New-York tribune., 1919-10-15
Lieut.. Maynard Makes Diff.
cult Passage of Sierra
Nevadas in 50 Minutes:
Lands in Battle Mountain
Gather Blow to Rivals
Many Machines Are Held I'm
by Fog and Rain; Three
Crash Down Near Omaha

Lieutenant Belvin W. Maynard. the
intrepid flying parson," is racing back
across the continent ahead of all COM
petltors IN the 5,400-mile air race.
The famous "sky pilot" took of fro,,
the Preside flying grounds at San
FRANCISCO yesterday ten minutes after
the expiration of the compulsory forty-
eIlght-hour period, his wheels leaving
the ground at 1922 p. m. Forty-nine
minutes later he landed at Mather
Field, Sacramento, seventv-five mia .
away.
Towering 5000 feet above him, the
giant peaks OF the Sierra Nevada Noun
tains offered the most serious obstacle
to the last half of his remarkable fiight.
Ondaunted, he took off, and in fifty
nlne minutes had passed the most diff
hcult barrier nature had placed in his
path. he landed at the Reno. Nevada.
control station, and after waiting the
compulsory thirty minutes took off
again at 4:10 p. m. for Battle Noun
tam, where he landed safely and put
up for the night.
Lieutenant Colonel T. S. Bowen, in a
De Haviland Bluebird, was the only
contestant to complete the flight across
the country yesterday. He left Battle
Mountain, New. early yesterday morn
20 anu iotueu llt Dan francisco at
1881 a. m. He was the thirteenth
aviator to complete the first 2.7Oo miles
OF the race. All other machines that
were within finishing distance of the
two coastal terminals were held up
yesterday by weather conditions.
The dense fog over Iowa and Ne
braska was the direct cause of three
crashes in forced landings near Omaha,
The f}lers had left the Des Moines
control station before they could be
warned.
The only all-American machine in
the race was wrecked thirty miles
west of Omaha at 10 o'clock yester rday
morning. This was the two engined
Captain Roy N. Francis. Captain
Francis crashed into line of tele
graph wires. He and his four passen-
gers were badly shaken up, but ac-
cordlng to early reports, we're not
seriously injured.
included Captain de Lavergne, French
air attache in Washington For him
it was the second crash in the race.
as he was a passenger in the DH4
biplanc piloted by Lieutenant D. h.
Gish that came down in flames at
Canadce, \. Y. on the first day of
tnS idCc. He OtHeI passengers were
Major w. II. Saunders, Captain l.. N.
keesling and Sergeant Manuel F.
Rosa.
Lieutenant j. r. Johnson. plotting
one of the small single-seater SE-5
scouts, was badly bruised in forced
landing three miles from the Omaha
control station and the axle of his
machine broken. He was able to take
off again an hour later, however, and
SUCCESSFULLY landed at Omaha.
Captain Felix Steinle, in a De Havi-
land 4. was compelled to land in a
cornfield nine miles southeast of
Council Bluffs.
The i'll luck that has beset other
contestants seems to have passed by
Lieutenant Maynard. He would have
taken off from San Francisco at the
exact moment his forty ight-hour
period expired, but for the playfulness
of his pet police dog. Trxie The
puppy did not relish the idea Of fly
ing another 2,700 miles, Lieutenant
Maynard and Sergeant William Kline,
his observer, chased the dog while The
crowd cheered Justify. Finally the re-