Omaha daily bee., 1919-05-27
Hackers Daring Erplo1t
St. Johns Correspondence Of New York Times


The intrepid men who drove their planes ou
over the eastern horizon in attempt to wir
the glory of the first transatlantic air flight left
the ground with doubtful chances of survival
should their venture meet with mshap in mid
ocean. Harry G. Hawker and 1t. Com. Mack
enzle Grieve, his skipper, who, were encased in
tull-ength nonsinkable suits, had further de.
gree of assurance in an ingeniously built boat
shaped so as to form the rear hood Of their fuse.
lage and proved by experiment to possess con-
siderable seaworthiness 1t was QUILTED with
provisions and signalling devices.
Hawker's Sopwith plane had wing spread
of 46 feet, with length over all of 81 feet, while
Raynham's Martinsyde measured only Al feet
across the wings, with fuselage 26 feet long.
Both carried single motor; the Sopwith is
rated at $50 horse power, and the Martnsyde at
u.s.
Hawkers craft rated at 100 miles an hour,
was expected to attain 100 miles with its under
carriage abandoned by an automatic releasing
arrangement For communication with ships at
sea, both machines carried wireless of limited
range, the Sopwith having both sending and
receiving apparatus, while the Martinsyde had
only the latter.
The aviators. contenders for the London
Daily Mails $4,000 prize for the first transat-
lantic flight completed in II hours. announced
before the start their intention to land at Brook
lands airdrome, London. Hawker's nav-
gator expected to fly eastward about 900 miles
anu tul INTO the TRANSATLANTIC SnlpplnS lane,
Raynham's steersman, on the other hand, in
tended, before the mishap which wrecked the
plane, to steer directly for the Irish coast, thus
saving, he said, several hundred miles of indi-
rect flying.
Both navigators said they would depend
together with specially drawn tables for calcu-
lat1ons. Heading east through the night, Haw-
ker expected to meet the sun on its westward
way at time to give them good horizon and
opportunity for figuring out their position. Dur
ing the night, he said, he would Shoot the
stion while the sun would be their guide by
day. He expected to fly at an average altitude
of 5000 feet although the atmospheric condi-
tons would vary this plan.
Start of the attempt to cross the Atlantic
through the air found the people of St. Johns
heads in doubt. All the assurances of flying
sons returned from the fighting fronts, could
not assure them that the men essaying the great
adventure were not flying into the face OF ele-
ments that would drive them down to watery
graves The unknown fate of Andre, who dis
appeared i'll the far north years ago, in an att
tempt to make balloon passage over the pole,
was coupled with the failure of Major Woods
in the Shorts machine in the Irish sea recently
as indicating the probable result of the race for
the honor Of the pioneer crossing.
Hawker. all Australian, is q years old and
tutelage OF Sopwith, one of the earliest of the
British airmen. In 1912 Hawker made
durance record with a plane patterned after
that of the American Wright brothers, and later
attained what was claimed to be world altitude
record-28 500 feet. During the war he was en-
gagged as an experimental fier assisting in the
development of Sopwith machines.
Grieve combines the qualifications of nav-
gator, wireless expert. and meteoroogst with
some flying experience gained while he COM
manded the cruiser Campana, mother ship of
the British air squadron with the Grand Fleet
He is % years of age.
Raynhann, Is years old, has flown since he
was II. Like Hawker, he started as mechani-
clan, and during the war was an experiment
aviator with the Martinsyde firm.
Morgan gave up navy commission to join
the Royal Air force. and lost leg in aerial
combat The Martinsyde machine was
equipped with dual steering control, SO that
Morgan could relieve Raynham at intervals
during the fight He is u years old and fell
low Of the ROYAL Geogrophcal society