New Britain herald., 1926-11-24
PN-l0 PLANE NO. 1
 FORCED ID LAND
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 route from Hampton Roads 10 tho Panama Canal early today have passed beyond the tip of Florida, well on their way toward a new non- stop record for this type of craft
 The old record, 1S41 miles, was established in PN-9 plane by the late Commander John Rogers on his nearly fatal Hawaiian flight in 1925. The distance from Hampton Roads to Colon, the PN-10's objec- tive, is 2O60 miles.
 Frequent radio messages from the planes to the navy vessels guarding their route and to the communica- tion station here, kept the navy de- partment advised of the progress of the flight, which had as its chief purpose the proving of the practica- bility of long distance scouting by the "eyes of the navy"
 Start Late In Afternoon.
 The planes took off at Hampton Roads at 4:1S and 426 p. m. yester- day with a brilliant array of navy aviation talent comprising their crews of four men each.
 A veteran navy f1ier and winner of the navy cross during the World war for heroic service for piloting a bomber on the Belgian front, Lieut.. Commander Harold T. Bartlett, of Old Lyme, Conn.,, commands the flight, and Lieut.. Byron J. Connell of Elizabeth, Pa., one of the pilots of the PN-9 No. 1 plane of the Rogers expedition, is in charge of the other plane.
 Other Flight Officers.
 Other officers of the flight include Lieut.. Lawrence W. Curtin of Breadstown, H.. navigator of the ill-fated Sikorsky plane in which the French ace, Captain Fonck, planned to fly to France; Lieut.. Clarence II. Schildhauer of New Holstein, Wis, who has made previous flights to the West Indies and Panama, and Lieut.. Herbert Charles Rodd, who was on the NC-4 plane when it crossed the Atlantic for the first time by air in 1919.
 Skiles Ralph Pope. an enlisted pilot, of Memphis. Tenn, mem-. Der of the Rodgers flight; J. R. Roc of Akron, Ohio. radio operator, and Charles J. Sutter. New York. ma chinist's mate, complete the flight personnel.
 1900 Gallons of Gas Each plane started with 1500 gall Ions of gasoline. estimated to bs sufficient for 2154 nautical miles In nautical miles, the flight meas- ures 1882.
 The PN-10 type machines are bi- plane tractor boat seaplanes with two GOO horsepower motors each. In wing span they are 75 feet, length 49 feet and height 16 1-2 feet They were equipped with ra- dio sets having a daylight range of from 250 to 400 miles over water.
 Smoke Signals
 As the two planes whirred over. head. five navy ships and a coast guard cutter were stationed at in- IerNdlS DelOW, AS WdlCllQOSS Ol tHo flight. Heavy smoke signals from the anchored vessels served to guide the aviators during the day, while at night their searchlights played steady beam for five min- utes every quarter of an hour. The vessels were the destroyer Overton. mine sweeper Sandpiper, the cut ter Sauke, the light cruisers Raleigh and Cincinnati, and the mine sweep CT Swan.
 Pilot Ship Trails
 Messages received by the depart. ment from the planes early today indicated that the No. machine. carrying the flight commander was trailing the other by about 25. miles. No. 1 passed Alligator reef. the southernmost tip of Florida, at 3:21 a. III. and No. } touched the same point 20 minutes later. At that time. they hade travelled 7S7 nautical miles without mishap.