Evening star., 1923-07-08


Russia the ships will have to follow
the southern route. adding 1000 miles
to the journey. If Russia could be
traversed the flight could be cont1n-
ued directly across Siberia to the Pa
cific and the 1000 miles would be
saved.
Gen. Patrick, who believes in the
future of aeronautics, is the author
of this gigantic plan, and If the flight
is successfully completed it will show
the world that the possibilities of
travel by aircraft are unlimited. 1t
will point out the way for establish
ment of airways heretofore not con-
templated and also. officers hope,
arouse more enthusiasm in America
over aviation than now exists. They
declare that France and England and
other countries are giving aviation a
place of prominence in the mainte-
nance of defense and commercial
plans. while 1--WE are bridled, muZzled
tionS and niggardly support" Despite
this condition of affairs here, air
service officers point with pride to the
fact that the United States holds vir-
tually every airplane record in the
world and they are of the opinion
that If a complete circumnavigation
of the globe is made by the American
flag in the air and still the nation
fails to respond it never will.
Britain to Try Again.
According to information in posses
sion of the air service. the United
States will not be alone in the world
flight attempt. Sir Keith Smith. who.
with his brother. Sir Ross Smith, now
deceased, won fame by flying from
London to Australia, is to attempt
round the-world flight in the spring
of next year. under the auspices OF
the Air League of the British empire.
This will mark the second attempt by
hOnOrS
being the first nation to circle the
globe in the air. the first having
failed about year ago. when Maj
Blake was forced to discontinue his
plans near Australia.
Much responsibility rests on the
shoulders of the committee of special
, projects, for the globe fliers will be
dependent upon the arrangements
made by it. Several of its members,
however. have worked on the Alas
kan and Porto Rican expeditions. and
even have completed plans for the
Panama flight toward the end of this
year or early in next. The personnel
Of the committee and their duties
! follow:
i Capt. William F. Volandt. in charge
of finance and transportation; Lieut.
r. ]. Brown, general organization OF
| flight. route. distribution of supplies;
Capt St Clair Street,. general de
| tails weather, is cooperating with
/ the National Geographic Society and
! obtaining all possible information on
what to expect along the proposed
route; Lieut.. Erick Fl. Nelson. to
select the type of plane. He now is
| in Los Angeles. looking over the pos
| sibilities of the Douglas "cloudster.
| used by the Navy as torpedo plane.
He is assigned to details concerning
, navigation instruments. also. Lieut..
Crumerine, assistant to Lieut.. Nelson
on technical matters.
May Not Use DE HaviInnd.
Not less than three nor more than
six airplanes will he in the eXpedi-
ton. Every effort is being made to
select a thoroughly American plane
and therefore, the famous De Havi-
land. the old reliable of the Army
air service. may have to be passed
up. The original model of the De
Haviland is British in design and
construction. but the American gov
ernment has bought the design and
rebuilt the plane-so that the De HaN-
iland Alb. the remodeied plane. is su-
perior to any other light bombing
and observation ship. Because the
air service has made these changes
and owns the design 1T could he con-
sidered an American plane, however.
In keeping with its policy to give
every man a chance" the pilots for
the trip may be officers heretofore
unknown to the American public,
although such famous fiiers as Lieuts.
Kelly and Macready are being con-
sidered for the assignment along
with others.
Panama Flight i'm Prospect.
The flight to Panama has tempo
rari!y been pigeon-holed by the world
fight and political conditions in Mex
leo. but nevertheless 1t no doubt may
be made before long, as Gen. Pat
rick is very anxious to connect the
insular possessions with the main
land by air lanes. AS the plans stand
today the flight either will be made
to the canal by way of Porto Rico
or directly through Mexico and Cen
trail America from Texas. In the
former event the planes would leave
New York or Washington and fol-
low the trail blazed by the twelve
officers to the Caribbean possession
a short time ago. and from there
proceed due south to the Guineas.
America to Yucatan, across to Cuba,
Florida and up the Atlantic coast to
the starting point.
IF the other route is definitely de-
cided on. two flights of planes will
leave a Texas aviation field, one pro-
ceeding through the center of Mex
leo and the other flying down the
coast. They would meet at Vera Cruz
and continue together down the west
coast to the canal. The ships would
pay visit of courtesy to each of
the countries flown over. Undoubt-
edly the airplanes for this expedition
will be the ones used on the Porto
Rican flight. They now are at Fair
field, Ohio, in storage.