WORLD FLIGHT DELAYED

Southland Times, Issue 23166, 6 April 1937, Page 3

WORLD FLIGHT DELAYED

MRS PUTNAM WILL TRY AGAIN LESSONS OF FIRST ATTEMPT If all goes well, I hope that my plane will be reconditioned in 36 days, and then, if I feel as I do now, my world flight will begin again, wrote Mrs Amelia Earhart Putnam in a special despatch from Burbank (California) last week. This morning I completed my fourth voyage between Hawaii and California—two by plane and two by steamer. This last was not the kind I intended, but the best laid plans of mice and pilots go awry. The accident was a high price to pay for mine going awry, but already the knowledge gained seems nearly worth the cost.

It means better arrangements, navigating facilities, knowledge of the exact reactions of the plane under heavy loads at various altitudes, and, above all, continuity of my faith in my equipment.

The accident has not shaken my confidence and nothing has changed my attitude towards the project. 1 feel better about the ship than ever, and I am now more eager than ever to fly again. It was just one of those things that one is very thankful was no worse. The Plane behaved beautifully in every way. I put burdens upon her which in normal flying she was not built to bear. She carried a heavy overload. Very few times in our partnership have I flown without one. Most

of my flying for some years has been with an overloaded plane seeking a distance performance, so the problems and risks were not so unfamiliar. The performance data show that I do not need to take so much gasoline on these long Pacific hops, and this, with a smaller crew, will mean a smaller load. Not a Speed Trial I have read that this time I will try for a speed record. This is incorrect. The course I have chosen is not for speed. I intend to follow my original plan as nearly as possible, though, owing to the weather, the postponement may mean some deviations. Looking back, I realize what a very pleasant passage the 16-hour hop was, despite the weather. Noonan’s navigation was all that one could expect. Throughout the night the stars told him where we were, while Manning worked the radio. Once Noonan told me to drop through the clouds and steer a certain course. When we were within 200 miles of Hawaii, “Keep Makapau beacon 10 degrees on the starboard bow,” he ordered. He meant that I should tune the radio-direction-finder to indicate the location of the beacon, and head as directed. It was the first time I had used the instrument, and it performed perfectly. I doubt if I would try the flight to tiny Howland Island without thus supplementing Noonan’s skill. Fred has definitely signed up for the next take-off, and there may be only two of us when we start again, as Manning may be obliged to return to his command in the Atlantic. Hard as my reporting may have been for my readers, I doubt if they know what a chore reporting, or trying to report, can be for one whose other jobs include trying to herd a plane round the equator. When I resume I hope I will do a better job, both as a reporter and a pilot.