Evening star., 1926-11-24

Continued from First PageD
IN 1925. 1t will have Travelled 1850
miles without a stop as against ! .s4l
miles covered by Rodgers, and AT the
same time it will have demonstrated
the potentialities of long g-dlstance
scouting for the fleet
The Navy kept a close watch on the
progress of the fight through It's re-
aourceful system of communications.
Naval craft and Coast Guard cutters
used signals to point the course. While
land stations at intervals sent wire
less dispatches to Washington record
ing the progress.
One of the last messages received
showed the two planes several nun
dred miles south of Cuba. and another
recorded a speed of So miles an hour
for the PN.10 No. /. Experts said this
would be increa sed as the weight of
the craft lessened, and the ship
would whirl over Panama almost at
a maximum number of miles per hour.
It was agreed at the Navy Depart
ment that. barring accidents. the one
plane would arrive al Colon by pm.
today.
Rear Admiral Moffett. chief of the
NAVY Bureau of Aeronautics. said he
believed the plane would stay aloft as
long as their fuel held out.
1T may arrive over Colon by
o'clock" he saidg but don't he s,lr-
prtsed if it fails to land Immediately.
1t will probably circle around over
the Pacific until their fuel is ex-
hausted."
A report to the Navy Department.
sent by the commander Of the PN-10
No. |, from a point $50 miles south of
the Isle of Pines at $50 am. East
ern time and received here just before
noon, said the craft was making rs
knots The oil temperature on the
starboard motor had increased. the
message said, but otherwise sailing
was good
Hop-off Is Auspicious.
The planes took off at Hampton
Roads at AIS and 4;c5 pm. yesterday.
with a brilliant array Of Navv aviation
talent comprising their crews OF four
men each.
Comdr Bartlett is a veteran Eav-
fyer and winner of the Navy cross
during the World War for heroic serv-
ice for plotting a bomber on the Bel
gian front. Lieut.. Byron J. Connell
Of Elizabeth, Pa. one of the pilots of
the PN-9 No. l planes of the Rodgers
expedition, is in charge of one of the
planes.
Other officers of the flight include
Lieut.. Lawrence w Curtin OF Boards
town, H.. navigator OF the Inflated
Sikorsky plane, in which the French
ace. Capt. Fonck, planned 10 fly to
France Lieut.. Clarence H. Schild-
has made previous flights to the West
indies and Panama. and Lieut.. Her
bert Charles Rodd. who was on the
NC-4 plane when il crossed the Allan
tic for the first time by air in 1919.
Skiles Ralph Pope, an enlisted pilot
of Memphis. Tenn. a member of the
Rodgers fight: j. r. Roe of Akron.
Ohio. radio operator and Charles j.
sutter. New York. machinist's mate,
complete the fight personnel.
1,5oO of Gasoline.
Each plane started with 1900 gal
ions of gasoline. estimated to be suf-
fcient for 2.154 nautical miles. In
nautical miles the fight measures
1.SS2.
The PN-10type machines are hi
plane tractor boat seaplanes. with two
500 horsepower motors each. In wing
spa they are % feet; length. 49 feet.
and height. 1917 feet. They were
equipped with radio sets. having a
DAYLIGHT range of from ESQ to 400
miles over water.
As the two planes whirred overhead,
Ave Navy ships and Coast Guard
cutter were stationed at intervals be
low, as watchdogs of the flight.
Heavy smoke signals from the an.
chored vessels served to guide the
aviators during the day. while at
night their searchlights played
steady beam for Ave minutes every
quarter of an hour. The vessels were
the destroyer Overton. mine sweeper
nndpiper. the cutter Sauke. the light
cruisers Ral,igh and Cincinnati, and
the mine sweeper Swan.