Evening star., 1926-11-21
PAN-AMER|CANH0P
FLYERS GET READY
Officers Arrange to Leave
Here in Amphibian for
Kelly Field, Texas.

|
ing been completed. the 10 officer
pilots of the expedition today are
prepa ring to depart for Kelly Field.
| San Antonio. Tex. the starting point,
! from various sections of the country.
Mai Herbert A. Dargue. COM
ma anding the flight, said last night
that by Friday the entire personnel
will be at the point of departure. He
| will leave Washington by train to-
morrow night and Capt Ira G. Eaker
T, will leave today. Lieut.. Il. S. Thomp-
son began his railroad journey last
! night The others are Ell route from
their various posts.
Capt. A. r. Mcdaniel, second in
| command OF the project. and Capt.
| Clinton +. Woolsey. engineering offi-
| Ger, however, are the only ones fly
ing to the Texas field. They had com
pleted their plans last night for leay-
| ing Boiling Field early this morning
in the Looming Amphibian practice
ship Of the fight. Their route will
| he over water most of the way In
order that they may experience the
ma ximum number Of water landings
| during the 2,021-mile flight TO Kelly
! Field
This route includes stops at Nor
folk. Charleston, s. c.: Ferna ndina
and Pensacola. Fla: New Orleans,
La: Galveston and San Antonio.
| Tex. The plane, a Looming am
| phihian, was the first one turned
out of the factory for the officers and
! has been flown continuously by all of
them for many weeks at Miller Field
| Staten Island. After the departure
of the flight on or about December
/ Is 1t will he placed into regular routine
! Avn, ir
|. field.
| Pairing Is Problem.
Two Of the Ave amphibians that will
| constitute the flight already are en-
route by fast freight from New York
! to San Antonio. and the manufac-
turers have promised the Air Corps
that the three remaining will be placed
on the rails by December !. In order
that no delay in their movement may
he encountered. Maj. Dargue has Sc
lected a man to ride in the caboose
| the entire routs.
| At Kelly Field Mai. Dargue and his
officers will continue to famliariZe
| themselves with the amphibian
planes, study the AZ maps each pilot
will carry and decide on what pilots
will occupy the FIVE planes.
The pairing of the aviators is re-
garded as one of the most importa mt
| features of the flight. While ability
does not enter into the question Of
placing officers together tempera
ment does, and Maj Dargue will have
to make his decision solely from the
psychological viewpoint. Inasmuch
as no two airmen fly alike. the officer
| pilot in the back seat as passenger
| always is able to criticize the per
| formance of the pilot forward.
requirements Are Shipped.
Each Of the two occupants Of the
five planes will alternate in flying.
however, 50 that when the 1S,000-mile
| Journey is completed at Boiling Field,
about 14o days from the date OF de-
parture. 1t will he found that each
! pilot has about 5000 miles Of plotting
to his credit.
| Advance officers for the six divi-
sions of the flight already are nearing
| their destinations. and those who
! might have arrived within the past
week undoubtedly have gone out on a
| tour Of their territory.
! Maintenance sets, including spare
parts for the inverted Liberty engines
and requirements for the airplanes,
have been shipped from the air inter
mediate depot at Fairfield. Ohio, to
|
ico France Field, Panama Canal
Zone; Talcahuano. Chile; Buenos
Aires. Argentina; Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil: Para. Brazil; Port of Spain,
Trinidad, and Havana. Cuba.
! Eighteen inverted Liberties also
have been dispatched to the follow
ing points: France Field, two; Lima
Peru, two; Talcahuano. Chile, three;
Buenos Aires. two; Rio de Janeiro,
| three; Para, Brazil. two: Port of
Spain. two. and Havana. two. In
addition, three engines have been
sent to Kelly Field for the use of the
flight while in the final stages~~of Its
| training and for substitution in the
planes, IL necessary, before the start
of the flight.
10000 Gallons Of Gas.
/ Fifty thousand gallons Of high test
gasoline and 5000 gallons Of oil also
| are en- route to the various bases on
the route. The Air Corps arranged
for the fuel supply by contract with
he American Oil Co. The needs Of the
| 10 planes were computed on tho basis
that each Liberty consumes 25 gal
Ions Of gasoline and 21a gallons Of oil
per hour. Then Is per cent more
| fuel was added for emergency.
!
black and yellow The hull and
fuselage will he black and the wings
yellow. this latter color being adopted
because Of it's good visibility over the
water. The insignia, designed by G. r.
| McComas, civilian craftsman in the
ONCE Chief Of Air Corps. this city,
consists Of sphere showing the
| Western Hemisphere In buff on an
ultramarine background Pinioned on
the sides Of the sphere are silver
wings and below the design are the
words ". S. Army Pan-American
fight
One Of the most vital elements of
the fight-that of navigability--has
been worked out for the pilots by
Capt Ross G. Hoyt of Maj. Dargue's
Office here, and who also has had a
large part in all the details for a
year. Capt. Hoyt has drawn up the
maps for the flight, marked off the
compass courses. cut them into
strips. mounted them on linen and
arranged them according to use.
Each pilot was furnished with ~ strip
maps, which give his course from
Kelly Field to Boiling Field via the
Southern continent, making 420 maps
in all.
Advance Officers Mission.
Areas assigned to the advance on
GERS are: First division. San Antonio,
Tex. to France Field. Canal Zone,
Lieut.. Byron T. Burt; second division
France Field to Naldivia Chile, Lieut..
Melvin a. Asp; third division. Valdivia,
Chile, to Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. Lieut..
Samuel c. Skemp: fourth division, Rio
de Janeiro. Brazil. to Lila Guayra
tcaracas). Venezuela. Lieut.. William
| Ai,-Iai