Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1912-10-07
1t. TOWERS BREAKS
ENDURANCE RECORDS
Naval Aviator in Air 6 Hours 10
Minutes Is Seconds.
FLEW IN CURTISS HYDRO.
Machine Worked Perfectly During
Whole Trip Exhaust Of Gasoline
Alone Compelling Descent.

Breaking the American record for
actual time in the air, as we'll as the
worlds record for the same, in a ma
chine of the hydro-aeroplane type,
and the endurance record for a mil
itary hydroplane, was the feat per-
formed by Lieut.. John III. Towers, one
of the corps of Navy aviators on
duty at the Navy aviation camp here,
yesterday.
Lieutenant Towers made the flight
in a Curtiss machine, one of the
standard makes of hydro-aeroplane
adopted by the Navy for experiment
tai purposes The actual time the
"birGman" was in the air was six
hours and ten minutes, and twenty
FIVE seconds, which exceeded by a
large margin all former records.
The flight was made by the lieu
tenant for endurance purposes only,
and when he alighted at the aviation
grounds shortly before l o'clock in
the forenoon, Towers said that his
craft worked perfectly and that he
could have remained up several
hours longer, but for the fact that
his supply of gasoline was fast
becoming exhausted.
Weather conditions were very
propitious fer the flight, which start
at Gas o'clock in the morning.
Lieutenant Towers drove his machine
over a sort of circular cours over the
bay in the vicinity of Annapolis. He
did not attempt to make any record
for speed or altitude. He kept the
machine at an average height of
about 700 feet, circling about the
river front over a course of about
five miles in diameter.
The record flight was witnessed by
many residents of the city and
others along the water front. At
times the aviator was in plain view
of the city, and then would be lost
to sight entirely. In fact, everyone
was wondering when he would make
a landing.
The record is one of several i'm
portant feats that the Navy aviators
have accomplished since the estab-
lishment of the aviation school here,
among the most recent and notable of
which was Lieutenant Elyson's alti-
tude flight of more than 5000 feet.
The record made by Lieutenant
towers is official, as the attempt had
been sanctioned by the Aero Club of
America and the time taken by it's
official observers. The Aero Club had
named either Lieut.. /. F. Dortch or
Lieut.. l. ~ McNair as official
timers. Both of these officers served.
There were also several unofficial
timers, all of who agree with the
authorized judges.
A conservative estimate of the
distance covered by the flight is 3s9
miles, and this is double the dis
tance covered by St. CroiX Johnston,
who held the American record of
176 miles. There will, however, be
no claim of a distance record, as it
was not made over a definitely meas
ured course and watched by official
observers. Forty-two gallons of
gasoline were consumed in the flight.
1t was carried in two regular tanks
and a reserve tank
Lieutenat Towers so directed his
flying during the first four and a half
hours that he could work nearly with
or against the wind, which at times
was fairly brisk but steady. The for
mer holders of the record for contin-
uous flight are, in the order named,
Paul Peck, Howard W. Gill and st.
Croix Johnston, and all three lost
their lives through aeroplane acci-
dents.
Peck. flying in a Columbia biplane
at Nassau boulevard, near New
York, in April of the present year,
remained in the air for four hours,
twenty-three minutes and thirty-eight
seconds. Towers beat that by nearly
two hours.