LURE OF ATLANTIC FLIGHT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18608, 2 July 1930, Page 9

LURE OF ATLANTIC FLIGHT.

Non-Stop Record Attacked. ITALY’S AMBITIOUS ADVENTURE. (United Preee Association—By Blectrls Telegraph—Consrignt. ) (Received July 1, 9.30 p.m.) ROME, July 1. Twelve of Italy’s most powerful seaplanes are awaiting favourable weather for an attempt on a non-stop formation flight to Brazil, under the personal leadership of the Air Minister (Signor Balbo). SPANNING THE OCEAN. DANGER OF THE ATLANTIC CROSSING. With the safe arrival of the Southern Cross the Atlantic has been flown successfully ten times since the British airmen, Sir John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, made the first air crossing on June 14-15, 1919. Only one aeroplane, however, previously had succeeded in crossing the northern portion of the Atlantic from east to west, that in which the Germans, Baron von Huehnefeld and Captain Koehl, and Major J. C. Fitzmaurice, Commandant of the Irish Free State Air Force, travelled from Baldonnel, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Labrador, in, April, 1928. With that exception, the east to west crossing, which Kingsford-Smith and his companions have made, has been extremely disastrous.

The longest non-stop flight to date was accomplished by Captain Arturo Ferrarin and Major Carlo del Prete in July, 1928, when they flew from Rome to Brazil, a distance of 4632 miles in 51 hours. The Successful Flights. Following is a list of the successful flights made across the Atlantic, whether from east to west, or west to east:— June, 1919.—Sir John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Ireland, 1880 miles, 16} hours. May, 1927.—Charles Lindbergh, New York to Paris, 3639 miles, 33} hours. June, 1927.—Clarence Chamberlain and Charles Levine, New York to Eisleben, Germany, 3905 miles, 423 hours. June, 1927.—Commander Richard Byrd and three companions, New York to France, 4000 miles, 40 hours. August. 1927.—William Brock and Edward Schlee, Newfoundland to Croydon, 1930 miles, 24} hours. April, 1923.—8ar0n von Huehnefeld, Captain Koehl and Major C. E. Fitzmaurice, Baldonnel, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Labrador, 2300 miles, 36 hours. June, 1928.—Wilmer Stultz, Lou Gordon and Miss Amelia Earhart (first woman to fly the Atlantic), Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, to Llanelly, South Wales, 1300 miles, 263 hours.

July, 1928.—Captain Arturo Ferrarin and Major Carlo del Prete, Rome to Brazil, 4850 miles, 451 hours. Longest non-stop flight to date. March, 1929.—Captain Jiminez and Inglesias, Seville, Spain, to Bahia, Brazil, 3390 miles. June, 1929.—Armona Lotte, Jean Assolaut and Rene Lefevre, Maine, United States, to Santander, Spain. Failures and Tragedies. In the following list the failures, including the losses, are given in company with those Atlantic flights which were taken in stages:— May, 1919.—Harry Hawker and Commander Mackenzie Grieve, R.N., St. John’s, Newfoundland, to point in sea 750 miles from west coast of Ireland, 1100 miles. May, 1919.—Lieutenant-Commander A. C. Read, Trepassy, Newfoundland, to Lisbon, via the Azores. First time the Atlantic was actually crossed by air. March, 1922.—Commander Cabral and Commander Coutinho (Portuguese), Lisbon to Brazil, via Canary and Cape Verde Islands. January, 1926.—Commandant Franco and two Spanish companions, Canary Islands to Pernambuco, Brazil, via Fernando Noronha Islands. February, 1927. —Marchesse de Pinedo, Cape Verde Islands to Pernambuco, via Fernando Noronha Islands’. March, 1927.—Lieutenant - Colonel Sarmento Beires (Portuguese), Bissagos Islands, Portuguese West Africa, to Brazil, via Fernando Noronha Islands. May, 1927.—Nungessor and Coli, Paris, for New York, lost at sea. August, 1927.—Princess Lowenstein Wertheim, Colonel Minchin and Captain Hamilton, Uphaven, Wiltshire, for Ottawa, lost at sea.

September, 1927. — Lloyd Bertand, James Hill and Phillip Payne, Maine, for Rome, failed.

September, 1927.—Captain Tully and Lieutenant Metcalf, Newfoundland for London, failed.

October, 1927.—Miss Ruth Elder, Long Island to point 350 miles off Azores, 2600 miles non-stop. Rescued by steamer. December ,1927. —Mrs Grayson, America, for England, lost at sea. March, 1928. Captain Hinchcliffe and the Hon. Elsie Mackay, Cranwell, for New York, lost at sea. August, 1928.—Bert Hassel and Parker Cramer, Illinois to Stockholm, Sweden, in three hops. Lost on second stage to Greenland. October, 1928.—Commander H. C. MacDonald, Newfoundland for England in a moth, lost at sea.