Evening star., 1925-09-13

we neared port somebody came along
and found us.
My greatest worry was that |
would be court martialed for having
lost my plane. But now l see that my
mistakes are forgotten. IT gives US
great pleasure to he here even II we
did not perform exactly as we had
planned"
four other aviators as they were in
dividually introduced. while the crowds
howled. Speech, Speech
The governor complimented Lieut..
Connell on his success in accomplish.
ing the difficult feat OF anding in
rough sea without motors.
Each of the flyers made a brief an
swer to the cheers which greeted
them.
Lieut.. ConnelI said:
"Comdr. Rodgers is very bash
ful. To him belongs the sole credit
for our successful sail homewa rd."
Bowlin said: I'm very glad to he
here"
Radio Operator Stantz when intro
duced was told by the crowd TO
broadcast" He and Pope each made
brief speeches of thanks
Rear Admiral Mcdonald outlined
The Navy did exactly what it was
expected to do and nothing more"
A squadron of airplanes flew over
head In formation as the sviators
entered the palace grounds. 1t was
announced that at the close of the
ceremonies they would return to the
naval hospital at Pearl Harbor for
further rest and quiet.
Needed 100 Gallons Of Gas.
Lack of only a hundred gallons of
gasoline robbed the NAVY Of the
honor Of making nonstop seapIane
fight from San Francisco to Honolulu
This fact was revealed today by
Pope. aviation pilot on the PN-9 No.
], which was picked up late Thurs
day near the island ~ Kauai, 100
miles northwest Of here. after drift
ing nine days, while a substantial
portion of the United States Navy
plowed the seas in search of ii.
"A hundred more gallons OF gas
and we would have landed al Pearl
Harbor without a question the day
we were forced down" Pope asserted.
There wasn't as much as a sputter
from the engines from the time we
cleared the Golden Gate until the last
drop OF gasoline was gone. And then
she the PN9 No. II landed as pret
tliN as you COulu ASK
Best Type Plane.
The pilot expressed the opinion that
the PN-9 type plane was the best yet
developed.
1T isn't only her wonderful en-
gines." he said in speaking of the
air cruiser, which was his home for
ten days. When we were forced
down she rode the waves like real
ship. proving the perfection of her
design and balance. She slipped over
the waves just like big ship, smooth
as oil. and into the trough TO take
the next succession of waves Sea
worthy Boy, She looks as safe in
a heavy sea as the Levia than, only
she's naturally not quite so comfort
able
Shortly after Pope granted the in
terview. Comdr. John Rodgers Of the
seaplane announced that no more
statements for publication would be
made by the crew or himself for the
present.
Comdr. Rodgers was described by
Pope, as a bundle OF pluck and cour-
age"
Praises Rodgers.
That means everything to the
had" Pope declared. There is
satisfaction in knowing that you have
a superior officer who takes whatever
the fates have in store and never
f1inches. Capt. John is the kind of
officer that men would do anything
for"
The crew had with them what they
had been thought an ample supply OF
sandwiches. and a quantity OF fruit
and hot coffee when leaving San Fran
cisco Pope said. but added:
When ve were forced down we
looked around and seeing no ships in
sight went into the stern of the boat
and proceeded TO eat some of our
grub We We're not hungry then and
tossed aside some of the bread from
our sandwiches. couple Of days
later we were glad we had not thrown
1t overheard. for what we had dis
carded was our food for one day. We
rescued some orange peeling the
third, and say, you don't know how
good orange peeling is when you
haven't anything else.
Couldn't Catch Fish.
1--WE were out of food except
emergency rations and corned beef
the third day We improvised some
After that we were all on fast until |
the submarine reached us,
After the fourth day we did not
notice it much. Our cigarettes didn't
last long, and we were shooting the
butts for day.
"Out of the attempt to span the
ocean I think 1t has been demon
strated that such a flight can be
made 1t has been demonstrated that
a plane and engines have been de-
signed which are capable Of making
it with sufficient gas aboard. The
radio end will be improved as result
of some of the shortcomings shown in
this fight, perhaps through instaila-
ton of an auxiliary engine to generate
power for broadcasting.
Would ] like to try 1t again? You
bet ! would, But Id like TO go along
with Comdr. Rodgers in charge of. the
flight.