Evening star., 1923-08-26
MAIL PLANES MAKE
TWO NEW RECORDS
Quickest Cross-Country and
Longest Night Flights Mark
Five-Day Tests.
BY the Associated Press.

Dy the Associated Press
CHICAGO, August 25.-One of the
most severe aircraft tests in the his
tory of aviation was completed to-
day when mail planes dropped out of
the sky at New York and San Fran
cisco and delivered up their burdens
of letters.
Since Tuesday the airplanes have
roared across the continent, span
ming the country eight times in less
than five days, four times from east
TO west and four times from west to
east, in testing the feasibility OF car
rying mail between the Atlantic and
the Pacific by continuous air flight.
The planes operated on definite
schedule of a little over twenty-four
hours without an accident. and in. re-
laying the mail flew at night over L
lighted airway from Chicago to Chey-
onne. Postal officials declared even be-
tore the tests were completed that the
practicability of the project had been
proven. and announced that d con-
ference soon will be held to deter
mine the future of transcontinental air
plane mail service.
New EastbOund Record.
The planes that landed today fin
ished the fourth transcontinental
journey started yesterday morning.
The eastbound plane landed at New
York at 11:17 o'clock, having made
the trip from San Francisco in twen-
ty-six hours and seventeen minutes,
three minutes below the record for
transcontinental flight established by
the mail. plane landing in New York
yesterday.
The westbound plane landed in San
Francisco a 1:44 pm, having span
ned the continent in twenty-nine
hours and forty minutes, two more
minutes than was taken by the plane
landing at the Golden Gate Friday
There was u lapse of about forty
miles i'll the first eastbound flight, the
plane having been held up at Laramie
and its successor leaving Cheyenne
before the relay of mail was com
pleted
Aside from breaking the record for
transcontinental flight. a record for
the longest night flight was broken
IN connection with the tests when
Pilot Jack Knight last night flew
from Cheyenne TO Buchanan, Mich,
nearly a thousand miles, in response
to a telegHam that his father was not
expected to live. He used q mail
plane in the race through the night
with death, part of the time over the
lighted airway. The pilot arrived at
Buchanan this morning to find his
Ep;e
Resume of Flights.
The record for the eight flights
over the 1850 miles course across the
continent follows:
Eastbound:
Tuesday-Left San Francisco and
reached Laramie; second plane left
Omaha and travelled to New fork
Laramie to Omaha not flown
Wednesday-Left San Francisco
5:26 am. reached New York t2:22
pm. Thursday. Time. 27:56.
ThurSday-Left San Francisco 6
Am; reached New York 1l:14 am,
Friday. Time, 26:14.
Friday-Left San Francisco 5:28
am; reached New York 11:14 am,
Saturday. Time, 26:17.
Westbound:
Tuesday-Left New York 11:01
am. reached San Francisco 6:24 pm,
Wednesday. Time, 34:23.
Wednesday-Left New York 11:O1
am: reached San Francisco 1:45 pm.
Thursday. Time, 29:44.
Thursday-Left New York 1856
am; reached San Francisco 1874 pm,
Friday. Time, 29:3S.
Friday-Left New York 11:04 am. !;
reached San Francisco 1:44 pm. Sat
urday. Time, 29:40.