Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-28
FACTS AND COMMENT

8 sport and an experience to buS- mess and science and has produced thousands of trained flyers who have no idea of abandoning the fascinating game. The month of May has seen no less than four separate attempts to fly across the Atlantic. Only one of these has achieved even partial sue cess and all have been attended with the greatest danger. As a device for destroying submarines the United States navy had planned and built huge seaplanes known as the NC se- ries These were designed to cross the ocean under their own power. Though the sudden end end of the war removed the immediate purpose of their con struction. the chance to try the trans oceanic flight was too good to be lost. So three of the great planes have flown $40 miles from New York to Halifax, thence nearly as far further to New foundland, and from there they took the air once more for the long flight of 1900 miles to the Azores. They started on this longest leg Friday, May 16th Twenty United States destroy eds were stationed at fifty-mile inter vals to keep in wireless touch with the planes and render assistance in case of need.
 The NC-4 wa tke only plane of the trio to reach her destination. Oddly enough she was the one that had eX- perienced trouble on the first leg of the tourney and had been obliged to stop at Cape Cod for extensive re- pairs. There had been every chance that she would not reach Newfound
 land in time to start with her sister planes, but she made it just in time. Once there. she succeeded in shaking off her bad luck and req ched the Azor- es in fifteen hours. The other two planes lost their way in the fog. The NC-1 sank at sea after her crew had been taken off by a destroyer, and the NC-3 limped into port two days later. She had been obliged to drop to the ocean Saturday to get her bear ings and had been so damaged by the rough waves that she could rise no more. Fort fifty-f1ve hours her crew of six had struggled to keep their frail craft afioat while she drove over the sea two hundred miles to the Azores Her condition was such on arriving that she can fly no farther but must be dismantled and shipped back home. Thus the NC-4, the original lame duck of the outfit, is the only one left to ! continue the flight.
 Nobody doubts but that the trans Atlantic flight will be achieved in time
 
 l don Daily Mail months ago offered a prize of $50.000 for the first nonstop | flight. Among the contestants for 1 this prize were the Australian Hawker l and his English navigator Grieve. 1 Early in March they reached New ] foundland, whence it is but 1900 miles I to the Irish coast. Their plane was a 1 Sopwith, a type thoroughly tested in 1 the war. On April 10 all except the i weather was ready for the start. The next day two other Britishers, Rayn- l Martinsyde plane. The rival crews
 settled down side by side and waited in vain for favorable weather. Time
 and again they would be dressed and equipped to start, only to be detained by reports of fog and storm over the sea. Thus passed six heartbrakine | weeks filled with naught but disap-
 pointed hopes. At last came the an | nouncement that United States navy planes were to try. True, theirs was not to be a nonstop flight, yet should
 they succeed at all, the prestige Of hay ing first flown across the Atlantic would be lost for England. So wher
 the news came that the NC4 haG
 reached the Azores Hawker and
 Grieve resolved to start regardless o weather There was still time to reacl Europe before the Americans.
 The generation that has witnesses countless instances Of reckless hero ism in time of war must accept tn,
 fact that the spirit of adventure once reused, will not down immediate ly. It was this spirit no doubt tha sent Hawker and Grieve on their wilt
 venture over the Atlantic. Their plan weighed well over three tons whei | f1111 Ai1I
 was some doubt whether it would ris
 at all. Once clear of earth. however
 Hawker had planned to drop hi wheels to save weight, even thougl ; this meant inevitable damage if no | total wreck on landing. The plan | had but one engine and in case of fail
 ure here, the only course was to dro1
 to the sea far to the north of tn : steamer lanes and hope that a chanc } vessel would pick them up. Brieve' 5 navigating instruments were of tn simplest sort and there was ever , chance in the world that the ire , quent fogs would baffe him in lleepin . his course. Thus with every chanc against them, the two daredevils ros from their aerodron1e Sunday, May 1{ passed over the city of St. John an
 were lost to sight.
 Hawker and Grieve did not get ava 6 unbeknown to their rivals, but Rayn ' ham and Morgan were delayed i I starting. However. their plane wa f so much faster than the SopWith tha
 they were confident of overcoming tn
 handicap. But luck was against then i Equipped for the long trip, the Mar
 tinsyde was so heavily laden that sh
 had to make great speed before sh : would rise at all. The wind was nc ,irr1,t
 and the ground of Newfoundland is nc n | smooth. Thus coursing along owe
 the uneven surface. she struck hum
 mock, her carriage crumpled beneat
 her and she ploWed her nose into ti7 u ground a complete wreck. Both av t ators were cut and bruised but the ,. were safe ashore at least, while Hawk
 CT and Grieve were three miles in a f striving to get above the fog that hoy < cred over the north Atlantic.
 n A week passed, British destroyer Il searched the seas and nothing wa
 learned of the fate of the Sopwit
 plane. All hope seemed lost whe d suddenly the welcome news came tn; . the two men had been picked up by t little Danish steamer fourteen houl
 after leaving Newfoundland. IT
 cooling system of their engine ha Y choked, 8 storm had driven the : from their course and finally they ha
 decided to seek for safety rather tha II proceed further on their cours
 Changing their course they flew to u
 steamer track and had the luck l. sight the Danish tramp. The sea W; 70 rough and only at the risk of the q lives did the steamers crew say
 Hawker and his companion. The pla1
 had to be abandoned.
 e The miraculous rescue in mid oces . does not acQuit Hawker and Grie,