Smyrna times., 1924-10-22
zR-3 TRAVERSES ATLANTIC
OCEAN IN RECORD TIME
LANDS AT LAKEHURST AFTER
FLIGHT OF 81 HOURS, II MIN.
Travels 5O66 Miles-GasOline Tanks
Were One-FOurth Full on Arrival;
Crew Happy But Weary

/ "A
Crew Happy But Weary
The ZR-3 slumbered Wednesday
night, safely Graded in the Lakehurst
AirdrOme after a memorable flight
across the ocean. Her German crew
slumbered also and her four American
passengers. She, who had set a new
record for sustained flight, appeared
none the worse for the effort. She
swayed croOningly to and fro to the
tune of softly creaking tackle. He1
luminous sides shimmered under the
beams of moon that penetrated her
glass dOmed hangar.
But the humans whom she had car
ried so far, sheltered beneath her pro-
tecting bulk-they were red-eyed and
weary. They had traversed 5O66
miles under hazardous circumstances
and they had done it in a single con-
tinuOus flight of 81 hours and II min
utes.
This was the official record as COM
puted by DR.. Hugo Eckener, com
mander of the dirigible and president
of the Zeppelin interests, and by Com
mander J. H. Klein, Jr., of Lakehurst
Field, who made the trans-oceanic
flight.
The ships log recorded that she
left Friedrichshafen, Germany, at
6.35 a. m, on Sunday, October u, the
time being one hour east of Green
wich. She touched earth here at 9.52
a. m. Eastern standard time Wednes-
day. DR.. Eckener was authority for
the statement that the mileage was
5066.
Speed 81 Miles an Hour
Thus the average speed of the ZR-3
for the whole distance was approx
mately 62.55 miles per hour. The
approximate average of the British
R-34 during her westward flight of
5000 miles across the Atlantic in 1O8
hours, made in 1919, was 1858 miles
per hour.
As further indication of the
strides lighter than air aeronautics
have taken during those five wears.
the fuel tanks of the ZR-3 were one
quarter full when she berthed. They
held 712 tOns-enough, according to
Lieutenant Commander S. NJ. Krauss.
to have carried her 1900 knots farther
on, or a goodly part of the distance
to the Pacific coast.
When the R34 reached her desti
nation at Mineola, Long Island, from
last Fortune, Scotland, her fuel tanks
held barely a half hours supply. For
her to have proceeded farther would
have been to court disaster
Each Of the 81 passengers on the
ZR-3 had his story to tell when he
within the Lakehur,t
hangar. But the most complete of
them all was the story told by the
iiary-Iog of Captain George w. Steele
prospective commander Of the dirigi- /
bic.
Delayed by Fog
He related how on October 10, the
date set for the flight, such crowds
surged at the gates of the Friedrich
shafen Airdrome that he was lost in
the rush; how the big bag failed to
rise because Of atmospheric condi-
lions, how the take-of was postponed
Tor two days.
The 18th Of October came in on
a foggy day" Captain Steele's rec
nd continued "When the hangar
ioorS were opened there was blue
'og outside. But things were better.
The ship had been carefully trimmed
md the temperature was better; that
$ colder. At $40 the ground crew
,tarted to take the ship out. At 6.25
he engines were started and we were
'tf. There was a great cheer from
he crowd; the band played the ma .
ional air and there was much futter-
ng of handkerchiefs. Several thou
and people were on the field, but
heir view of the ship was brief. She
It once rose into the fog and disap-
reared from sight.
AT $50 we passed over the mouth
# the GirOnde river to the Bay of
}iscay. 1t had taken US only nine
hours to reach the Atlantic, averaging
'ver sixty miles an hour. The ship
elt the effect of the complication of
currents in the air. In addition we
we're near the ground-5OO to 1000
eet-and the movement of the air
Icross the hills caused additional ed
lies. The result was a gentle roll
md pitch, but not uncomfortable.
When we reached the sea the bumpy
notion ceased.
"The course was laid for Cape Fin
stere, but darkness fell before we
sighted the Spanish coast. While
- I ,,-o.o