Evening star., 1923-07-09
STARTS AT 3.5S AM.
Dawn of High Visibility Held Out
Bright Hopes.

By the Associated Press
Lieut.. Russell L. Maughan, U. s. A.,
plotting a pursuit plane, hoped off
at 3:5s:30 am. eastern standard day
light saving time today on the first leg
OF his dawn-to-dusk flight across the
continent.
The attempt to reach the coast by
the light of single day was begun
In the flood of dawn of high visi-
bility. which held promise of excel
lent flying weather on the first leg
OF the flight to Dayton, Ohio.
Striped to Necessities.
The start was made in the first lift
of a purple land mist which drifted
down Long Island before dawn.
Maughan. flying his plane stripped
to the barest necessities. circ1ed above
the field once before heading for Day
ton.
The take-off was witnessed by
Army officers in the Flying Corps and
officials OF the Aeronautical Chamber
of Commerce.
Lieut.. Maughan expects to reach
San Francisco in sixteen and one
half hours of daylight flying. The
distance Is estimated at 2,640 miles.
and an average speed of 160 miles an
hour will be maintained
Four stops viii be made: At Nc
Cook Field. Dayton. Ohio: Municipal
Field. St. Joseph, Mo; Air Mail Field,
Cheyenne, Wyo.: and Salduro, Utah.
Blazing n Trail.
The object OF the fight. said Mai
W. r Weaver, commanding officer
here. is to blaze trail for the trans
porting in one day of fleets of air.
planes from coast to coast in the
event of an attack on the United
States by hostile forces. 1t will also
show, he said, the proper sites for the
establishment of landing fields, and
will aid the development of commercial
aviation.
Lieut.. Maughan was promised clear
weather except in Montana and Utah,
where thundershowers were expected.
II necessary Lieut. Maughan said,
he will add few miles to the trip
and fly around the storms. He hoped.
however. to fly over them. The flight
was several times postponed because
Of stormy weather.
He expects to cover the $50 miles
in hours 36 minutes. The hop of
$50 miles to st. Joseph he planned to
make in hours % minutes.
Twenty-Minute Rest at Each Stop.
Three hours and twenty minutes is
the time set for reaching Cheyenne.
$50 miles away. Maughan plans to
make the 4T0 miles to Spalding in
8 hours A twenty-minute rest pc
riod is to be sa~de at each landing
Field. the Pseeidio. San Francisco,
Is expected to take hours 6 minutes.
Lieut. Vaughan plans to fly ITO
miles an hour over the plains and
160 miles an hour oyer the mountains.
He will fly at an altitude of 1000 feet
above level ground, increasing 1t to
5000 feet in the Allegheny mountain
region and to greater heights over
the Rockies.
The Curtiss pursuit plane in which
= t. Id two ho orb
horsepower D-12 engine, with a wing
spread of 80 feet. The machine will
carry 167 gallons Of gasoline, 91 gal
Ions of oil and 21h gallons Of water.
The weight of the airplane was esti-
mated, when 1t hoped off, at $500
pounds.
Carries Letter to President.
The flyer carried a letter from Sec
retary of War Weeks to President
Harding. The letter will be forward
ed to Alaska. He will also bear a
letter from Mayor Hylan of New York
to the mayor of San Francisco and
from Maj. Gen. Robert Lee Bullard,
commanding the I'd Corps area here.
to Maj. Gen. Charles G. Morton. com
Francisco. Copies OF New York and
Philadelphia newspapers will also
be carried to the Pacific coast.
Lieut.. Maughan is twenty-nine years
old, q native or Logan, Utah. He mas
two small children. He wears the
distinguished service cross and is
credited with having brought down
four enemy aeroplanes during the
world war.
Shattered Speed Record.
He shattered a world record at
Mitchell Field last October when he
drove a 375-horsepower biplane over
a straightaway kilometer course at
220.4% an hour. A week later at
SeIfridge Field, Michigan, he covered
$50 miles at 206 miles an hour, win
ming the Pulitzer trophy aerial race
and setting q new international rec
ord. He afterward made 248.5 miles
an hour for one kilometer. He be-
came unconscious because of the ter
rifle speed several times during the
flight. the tip of wing cutting
the grass as he was overcome for
the last time.