New Britain herald., 1925-09-01
ONE PLANE STILL FLIES
 PIN. g No. 3 IS DOWN
 IN HAWAIIAN FLIGHT
Flagship On Last Half of Journey-Destroy. CT Towing Other Ma- chine To Port.

San Francisco. sept. 1 P,-The navy seaplane P.N.-9 No. i, at tempting nonstop flight from San Francisco to Hawaii, had completed half of its journey of 2,100 nautical miles between and 6 o'clock this morning.
 Up to that time the plane had made an avNyage speed of slightly more than 7lAnautical miles, or fraction underNS2 land miles, an hour. Early todSy it was exceeding the speed it had maintained earlier in its flight. and was making up the time it had been behind it's schedule.
 When the plane passed over the destroyer Corry 600 miles from the Golden Gate, 1t was more than an hour behind its schedule. By the time 1t passed the destroyer Meyer, 500 miles from the California coast 1t had reduced this to fifty minutes.
 The report that the aircraft had passed the destroyer Doyen and was speeding toward the airship tender Langley, came from the Doyan 4 at 4:45 o'clock, thirteen hours and 37 minutes after the plane had left Point Bonita, at the entrance to San Francisco Bay, figured as the official point of departure.
 A few minutes after Rear Admiral William Moffatt, chief of the naval aeronautical bureau, and Captain S. F. Moses, flight project commander had ordered the minesweeper Gan nett, with it's equipment for hoistins the plane from the water. to hasten from this port to the point where the P.N.-9 No. was forced down about four hours and half after the start. word was received from the destroyer William Jones, advised Admiral Moffatt that he was making seven knots an hour with the plane and was directed to proceed slowly toward San Francisco, while the Gannett continued toward him.
 PN-8 No. 3 Comes Down
 The PN-9 No. was forced down 200 miles off the California coast on it's attempted flight with the PN-9 No. 1, when the oil pressure lines to both engines were broken. Re- port of the cause of the planes trouble was made to flight head quarters tIere early this morning h' the destroyer William Jones, which made 100 mile run in four hours to go to the stricken planes aid.
 Commander Taylor of the William Jones said that he was taking the plane in tow.
 The rep r)rt come from the de- stroyer which four hours previously had been ordered from its station 100 miles near the Golden Gate, to cruise in search of the aircraft from which nothing had been heard since it passed over the Will liam Jones 6:1G o'clock last night
 An hour after the William Jones reported it had sighted the PN-9 No and was standing by, the mlnesweeoer Gannett was ordered rom San Francisco bay to give it aid if necessary, as neither the Jones nor the McCawley is equipped 10 hoist a plane out of the water If the PN-9 No. is unable to rise from the water by its own power the Gannett, It is calculated, should reach it early tomorrow morning.
 Tn Wireless Touch
 Communication by wireless was established at 2:09 o'clock between the PN-9 No. and the aircraft ten der Langley. The flagship of the two planes, which took off just be- fore o'clock yesterday afternoon, was calculated by the officials here in charge of the flight to be approXi- uately 500 miles out on its flight, al though if was in communication with the Langley, stationed 1,2oo miles from the Golden Gate,
 AS the flagship approached the langley it messaged the mother craft of the navy's plans with re- gards to old shipmates and Gre marked that the Langley's signals were coming in weak.
 The catastrophe to the PN-9 No. 8 is believed by navy officials in charge of the flight headquarters here to have occurred about 7:30 o'clock last night, less than five hours after it took oft from the up- per reaches of San Francisco Bay.
 Communication by wireless was maintained by navy headquarters in San Francisco and the PN-9 No, 3. for the first hour after 1t began it's flight but its signals soon faded out and while 1t was seen by the Will liam Jones flying overhead with the flag plane, no radio communication was established between 1t and the destroyer.
 The commander of the flagship still pursuing it's flight 10 the Hawai- ian Islands Is Commander John Rodgers, Washington. n. C., second officer Of Uncle Sam's navy to learn 10 fly. He was student of the Wright Brothers at Dayton, O., in 1911, Composing his crew are Lieu tenant Byron ]. Connell, of Pitts burgh, Pa, S. N. Pope, aviation pilot of Jackson, Pa, Otis c. Stantz, chief radio man. of Terre Haute, Ind. and William Bowlin. chief ma chinists mate of Richmond, Ind.
 Work On Others Plane
 Adjustment of the new power plant in the P. R.-1 plane, the 24.oO0 pound aircraft, from a Seattle fac tory, was being made today by the expert machinists who yesterday completed its installation and made short test flight. Every effort was being made to make the big Boeing plane ready 10 start tomorrow aft ernoon on flight which 1t Is now planned will be s5 miles longer than that on which the F. N.-9 No. was still flying. The Boeing air craft will be given orders to con tinue: if possible past the Pearl Har- hnr, landing on the Island of Oahu.