The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-04
DISTANCE CONQUERED
BY DARING BIRDMEN
CROSSING CONTINENT
CONTINUED From Page Onc.)

| They are the same airmen who set
out from San Diego last November A
in an attempt to fly to New York.
| but were forced to the ground near
/ Indianapolis by leak in their radi =
! ator. This time they correctly fig
| ured that the thing to do was to
j start from New York with their peak
load of gasoline and oil and to cross
! the towering Rockies at the far end
of the leap, thus having a light bur
I den TO life over the hump, as their
/ fuel would then be almost exhaust
/ ed. 1t worked. They had also noted
minor imperfections of the ship they
flew in that first attempt and they
remedied these defects in the To for
| the next attempt. now successful.
City Declares Hoi Il
San Diego, long accustomed to the
roar of airplares, realized that this
was no ordinary spin of an airplane
taxican, The city made holiday.
Thousands of people were in the
streets, gazing eastward for the
speek that finally relieved their eye
strain and grew to huge size in a
few minutes. There were between
0o0 and 1900 people waiting at the
field and such was their greeting
that the army officers at the post
most of them friends of the tt-c
young filters, were compelled to res
cue them by force.
MacReady and Kelly were be-
grimed and spattered with oil from
crown to heel They both appeared
! drawn and tired, but not so as to be
bored with the acclaim that greeted
chem. when they found sanctuary
in the officers quarters, they We
showered with kilograms of con-
graduation from officers at other
army posts, from personal friends
and from the officials OF aero clubs
m
They also disgorged from the depths
of their bulky uniforms large
number of messages which their
friends in the east had commissioner
them to deliver to friends on the
coast as mementoes of the first
transcontinental nonstop flight.
Relatives Present.
Even the parents of Lieutenant
MacReady We're deceived by the ra-
pidity of the flight, for they made
a lelsuroly start from Los Angeles
and were still on the way when the
Tt brought their son in triumph to
the ground. Miss Mary Watson, Il
pretty young woman, Kelly's fiancee'
and Wade Kelly, his brother, were
at the field with two other relatives
of the flier, but his parents received
the news in their home at Grove
City. Pa.
In addition to the former nonstop
overland record achieved in the In
dianapolis flight-2,06 0 miles-these
two young men also hold the endur-
ance record of SO hours 40 minutes in
the air. established at Dayton. o.
When the official readings of the in
struments of this new flight have
been recorded the distance probably
will stretch to 2,750 miles. In pass
ing over San Diego the plane made
l,e1 Il,
ed across to North island where the
field is, abated its speed for circle
Of the campus and came lightly down
on the running gear.
Kelly and MacReady carried two
gallons of coffee in thermos TASKS
and cooked rations for two days. But
for the voracious engines of the ma
chine they had ESQ gallons of gaso-
line, 80 gallons of oil and % gall
Ions of water. which brought the
lightweight of the loaded machine to
1880 pounds.
Weather Perfect ut Finish.
The ship is engined with a Liberty
m otor of 425 horsepower.
The weather was perfect at the
finish. The sun shone and there was
neither breath of wind nor wisp OF
fog to hamper the men. MacReady
said, however. as soon as he was able
| to talk about the flight they had
been helped along in the latter hours
by a wonderful tail wind" which
eased them down the slopes of the
Rockies and waited them close to
San Diego with gentle, friendly
shove.
But 1t was a terrible trip" said
MacReady and his appearance bore
him out.
There was singular poverty OF
incident to mark the flight of the IT,
over this or that place along the
line. At the home post, McCoolS field,
near Dayton. o, they dropped a note
to their commanding officer, re-
specifically reporting that his two
young men were going well and
would dine Thursday in San Diego.
They left cards again at Wilbur
Wright field but did not tarry. The
the two figures. huddled over their
! maps in the cabin, spotted themselves
| over Missouri, ordinarily 80 hours
from New York City by train.
They were getting into sparsely
| settled country now. The ceaseless
grumble of their motor over fso-
| lated farmhouses and dark hamlcts
disturbed :he sleep of many family
whose members may have grumbled
| at history, winging past in mono
plane. Piercing the blackness of the
rainclouds pencil of white jutted
| lO1WdTu from lH6 tIyihe
| to show the way. Towns in the
Texas Panhandle caught swift
glimpses of them, coming and going
| and then they were heard of at
| Tucumcari. n. NJ, The flight over
| the Rockies was the seyerest test OF
their nerve and the engines insides
and both took the challenge with al
most contemptuous ease. Then II
was a glide down the slope to San
Diego and Rockwell field and a place
in tie encyclopae beside Curtis
and the Wrights. Farnam. Voisin-
| even Columbus.
Tell About Trip.
An informal reception to newspa-
| per men, at which chewing gum ana
! chocolate bars fresh from New York
| city, were served, was held by Lieuts.
| John MacReady and Oakley Kelly in
the office of Maj. II. II. Arnold at
F., Rockwell field following their ar
! rival Thursday
The aviators answered questions as
to what sight impressed them most
on their record breaking trip across
| the continent.
| Lieutenant Kelly said:
Il was impressed most by the
acres of acres of waste land in the
southwestern part of the United
States. 1t ought to be given back
| to Mexico"
Lieutenant MacReady said:
Il was most impressed by the huge
| beam of light sent up last night at
Belleville, ILL.,, for our benefit Anoth
er thing that impressed me was the
! high plateaus in eastern Arizona.
They were much higher than l had
| any idea they We're. They were SO
! high, in fact, | couldn't get the plane
| over them and for 100 miles had to
| follow a ridge between plateaus, in
| order to get over"
O o O
Many kilograms.
| Among the large stack of tele-
| grams which were arriving every