Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-28
AMERICAN Navy
AVIATOR FIRST
TOCROSS0CEA
SeapIane NC-4 Completes
Transatlantic Flight in rs
Hours, al Minutes, Ac-
tuaI Flying Tine.
Continued from Page One.)
the route to guide the flyers and if
necessary give them assistance.

necessary give them assistance.
Blazes Way.
Washington, May q. - Blazing
the way of the first air trail from
the western to the eastern hemi-
sphere, the United States navy sea-
plane NC-4, under 1t. Com. Albert
Cushing Reed, swept into the har-
Dor at Lisbon, Portugal, today, the
first airship of any kind to have
crossed the Atlantic ocean under its
own power and through its natural
element.
Taking the air at Ponta del Gada
Azores. at 6:l8 a. M, Washington
time, on the last leg of the trans
atlantic portion of the voyage from
Rockaway beach, Long Island, to
Plymouth. England, the NC-4 COW
cred the 800 miles in 9 hours and 43
minutes, maintaining an average
speed of better than 80 knots an
hour. The total elapsed flying time
from NeY foundland to Lisbon was
26 hours and 4l minutes.
Great Object Accomplished.
At the first opportunity the big
plane will continue to Plymouth,
US nautical miles to the north. Pos
sibly Commander Read can start to-
morrow. To the Navy department,
however, it makes little difference
when he completes the journey. The
great object of all the effort law
ished on the undertaking-1aviga-
ton of a seaplane across the Allan
tic through the air-has been &C
comp1ished Twentieth century
transportation has reached new
pinnacle and the United States navy
has led the way.
Naval officials emphasized that
the long delay at the Azores was
due to the weather and to no weak
ness of the machine or its daring
crew, nor to any failure of the care
fully laid plans of the department
to guide the flyers to their destina-
ton. The IA destroyers strung
from Ponta del Gada to Lisbon re-
ported with machine like precision
today as the flight progressed. The
plane was never off its course and
there was no moment when officials
in Washington did not know to
within a few miles where it was in
the air.
Destroyers Relay Reports.
To maintain adequate communi-
cation for this stage of the journey,
the destroyers stuck to their posts
after the flying boat had passed. re-
laying back to Ponta del Gada re-
ports from ships farther eastward.
The chain was not broken until af-
ter the plane was safely moored for
the night near the cruiser Roches-
ter. at Lisbon.
For the next few hundred miles
of his epoch-marking journey, Com
mander Read and his crew will be
within sight of the Portuguese or
Spanish coasts in the sweep north
ward. Skirting the coast of Cape
Finnisterre, they will head out
across the Bay of Biscay to sight
Brest, the most westerly point of
France, thence direct to Plymouth.
The destroyers that will guide them
across the bay were already in posi-
ton tonight, provided with the
flares and bombs that have made the
trip safe thus far, except for the
fog that forced the other two ma
chimes of the seaplane division. the
NC-1 and NC-3, out of the fight
after they had safely negotiated viz
tually the entire distance from New
foundland to the Azores.
Original Crew.
Commander Read had with him
on the flight to Lisbon the same
crew as left Newfoundland on the
NC-4 May 10. 1t. E. F. Stone, of
the coast guard, and w. K. Hinton
were the pilots, with Ensign R. {:
Rodd as radio operator, and Chief
Machinists E. S. Rhodes as reserve
pilot engineer. The crew was met
at Lisbon by members of the crews
of the NC-1 and NC-3, who had
preceded them on a destroyer.
The chart OF. the flight shows how
the winds helped her along. At
times Commander Reads ship ap-
parently was whirling through the
air at 90-knot clip; again her
speed fell off to less than 60, only
to pick up again as she reached the