VIRTUALLY HOPELESS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20483, 8 December 1934, Page 1

VIRTUALLY HOPELESS.

Bad Weather Blots Out Almost All Chance of Rescue. STILL NO TRACE OF ULM. U.S. Flyers Cover Enormous Distance During Ocean Search. (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph. Copyright.) (Received December 8, 10.25 a.m.) HONOLULU, December 7. A ROARING WIND on Friday blew out all but the faintest hope for the survival of the missing flyers. The rain, rough weather and low visibility conspired with the wind to leave the possibility of a Japanese fishing boat having picked up the flyers as virtually the only hope that they are alive. Nevertheless, the United States naval, army and coastguard officials gave no indication that they are discontinuing the search. The combined forces in the last three days have flown a distance estimated to be equivalent to more than five times around the earth.

The British Consul, Mr William Turner, held a conference with the Governor, Mr J. P. Poindexter, and the navy authorities this morning in reference to the Australian guarantee of £1250 towards a search for finding Ulm. The Fishing Fleet Association gave notice that it has 100 sampans operating in the islands. The authorities expect a new plan for the extension of the search later this morning. Fishing boats and the major part of the army planes will resume their inshore patrol. Storms Keep Planes On Ground. Storms to the northward will keep planes on the ground this morning, but the surface patrol will continue, while the admirals will hold a conference at Pearl Harbour. Two navy planes were blown off their course late on Thursday, but were guided home by radio compass through gales. The navy flew 130,000 miles with no accidents. The search involves 40,000,000 dollars worth of equipment and huge expense. Officials are not ready to abandon the search, but their attitude shows that they have slight hope as all the data places the spot of Ulm’s crash north-east, where a search has been made twice by air and once with surface craft. The w r eather is stormy there now. Little Chance Left. Fifteen surface vessels continued the search for Ulm, and naval aircraft were kept on the ground to-day, waiting for the decision of naval officials as to whether they will be allowed aloft. Although officials have not made any comment, it is believed that they are not disposed to risk the lives of the flyers far to seaward in rough weather, when there is little chance of finding the missing men.

Weak signals, formerly thought to have been due to radio trouble, now are attributed to Mr Ulm’s distance from his objective, as the naval radio station on Hilo. 75 miles south and 125 miles east of Honolulu, were unable to hear his, signals on Tuesday. The Navy is handicapped by lack of position reports from Mr Ulm and failure to obtain radio compass bearings here owing to the weakness of his signals. Stormy w'eather is moving towards the islands from the north and flyers report that visibility is bad. Two Navy seaplanes are overdue, but there is no alarm for them. Failed to Transmit Twice. The Lurline, which reached San Francisco to-day, and Mr Ulm’s ’plane passed on Monday night. The Lurline was following exactly the same course plotted for the aeroplane but in the opposite direction. Her officers said that, had the ’plane been as close as twenty or thirty 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. If he had it would have enabled the Lurline to plot his position by triangulation. Officials estimated that the aeroplane was 62 miles off its course to the northward when it settled to the water. They placed it about 100 miles north of Kauai on a direct line with the little coral island of Nihoa. Lieutenant Stephens, navy meteorologist, placed the spot where the ’plane is believed to have touched the sea as 180 miles N.N.E. of Honolulu, the position being latitude 24N., longtitude 157 W. This is based on official analyses of weather and water conditions, time consumed in combating head and cross-winds and the flying capacity of the ’plane. Most other naval officials are agreed on the position figured by Lieutenant Stephens This area has been thoroughly searched in the past three days.

EARLY THEORY UPSET.

Ulm Did Not Send Radio Calls After Plunge. HONOLULU, December 6. Two thousand members of the army, navy and coastguard services finished their third day of the search for Mr f . T. P. Ulm and his companions without success. An ominous threat to the safety of the missing flyers (if they survive) and their searchers loomed to-night when the navy weather bureau announced that rough weather was blowing up. Bain, poor visibility and poor flying conditions generally are forecast for Friday. Rear-Admiral H. E. Yarnell (Commandant of Pearl Harbour Naval Station) ordered surface craft to continue to patrol all night. Twelve navy seaplanes are ready to start at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Depressing Disclosures. The earlier belief that Mr Ulm sent messages after his ’plane struck the water, thus indicating that he had made a safe landing, was practically eliminated, according to radio men, with the disclosure to-day that the aeroplane 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: 9.8 am.—“We are just going to the water.” 9.21 am.—“We are turning into the wind.” 9.24 am.—" Come and pick us up. The ’plane will float for two days.” From 9.24 a.m. to 9.30 a.m., when the radio was silenced, there was a constant stream of S.O.S. calls. A conference will be held at 7 a.m. to-morrow among navy officials to determine further plans. There are indications that the search will be extended northward on a report from the liner Lurline that Mr Ulm probably was off his course when he was 500 miles from San Francisco, at which period 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 in his flight.

AUSTRALIA’S MOVE

Charters Sampans to Join in Search. (Received December 8, 10.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. The Commonwealth and New South Wales Governments have decided to charter thirty sampans at Hawaii to join the search for Mr Ulm. It is anticipated that this will cost between £4OOO and £SOOO. The Federal Cabinet had before it a message received by the New Zealand Broadcasting Board’s 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 Government of Hawaii be authorised 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 on to the Australian authorities. Mr Lyons to-day received a cable from the British Consul at Honolulu stating that Rear-Admiral Yarnell doubts the value of employing sam-

pans owing to the fact that aeroplanes, favoured by good visibility, have searched ever\ r square mile within a radius of from 250 to 350 miles of Honolulu.

Mr J. L. Skilling Had High Qualifications. (Special to the “Star.”) AUCKLAND, This Day. The statement that Mr J. L. Skilling had all the navigating instruments required for the flight was made yesterday by an Auckland relative j of the navigator of the the Stella j Australis, Mr Ulm’s plane. It was known, the Auckland relative said, I that Skilling had with him his ship’s I sextant. lie was the holder of an , extra-master’s ticket, apart from being j a very experienced navigator. About I 33 years old, he had had eighteen i years’ experience of sea navigation. Skilling, who was born in England, j was an officer in the Orient Line prior : to leaving the sea about a year ago to be married. On the passage to ! Canada by the Aorangi on the liner’s j last northward trip, Skilling had an j opportunity of testing the instruments ! intended for the trans-Pacific flight. j His accuracy had been a matter of comment and the opinion was expressed that the instrument he was using would be of considerable value in navigating a ship in thick weather. It was possible that some defects had occurred in the instruments used on the flight. Another possibility was that very bad weather had prevented the flyers from obtaining sights. Skilling, who was also the wireless operator on the aeroplane, met Mr blm when the aviator was a passenger on an Orient steamer several years ago. Mrs Skilling, who was formerly Miss Andree Pittar, daughter of Mrs and the late Mr W. D. Pittar, of Sydney, is well-known in Gisborne. She is a grand-daughter of the late Mr C. A. de Lautour, who was a member of the New Zealand Parliament, and she has relatives in Auckland and Hamilton. Mrs Pittar, sen., eft Auckland by the Wanganella yesterday to join her daughter in Sydney. The co-pilot, Mr G. M. Littlejohn, was a well-known aviator and had been chief instructor at Mascot Aerodrome, near Sydney. He was a married man with one child.