The Washington times., 1921-05-29

mold, chief of the Western division.
a plane was selected and remodeled
for the flight. This ship, . oh, with
Liberty motor, was fitted with fuel
tanks for fifteen hours flying, .
total Of one and half tons Of Raso-
line and oil.
TAKES TRIAL FLIGHT.
A week ago II was notified that
the ship was ready, and ! went -
the heid At San Diego to try Il oat
ana 70 &c. MY hand back st hyins.
left with this plane. for san Fran
cisco at o'clock last Monday after
noon. Because Of bad weather and
the great weight of the ship. I was
unable to get across the mountains.
attempted to land on the Rogers
air park. Rough ground and the
weight Of the plane resulted In "A
broken propeller and etrained land
ing gear, $500 ~
/ f,nalIy got OF for San Francisco
at noon Tuesday. landing there a.
o'clock that night. 81
Al Los Angelica > assea over fer th-
Arst tinse In ny hse. As the ship
turned ever. ssbsekled NJ kelt asa
aropped On ny head te the groand.
LAUGHED NJ the kiek I set sst % -.
At Redwood City, just out OF San
Francisco. my ship was serytcsd and
completely overhauled. : got up at
3 o'clock Thursday morning 10 be in
the transcontinentai flight and at 3:35
took OF in a thick fog. the plane
rising slowly under the ton-and-s-half
fuel burden. For two hours tried
fv, In IN nxrx NJ An~
out over the bay. where was ferced
to ny at height OF nifty feet or less
in order to keep my bearings At al
FOG FORCES HIN BACK.
Il hurdied or twisted around ferry
boats that doomed up suddehly
through the fog. finally new back
GERS there promptly took on In an
other plane to lead me out through.
the fog and took up his trail. bit
IL was too thick. We were forced
to put back to the 6eld and land.
At s:35. the fog having commenced
to thin out, took OF again and
headed through q hole which ap-
peared in the heavy mist. climbed
steadily and at Sacramento had at
tanned a height of 5000 feet. To
cross the snow-capped sierras Ina
niediately ahead had to riye. For
one hour and a half spiraied. try
ing to force the heavily laden ship
upward. Finally attaining : aFhetght
OF 1900 feet started east. ~ x !,
Beneath me there was no landing
field, no level spot except two or three
lakes. L headed east over the noun
tsins, holding to my hard gained alt.-
tude. and three hours later passed !
over Reno, Nev. laid my course for
Salt Lake City, over which ! passsd I
at $50 .. m. From here on I follow
ed the airmaii route 80 that the SIR
nail helds could pass on the work Of
my progress arrived at Rock
Springs at o'clock with the motor
still going like q watch. sS
Passing Rawlings at $40. I came
to the abrupt Elk Mountain. On the
slopes of this saunt. show-cer?xd
derby flyers crashed. As dusk bsgas
10 hide the ground picksa up
Laramie, had been going ccntinu-
ously since $50 in the morning and
was tired. t tt
sights Liskts sf Cheyenne.
Finally. at s.so p. m, twelve hours
after my start. sighted the lights
Of Cheyenne. II was now entirely
ing nares on the field. though cir
cled the city twice Az was abe
to 20 down 1 saw the lights
other uity to the south. n
had mhtsken my city and
was Cheyenne TO the south.
cordingiy, headed south.
nying thirty minutes became
vinced IL was really Cheyenne
had just left to my rear and 4
I was flying toward Denver.
put about again and, after thf
teen hours OF continuous fiytuG,
top OF the two hours In the sas