, 1923-05-04
BIRD FLIGHTS
ARE EXCELLED
Continued from PaEe one.l

CONTINUED from PAGE OneJ
attempting to establish a new record
for duration of flight and an attempt
to fly around the world.
The plane they few into San Diego
yesterday was the same they had
used in two previous attempts to
cross the American continent with
out a stop. the first which was halted
by a fog which prevented them from
finding their way through the noun
tain passes east of here. and the Sec
n of which terminated through
failure OF their engine at indianapolis
last November.
Both these attempts, however. re-
suited In record performances. for
the aviators turned the first n n
an attempt for a record for sustained
flight They circled above San Diego
and its environs for SIS hours. is min
utes and 3S seconds. exceeding by
more than nine hours the best pre-
vious mark. Official. acceptance of
the mark as an international record
was withheld because OF technicalities
though there IA no question that
the aviators had remained aloft for
the time stated.
The second attempt also had Its
start from Rockwell Field. In 1t the
fiers drove eastward as far as In
dianapolis. where they landed only
after they had used everything avail
able in the plane to keep their engine
cool, even pouring into its radiator
system the milk and coffee from their
provisions to replace the water that
had leaked out through cracks in the
a,c1pe's cvIinder Jackets.
The aviators were given such n
greeting here on their arrival as
comes to few men. San DieSans, one
by nativity and the other by adop-
ton, the city took them to her heart
with unanimous accle I'M. Although
tho big To landed in the middle of
the field the crowd that gathered was
SO large and pressed SO close TO the
aviators hat by the time Major
Henry A Arnold. commanding officer
of the field arrived he had to fight his
way through.
you have accomplished h i'm
possible" Major Arnold declared In
his enthusiasm and his words found
echoes from every quarter OF the
country in kilograms. including one
from President Harding which read;
you have written a new chapter
in the triumphs OF American avin.
ton"
Both the aviators were in good
physical condition when they landed.
Except for a few spatterings of oil
from the Liberty engine that had
brought them a greater distance than
any persons have ever flown pre-
viously in one continuous flight they
were seemingly as fresh on landing
as IL they had taken an hours taunt.
They began telling newspaper men
how they planned to try for new and
more difficult records.
The story of the flight was told by
the men who made it in a matter OF
a c way with first one and then the
other putting In n sentence or a word
TO illuminate scme point as they NJ
ternately carried on the description.
There was the start when the
hangar at Hempstead were missed
only by inches. There was difficulty
in getting the motors full power into
play for the first few hundred miles
and the thrill MacReady described
when they ran into a mammoth
beacon light at Belleville. ILL.,. pierre
Nh III 1AOdAG &AAa
them on their way. There was the
danger Of the desert in Arizona.
nemesis OF aviators in h past where
landig in the daytime is dangerous
and ut night most likely fatal. And
then San Diego. like a miniature
paradise on a bay OF the Pacific ocean
in southern California-home. A
flight finished. A record made.
n-.t. go - og-, rettas Op0 nntn
Of anxiety was in the story. That
remained from the fear while over
New Jersey tina the voltage regula-
tor of their ignition system would
force them to land. MacReadey re-
paired It.
The airplans had about 40 gallons
of gasoline left in its tanks when 1t
landed, out of the 725 gallons It took
at the start. The plane was the same
the niers had used in earlier attempts
to ny across the continent but the
motor was different. The motor used
lie O 400 horsepower standard com
preston Liberty. To his type Of
motor aviation officers ascribe the
success of the flight. that is. next to
the grit and flying ability Of the two
l~ieutennnts.
Major Arnold declared the record
set by Kelly and MacReady demon
strated the feasibility Of commercial
air lines across the continent. Pas
sengers he said, could be carried a
distance in one day which the fastest
passenger trains require hye to
cover. 81
The two aviators, as a result of
their new record, are richer 81. 500
each. A telegram from Major Gen.
eral Mason Patrick. chief of the air
service informed them that Col,
Franklin r. Kenney. a former air
service officer. had won q wager of