The New York herald., 1921-12-31
SEES VINDICATION
OF METAL PLANES
Larsen Says Also Sneers in
Europe Urged Him to Seek
Coveted Flight Record.
SPEED is NOT HIS OBJECT
Utility, Which Was Proved by
Test, Is His Chief Aim,
Asserts Builder.
SPEED is NOT HIS OBJECT

owner OF the JL-6, attributes the sue
cess of the fight to the first hand
knowledge of flying conditions he has
obtained in the three years lie has pur-
sued aviation as a sport. He was graft
fled at having broken all former records.
and spent an hour in his office at 347
Madison avenue yesterday opening tele-
grams of congratulatlon and answering
telephone calls.
the criticism that Mr.. Larsen heard
during frequent trips abroad regarding
the failure of American aviation in the
war the aircraft scandal and the patron
izing tone of foreign aviation men, he
said. were responsible for the attempt
to show that America had not Jagged so
far behind other countries in airplans
development.
Beyond arrangements for keeping the
pilots warm by special heating device
which brought hot air from the engine
into the cockpit, and the addition of a
plentiful supply of fuel and oil, no elabo-
rate preparations for this particular
flight were made. Mr.. Larsen said, and
he believes it could be repeated at almost
any time
Built i'm Long Island City.
THE plane used was one of the four
regular stock planes turned out in the
Larsen factory on Long Island recently,
and was flown out to take part in air
meets in Western cities. Three flew In
formation to Kansas City with only one
landing. that at Dayton. Ohio. We en-
tered the machines in the Legion Derby
in Kansas City, and they made a favor
a 81 cra In, g
designed by the speed demons for speed
alone.
"The establishment of this record
proves concusively the practicability of
the all metal plane. and / believe the
plane of the future-the ultimate air.
pJane-wll be, of this character. The
construction of these planes is being
copied by other makers and they have
had much influence on the general trend
of designs, but. of course, there are a
great many firms that still make the
wooden frames and will continue to
do So"
Mr.. Larsen is the holder of the Amer
lean long distance, nonstop record.
Omaha to Philadelphia, and also holds
the altitude record for multipassenger
planes. Yesterdays flight is one OF the
first i'm his machines in which he has
not actually taken part.
| During his short flying career Mr..
Larsen has made about 1,500 flights and
has travelled from 250,O00 to 100000 miles
| in this country and in Europe. On his
desk was a map showing cross country
| flights of the Larsen monoplanes. COW
ering territory from Boston TO San Fran
cisco and from the Mexican border to
| within two hours flight of the Arctic
| Ocean He has traversed the continent
several times and once flew from New
York to Omaha to attend a wedding OF
a friend. taking his family In the plane.
In addition to the American flights
Mr.. Larsen has made trips across Dem
mark. Finland, Norway. Sweden. parts
of Russia and France and Belgium. He
Is proud because the JL-6 is of Ameri-
can make, duralium, the metal from
which the plane was fabricated. being
an American brand of this article.
Congratulations Pour In.
Congratulations from all quarters
| were showered upon the two aviators
and the builder of the machine. One
OF the first kilograms received by Mr..
| Larsen was from the Aero Club OF Pitts
burgh. offering 'heartiest congratuia-
! tions on theoperformance of the JL.'
Major Gen. Patrick, Chief of the Army
Air Service in Washington, sent the fol-
| lowing message to Stinson
THE Army Air Service is pleased to
extend to a former member it's congratu-
lations on the remarkable duration rec
| ord just attained by you
Members of the Aero Club were en-
thusiastic over the flight, declaring It
to be particularly remarkable in view
of the unfavorable conditions. Otto
Praeger. consulting aeronautical engi-
neer, said This constitutes the great
est continuous mileage record in the his
tory of aviation. 1t was a wonderful
performance and a tribute to the skill
and endurance of American pilots.
Those two young fellows showed grit In
fighting the gales that cold night. They
had good motor and an American
made machine and came through the
ordeal we'll"
Praise by Insurance Company.
Mr.. Larsen was particularly proud of
a letter received some time ago from the
aircraft department of the Home Insur-
ance Company in which 1t was stated
that the company had carried insurance
on all the important flights of the Lar
sen monoplane without a claim of any
description"
j. @. Vincent of the Packard Motor
Car Company wired to THE NEW YORK
| HERALD from Detroit: "T have not vet
received information regarding details
OF record breaking endurance flight, but
offhand / should say this record break
ing performance. accomplished in spite
of unfavorable weather conditions Is
simply another indication of improve
ments that are being accomplished in
reliability, safety and economy. 1t may
be taken as indicating that an all metal
monoplane is highly efficient. but Il
does not necessarily prove that other
construction cannot be made equally
efficient"
/ II. c. Richardson, commander of the
naval seaplane NC-3 in the transatlan-
! tic flight. wired from Philadelphia
Splendid exhibition pluck and skill and
important demonstration all metal con-
struction now rivals stick and wire"