The New York herald., 1921-02-17
FIRE PERIL HALTS
FLIGHT FOR RECORD
Lieut.. Kirkpatrick Forced
Down After Being Aloft
for Eleven Hours.

After moro than eleven hours in the
air in an effort to establish a thirty-six
hour flight record Lieut.. Ross C. Kirk
patrick landed his Curuss Eagle last
night in the glare of the flood lights on
Mitchell Field. For the second time he
had failed to break the record.
The big machine, with its Liberty
motor roaring erratically. limped over
to its hangar and then stood silent.
Lieut.. Kirkpatrick climbed somewhat
slowly out of the cockpit and stood on
the wing. facing the little group of
brother pilots and mechanics.
well, / suppose you fellows think
I'm specializing in hard luck" he said
Maybe I am. but I'm going to have
another shot at that record as soon as
we can get the ship fixed up again."
The flight. which had started at Z 734
that morning. ended at $3.50 p. NJ.
Throughout the entire day as the plane
circled over Westbury, Mineola. Garden
City and other towns near the field the
big 400 horsepower Liberty motor had
roared along as regularly as a clock
ticks. The mechanic, Max Goodenough
had kept a sharp eye on the gasolene
pipes leading from the three gasoene
tanks TO the motor. for 1t was n leaking
gas line that brought Kirkpatrick down
on December 21 after eighteen hours in
the air Everything seemed propitious,
for there was little wind and no sign
of rain or fog.
Night came. The blue of the sky faded
into black. and star clusters, somewhat
Ike those below. shone out. On Mitchell
Field strong flood lights glowed and two
100000 candlepower Sperry search
lights cut through the dark. Still the
motor thundered steadily.
Suddenly, when the Eagle was flying
near Westbury. but two hundred feet
above the ground. spaks began leaping
Into the air above the motor and rushing
back onto the windshield in front of
kirkpatrick. The deafening monotone
OF the motor became an erratic series OF
explosions. Kirkpatrick noted speedily
that the flaming gases from the exhaust
still swept back past the side OF the
machine. The trouble was elsewhere,
and II was trouble that every second
threatened to fire the combustible plane
Signalling to Goodenough, tho pilot
turned over tho control wheel to the me-
CfldHlC ana crdWied out OF the cockpit
toward the motor and whirring propeller
in front Despite the motor trouble the
plane was shooting along at fifty miles
an hour or more. but Kirkpatrick man
aged to edge along against the wind. He
found that the generator, housed between
the V of the twelve cylinders. had broken
loose from the crankcase. The damage
was rremediable in the air. Kirkpatrick
crawled back and nursed the motor to
the field and made a perfect landing.
Although the flight failed to break
the record OF twenty-four hours forty
nine minutes established In France by
the Farman Goliath. a two motored
airplane, 1t was in some ways a sue
cess. For example, Lieut.. Kirkpatrick
succeeded In rising from the ground In
machine with but one motor. carry
ing, besides himself and mechanic, 500
| gallons OF gasolcne weighing 1900
pounds, enough for thirty-six hours
and forty-eight gallons OF oil. Weighing
500 pounds. No such weight OF fuel
ever before has been lifted from the
ground.
The big point in this feat. however.
from the viewpoint OF Major Henry ]. r.
, Miller. Capt. Harry Smith and Lieut.
John p. Roullet, the Aero Clubs Official
observers. and the other pilots on the
field. was that It showed that the Eagle
could carry two 1900 pound bombs
Mitchell Field. from Col. Christie. It's
commander. down. Is yearning to use
those bombs on an old battle ship. which
every one at the field says the Navy is
afraid to turn over for aerial bombing
deuons stratfons