Evening star., 1924-08-24
PROGRESS OF WORLD FLIGHT
NOV NEARS ITS FINAL STAGE
After American Airnen Leave Ivigtut, Greenland
They Viii be Back on Continent Where
They Started Once More
by LIEUT.. n J. BROWN. yr-

bf LIEUT.. n J. 0ROwN, JP.
Chairman World Flight Commission.
LieutA Smith and Nelson decided to
give UP the idea Of using AnmaGsalik.
Greenland. as 4 base. and had made all
preparations to fy direct to Frederiks-
dal. Greenland. from Reykjavik. Ice
land. on August 1s. Unfortunately.
this morning. unfavorable conditions
were encountered. Because Of the
storms which had prevailed throughout
the preceding week. great sveils we're
rolling into the hArbor from the Dan
ish Straits, and to add to this difl,culty
there was absolutely no wind, SO that
when the fiers attempted to take of
both of the world cruisers had minor
accidents. Lieut.. Smith's plane broke
the spreader bar, which holds the pom
toons In line. and had his plane been
travelling At high rate Of speed this
might have proved DISASTROUS. because
the pontoons would have been pulled
out Of alignment. which would have
resulted In the nosing over and COM
plete wreck Of the cruiser Chicago The
top OF the swell caught Nelson's pro-
peiler and shattered one blade. putting
1t out Of commission.
Have Minor Accidents.
These ordinarily small misfortunes
were masnined by the fact that all the
supplies and spares had been placed
der that they could be Immediately
rushed to either one Of the two planes
in the event OF their having to descend
in case Of trouble between Reykjavik.
Iceland. and Fredertksdal, Greenland.
and the Richmond had put TO sea to
take position in the line Of flight to
guard the passage OF the planes across
H.
could be made to the dana god parts
until the Richmond had succeeded in
getting the necessary parts back to
Reykjavik.
This resulted in q delay OF three
days. and during this time Lieut..
Smith. the commanding officer. kept
in continual touch with the "Gertrud
Rask" at Angmagsalik. hoping that
the delay to the flight would give
further search which would dis
close enough clear water for land
ing place. In which event 1t would
be unnecessary to take the long haz
ardous flight direct to the southern
end of Greenland.
Flight Of s25 Miles.
The efforts OF Lieut.. schulze proved
unfruitful. and on the night OF Au-
gust 20 the two world cruisers were
made ready to leave their base for
the flight Of S25 miles to Frede-
riksdal.
The commanding oficer of the
flight proceeded to take advantage
Of every bit OF daylight on August 81.
javik at am. However. due to un-
favorable weather conditions, along
the route the flight was delayed. The
unusually heavy load of fuel which
the planes were carrying made 1t diff
ficult to take of, which resulted in
the further delay OF departure until
Sis am. Lieut. Locatelli. the Italian
aviator who had overtaken the Amer
leans at Reykjavik. took off shortly
company them on the long voyage.
Wind Helped Progress.
Fortunately. during the forenoon
the wind blew from the north. keep
ing the sea clear Of fog and assist
ing the progress Of the flight rather
than impeding 1t. 10 that the first 200
miles were covered in about two and
one-half hours flying time. After
word had reached the War Depart
ment that the flight had passed both
the Richmond and. the destroyer
Reed, no news. although 1t was anx-
iously awaited. reached the air serr-
Ice until IL was IcAFucu iAtc a. MS IL I
that the flyers had successfully COM
pleted the flight. Lieut.. Smith landed
at Frederiksdal after a flight OF 10
hours and 50 minutes, Lieut.. Nelson
so minute later. after flight OF IL
hours and 20 minutes. The ayers be-
came separated on account Of the
heavy fog, which prevailed for the
last $50 miles Of their journey. They
were required TO iy very low and the
danger Of striking icebergs OF which
thew saw a great number made the
last portion Of the flight exceedingly
danxerous. Lieut. Nelson's plane suf-
fered a damaged pontoon when he
landed on account of the heavy sea
that was running at the time.
HelpeA ny New Compass.
This excellent performance was
only possible through the late devel-
opment in navigation instruments
with which these airplanes are
equipped. The earth inductor COM
pass made it possible for Lieuts.
Smith and Nelson to hold true
course in spite of their inability to
see ahead.
Lieut.. Locatelli was flying about
so miles ahead of the American pilots
when the fog was reached, and was,
in all probability. forced to land at
sea, off the coast OF Greenland. The
American naval vessels in that vicin-
ity are now carrying out . most
rigorous and complete search for the
missing Italian Airplane. but their
movements have been hanpered by
thick weather.
The American airmen, thoroughly
exhausted after their ordeal, are
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