AVIATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 1682, 31 May 1919, Page 7

AVIATION.

AMERICA TO AZORES,

1200 MILES IN 15J HOURS.

By Electric Telegraph—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.'

Received 0.15 a.m.. May 31st WASHINGTON, May 17 (delayed). ±he JNavy Department ' announces that the corrected time of N.C. 4, from lrepassey to Horta (Azores) was 15 hours 15 minutes. Tlie distance is 1200 miles. Commander Read piloted N.C. 4.

THE AMERICANS' START,

SIS MEN CREWS.

mi , NEW YORK, May 17. The shores of Trepassey Bay were lined by thousands of natives fisherX' +T d ~B ritish- American ' Srs air nn e ti ? seaplanes rose in the an, and the harbour was gay with rf+Hf , smac : small boats, and •uiitish American naval vessels Th° P nT e +i i ma r eU 7 l T d for severa l minutes and then headed out seaward, the. crowds cheering till the planes became dcy ,' _lt originally intended that each plane should carry five, men, but Commander Tower decided to lessen ; the load of petrol by a hundred gallons and :ncreaS3 the crews to sis men who wore leather suits and helmets wjftai telephone arrangements attached. Ooncentrait-sd foods were 1 '" 1 ' event iof an emergency. The New York "Times'* Trepassev correspondent says he learns oh . good authority that if the seanlanes readh. England, they may try tlie flight back m the event of winds being favourable.

THE MACHINES DESCRIBED

Th e two seaplanes which started were each equipped with four Liberty twelvecylinder motors, developing 1600 horse power. Each plane carried 1700 galions of petrol and was able to develop .JO miles an hour. The planes carried six men each, and measured J26 in greatest length of planes. Although not the largest machines in the world they were considered th e most powerful. The weiniht of petrol an each machine was IO.OOOIbs. Each also carried 900 lbs of lubricating oil. The planes were equipped with wireless, with a rang© of* three hundred miles, enabling them +n keep in constant, touch with the United States wnrshin? which patrolled the Atlantic from Trepassey to the Azores at intervals of fifty miles.

WAR SHiP PATROL.

A United Press' correspondent says that twenty-one American destroyers patrolled the route of flight. The destroyer Melville wirelessed that N.C. 4 was 50 miles from Horta, Azores, at -S-10 a.m. Washington time, and landed at Horta at 9.30. During the whole flight and at intervals of less than an hour patrolling destroyers received wireless signals from the seaplanes. These messages were transmitted to Washington, where large assemblages of officials eagerly awaited them. The seaplanes were making a speed of 95 miles an hour during the first eight hours of the journey. N.C. 4 developed engine trouble on the first leg of the journey from Rockaway to Halifax and required heavy repairs at Trepassey before starting for the Azores.

PURPOSE OF THE TRIAL. Mr Daniels announced that Americans had prepared for the past two years for the trans-Atlantic flight. There was no intention of competing against the British. The Americans' object was to chart a feasible all route between Europe and America. BRITISH AIRSHIP. LOST IN A FOG. Received 10.45 p.m.. May 30th. LONDON. May 30. The Army airship R34 had a startling experience during a trial trip. She lost her bearings in a fog, ana was forced to remain in the air for twenty-one hours. The crew, of thirtyone persons was exhausted through want of food.