The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-19

l throttle.
 Hawker followed his announced inten- | tion when he dropped the under-carriage
 of his plane. Some persons thought the
 incident was intended as a challenge to i his rival, Raynhanif and quoted almost the last word of Hawker before he start ! ed: sf
 How about old tinsydes? Tell Rayn-
 ham I'll greet him at the Brooklands, ! England" i The wireless sent word of Raynhams
 mshap to Hawker and Mackenzie Grieve after they had put to sea. Opinion here | is that one result of the message will
 be the cutting down of Hawker's speed,
 as the Sopwith will not be forced to rac- | ing speed now that it's rival has been eliminated from the contest.
 1 At the start the sun was only little | over two hours beyond the meridian. l The flying adventurers had it's aid in
 navigating for four or five hours as they | sped eastward. After that they plunged | into darkness over the ocean, with the prospect of starlight and moonlight to i break the monotony of sky and sea at night and to serve as navigation guides. Barring untoward accidents the plane | should meet the sun again just short of | mid Atlantic and race against its west ward swing to reach the Irish coast | before darkness falls again. Mackenzie Grieve declared before the start that the Sopwith would head straight for Ireland. 'If we strike Ireland anywhere we will | have found our mark he said, but 1T we hit England we will be nearer home WINDS FAVOR FLYERS Indications tonight were that westerly winds would favor the fliers for the first | 1000 miles of their course. The remainder | of the way will be "tickiish' sailing, and | it is possible that Grieve will have to bend his course somewhat south to AxS<d wins and weather in the last half of the flight
 | A large part of Grieve's work will be | r noting observations of air currents encountered.
 | Although Atlantic air currents can never be marked" he said, "I hope to
 compile observations that will make the l transatlantic passage possible with 1ew- | CT uncertainties for later fliers than
 those which confront pioneers on the l tra ckless way. l we are relying chiefly on astrono-
 mical readings which we plan by use Of l the sexant getting an hourly sun aiti- l tude in the daytime and working with the north star at night. Should thick weather obscure the sky, we are prepared | to use the clouds for calculating pur- l poses, although we admit the results Iwculd be only approximate
 1 Every minute of the long flight will De | a busy one Watching the thermometers l altmeters, wind gauges, oil pressure reg | isters using the sextant to shoot the
 sun or stars, and dropping smoke bombs oyerside, figuring bearings, and keeping a constant ear to the tiny Wlreiess VIII occupy all spare moments.
 | WITHOUT LANDING DEVICE | Within the past few days Hawker had l installed a radio set with transmitter of 25O miles radius. In the Sopwfth plane Hawker and Grieve are withou: Handing devices other than light "skids
 which must do the work of the under
 carriage which he dropped at the start 1 The possibility of accident to Hawkers
 plane is great, although he said he ex- pected to alight in safety. Unless ne drops down gently under 'Ne most fa-
 vorable conditions. with verX snort run, he will smash his propeller ana
 wreck the little craft at the conciusion 1 of what may be the first transatlantic flight.
 l If the Sopwith is forced into the sea Hawker and Grieve have little hope or rescue Both men are wearing water tight suits which are designed to Keep 1 them floating many hours,~but as tneit
 course is outside the lanes Of shipping ] the chances of thelr pelns Pichou "p | are virtually nil. l Hawker's wireless set will allow him | to receive wireless messages from snlps Hong distance off, and the radlo calls nc will be able to intercept will aid his navl- gator greatly in keeping on his course But the sending apparatus cannot trahs, nit over 25O miles, it is said, and once beyond the transatlantic shipping lanes if is doubtful whether an $. 0. 5. wouio l he picked up by a steamer.
 DISTURBANCE OVER IRELAND | what was probably the last message to the Sopwith from shore was "i,e- l less telling of a fresh atmospneric oe | pression development over lreiaho' IL was radiographed from St. Johns upon l race;nt of meteorological advices from ! the open sea
 l Roth Hawker and Mackenzie Grieve 1 had a start that, while they anticipated some mental and physical strain rom | their cramped positions unbroken py any prospect of being able to spell eacn 1 other by changing seats, they eApee'eo l to find some relief. 1 Concentrated rations are being carried on the Sopwith for food. The fuel sup 1 ply was 34O gallons of gasoline. 1 A big factor in the accident to Rayn- hams Martinsyde plane was said to be lack of full wind opposition. He was | trying to take off on his east and west field with a wind exactly north and east Full head wind is declared to be essen l tial for rise with a plane as heavily laden as Raynham's. The weight of the l plane was nearly three tons, and the 1 great "heft'' of 1t is believed to nave | brought it down after a rise of few l feet had been gained The under car riage was admittedly weak, and collapsed ! under the strain. Had Raynham been able to fly directly into the wind he prob ably would have attained flying speed | before the axle buckled.
 Raynham would not add to the state | ment he made to friends immediately after he had recovereu from the tempor- ary collapse he suffered when his craft
 broke down. This statmnt was:
 "I was just bginnipg to get lift. l felt the undercarriage weaken and pulled
 back on the control stick in an attempt to assist the machine clear of the ground. But the propeller struck and we spilled.
 Another 25 yards and we would have
 been away"
 Hawker had provided against such a mishap by installing an all-steel under
 carriage on the Soupwith for safety ir
 taking off, and device for droppire it when well off the ground. Hawker
 also had installed a detachable primer and hand starting magneto, both of which were left behind when he dropped
 his under carriage.
 In contrast with the small groups of
 persons who saw Hawker start, it seemed
 as if St. Johns had poured it's entire
 population into Qudividi valley to watch
 Raynhams Martinsyde.. In the attempt ed take off. Raynham made his run"
 down lane of people who witnessed tn.