New-York tribune., 1922-09-30
2 Army Pilots
ToTryNon-Stop
Flight to Coast
Two Worlds Records viii
Be Set if Venture Is
Success; Flyers TO Hop
OFF Early in October
Route Covers 2, 700 Miles
Machine Rebuilt 10 Garry
Sufficient Fuel and Give
Men Comfort i'm the Air
from The Trtbpne,s washsnosom Bureau

From, The Trfbpncs Wosh;noto1 Bureau
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29.-A nom
stop fight from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, over mountains, valleys and
desert, necessitating an endurance OF
moro than thirty-two hours and cover
ing about 2,700 miles OF United States
territory, will be attempted in the
early part Of October by two officers
Of the army air service, it was an
nounced by the War Department. The
successful completion of this trip viii
carry with it two worlds records, the
endurance record for hours in the air
and the distance record for territory
covered.
The airplane to be used in this fight
is a thick wing monoplane. powered
with one 00-horsepower Liberty en-
gine. 1t was originally designed to
carry eight passengers in a cabin and
one pilot in the forward part of the
fuselage near the engine. The normal
gas capacity Of the transport is 130
gallons, which give the plane an en-
durance Of about six hours. It's en-
durance and gas carrying capacity had
to be increased six-fold in order To
undertake the task Of flying from Cal
ifornia to New York without stop.
Two Pilots Are at McCook Field
The flyers selected for the fight are
I,ieutenant Oakley G. Kelley, Of Grove
City. Pa, and Lieutenant John A. Mac
Ready, of Los Angeles, both officers on
duty with the engineering division of
the air service at McCook Field, Day
ton, Ohio.
The gas capacity of the plane was
increased from 13o gallons to 725 gal
Ions, divided into three tanks. The
original 130-gallon tank was retained,
new 41O-gallon tank was installed in
the wing between the front and rear
spars and another tank of 1s5 gallons
was installed in the cabin. Larger ca
pacity oil tanks, and reserve water
tanks were also necessary, as well as
an auxiliary radiator and oil radiator
to insure the comfort" of the engine
during its trying performance. Inc
comfort Of the pilots was also provided
for. to the extent of installing dual
control. SO they could relieve each
other at intervals.
Changes Made in Six Weeks
Manv other notifications were made
in the plane, such as equipping it
with set of army 44-inch by 10-inch
wheels and tires, and installing fold
ing seat in the pilots cockpit, and
door to the cabin so an exchange OF
places can be effected. These parts
were not only installed, but were de-
signed and built, in less than six weeks.
The wing and fuselage were rem
forced to carry the additional load.
Most of the flying will be done from
the front cockpit, as it places the plot
in the open with an unobstructed Fiew.
When the flyer wishes to be relieved
he announces the fact through speak
ing tube and the pilot in the cabin
takes command OF the plane with the
auxiliary control, which is located
within easy reach. The front pilot
then moves back to the cabin and with
out difficulty exchanges places with
the relief. then the fresh pilot moves
to the front cockpit and take control.
A comfortable bench seat behind the
AUXILIARY control will permit the re
lief pilot to stretch out at full length
and snatch few hours sleep.
One of the most serious problems
the flyers will have TO contend with, in
order to take advantage of the west
wind, is to carry their tremendous
load through the mountains of Cali
fornia. The gas and oil load at the
start will exceed 1900 pounds, which
will reduce the ceiling or climbing
ability of the plane to such an extent
that they will not be able to fly over
the Western range. For this reason 1t
is necessary to fly n circuitous route,
seeking mountain passes where the ele-
vation is not over 5000 feet.