The officers said that had the plane been as close as 20 to 30 miles the aviators could have sighted the liner, but Mr Ulm radioed that he could not see the ship. He did not send a second message after passing, which would have enabled the Lurline to plot his position by triangulation The officials estimated that the plane was 62 miles off its course to the north, when it settled to the water, and placed it about 100 miles north of Kauai on a direct line with the little coral island of Nihoa. Kingsford Smith Hopeful. Mr Ulm’s searchers were heartened to-day by the following telegram from Sir Charles Kingsford Smith to Mr John Williams, a mutual friend of Sir Charles and Mr Ulm: “I definitely believe Mr Ulm’s machine is capable of floating for several days and strongly urge that the search should not yet be abandoned.” This message was handed to the authorities and Commander E. W. Todd declared: “We have no intention of abandoning the search while there is any hope. The Navy has 13 planes again sweeping parts of the area already covered by other ships in the search yesterday and the day before. We are checking all reports to see that no small part of the surrounding water has been neglected.” GALE SPRINGS UP AIR SEARCHERS ENDANGERED. (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec 10.0 p.m.) Honolulu, December 6. A howling wind, which approached gale proportions, churned up the sea and endangered aerial searchers tonight. A report that he was blown 30 miles off his course was brought back by Lieutenant Herbert Riley _as he landed a huge navy seaplane in Pearl Harbour two and a half hours behind schedule. Lieutenant Riley, who patrolled 325 miles to the north, said the storm blew up out of the southwest as he headed homeward. This officer was in one of the planes flown here from San Francisco last January.

FURTHER SEARCH SAMPANS BEING CHARTERED. (United Press Assn.— Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 1.25 a.m.) Sydney, December 7. The Commonwealth and New South Wales Governments have decided to charter thirty sampans in Hawaii to join in the search for Mr Ulm. It is anticipated that, the cost will be between £4OO and £5OO. , ~ The Federal Cabinet had before it a message received by the New Zealand Broadcasting Board> manager, Mr E. C. Hands, from. Station KGU Honolulu,

venturing the opinion that Mr Ulm s plane would float for six days and strongly recommending that the Governor of Hawaii be authorized to charter thirty deep-sea Japanese sampans to work under the direction of the navy, thereby doubling the prospects of locating the airmen. Mr Hands replied that he was passing the information to the Australian authorities.