Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-05-19
BRITISH PLANE
Sc MS INSECT
BESIDE YANKEE
HawkerS Ship Has Small Wing
Spread and Nothing Like the
Power of One Which Flew
to the Azores,


St Johns n. f. May lS.-The in
trepid youths who drove their plane
out over the eastern horizon today in
an attempt to win for England and for
themselves the glory of the first trans
Atlantic air flight left the ground
with doubtful chances of survival
should their venture meet with mis-
hap in mid-ocean.
Harry G. Hawker and Lieutenant
Commander Mackenzie Grieve, his
skipper, who were cncased IN fun
length, nou-sinEa bic suits. had Il f'rr-
ther degree of assurance in an in
geniously built boat, shaped so as to
form the reHr hood Of their fuSilagc
and proved 10y experiment to possess
considerable seaworthlness and out
fitted with provisions and signalling
devices.
Unlike the hugs craft with which
American naval crews hope TO fly to
Europe, the plane which scared out
over the Atlantic today was an over
/ land craft--nothing more. They have
no pontoons to keep 1t afloat nor per-
init towing In case of accident. It is
a small b'ulane of the scout type,
lIawker's Sopwith having wing
spread of forty-six feet. with length
I y q
single motor.
Hawker's craft, rated at 100 miles
an hour, was expected to attain 100
miles with its undercarriage abandon
ed by an automatic releasing arrange
ment, while Raynham asserted his
, belief that his engine, capable of max
ing 1874 miles with normal lOaS
would do 10 at least with the extra
cargo of fuel required for the ocean
flight,
Has Limited Wireless.
For communication with ships 3t
sea, the machine carries wireless of
limited range. with both sending and
receiving apparatus which will serve
to pick up Information as to position
and weather conditions from passing
ships.
The aviator contendod for the Lon
don Daily Mails $4,000 prlZe for the
first trans Atlantic flight completed in
seventy-two hours, announced before
the start his intention to land at
Brooklands airdrome. near London
HawkerS navigator expected to fly
eastward about 500 miles and turn
into the transatlantic shipping lane.
The navigators declared he would
depend upon their seXtants ana COM
passes for bearings. together with
spec. ally drawn tables for calculations.
Heading east through the night he
expected to meet the sun on its west
ward way at a time to give them u
good horizon and opportunity for fig
uring out their position. During the
night, he said, they would shoot the
stars and from his observations cal
culate position, while the sun woul
be their guide by day Hawker eX-
N.-I . Il.
of 5000 feet, though the atmospheric
conditions would vary this plan
Start of the attempt to cross the At
lantic through the air found the peo-
pie of St, Johns wishing the airmen
Godspeed but shaking their 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 which would drive them down
to watcry graves. The unknown fate
of Andre, who disappeared in the far
north years ago in an attempt to
make a balloon passage over the pole.
was coupled with the failure of Major
Wood in the SHORTS machine in the
Irish sea recently as indicating the
probable result of the race for the
HOnOf Oh the pioneer crossing.
Rose from Ranks.
Hawker, the Australian, is q years
old and a mechanic who rose to the
rank of flyer under the tutelagc OF
Sopwith. one of the earliest of tho
British airmen. In 1912 Hawker
made an endurance record with
plane patterned after that of tha
American Wright brothers and later
attained what was claimed TO be
world altitude records 500 feet.
During the war he was engaged as an
experimental flyer assisting in the de-
velopment of Sopwith machines
Grieye combines the qualifications
of navigator. wireless eXpert and me-
teorologist, with some FLYING expert
ence gained while he commanded the
cruiser Campania, mother ship of the
British air squadron with the grand
fleet. He is 2S years of age.