Evening star., 1923-07-20

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lieutenant was forced to descend
with oil pouring from the planes
tank in bucketfuls and nauseating
fumes engulfing the machine and
weak ening is intrepid pilot.
Lieut.. Vaughan had passed Rock
Springs and had covered about half
the distance Of the fourth leg of his
four-stop flight, when he realized
that to continue and reach his goal
San Francisco-before niightfall was
impossible. He swerved his plane,
turned back toward Rock Springs
and landed at the air mail field there
at sos pm, just fifteen hours to the
minute after he took off from
Mitchell Field, NY.
Weakened by Fumes.
After a successful flight from the
eastern terminal through the first
two legs of the fiiSht--from Mitchell
Field to Dayton. Ohio. and on to St.
Joseph, Mo.-Lieut. Maughan encoun-
tered his first trouble with the oil
cooler shortly after noon at North
Platte. Neb. BY the time he had
reached cheyenne, Wyo., completing
the third leg. he was so weakened by
the escaping oil fumes that he almost
fell from the cockpit.
Racked with nausea and virtually
UNCONSCIOUS. he rested while me-
chanics worked desperately and SOL
dered the leaking tank. Delayed for
nearly an hour. Lieut. Vaughan hop
ped off, determined TO make a supreme
effort to cover the stretch of nearly
1000 miles that separated him from
his goal.
Expressing keen disappointment
and noticeably discouraged at the
outcome of his second attempt with
IN ten days to cross the nation in n
day the lieutenant took heart in a
moral victory and in the hope that
tulhll his lifetime ambition
1T was the oil cooler" Lieut.,
Vaughan told an Associated Press
correspondent. as he rested his tired
mere and told the story of his flight.
l thought we had it fixed at Chey-
enne. but it became worse as [ drove
on. twenty miles out of Rock Springs
1t began to leak in bucketfuIs and I
thought IL best to quit"
Lieut.. Maughan's plane is at the
air I.ail field here today undergoing
repairs TO the oil tank. Mechanics ex-
peet to have it ready for flying with
in few hours. After a good night :
the border Of his home state, Utah.
and visit his mother at Logan, Utah,
and his wife at Heber City. Utah.
Return to New York.
After visiting them Lieut.. Maughan
probably will take off on return
flight to Mitchell Field, via the route
he took in attempting his transcon-
tinental flight.
Lieut.. Vaughan discounted reports
from the east that his failure might
have been due to tampering with the
oil tank before he started on his his
tory-making trip.
1t was merely a case of the SOL
dered part of the tank coming loose
S the result of vibration, caused by
steam" he asserted.
Carrying out his plan of conserving
his speed for the latter part of the
journey, Lieut. Maughan hit the bor-
der of the Rocky Mountain region
travelling at a tremendous rate. 1t
was estimated he reached a maximum
of more than 200 miles an hour be-
tween Cheyenne and Rock Springs.
On the basis of the total elapsed time
from Mitchell Field, Lieut.. Vaughan
spanned the first 1850 miles at an
average speed of 1855 miles an hour.
Altogether he covered total of 1925
miles. For actual flying time it was
estimated he averaged about 155
miles an hour.