Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-13
SUGGEST ENLARGED
FORECAST SERVICE
Chamberlin and Levine Ad-
vocate Improved Weather
Charts for Ocean Flying.
BY CLARENCE d. CHAMBERLIN
AND CHARLES A. LEVINE.

BY Radio to The Star and New York Times.
BERLIN. June 12.-Looking back
on our flight across the Atlantic.
memories of all sorts of incidents,
serious and comic, come into our
minds. For instance, now that we
can crawl into comfortable beds again
at night and sleep for hours, we recall
how hard it was for either of us to
Snathc a few moments of sleep while
flying from New York to Germany.
You get so accustomed to listening
to the roaring of the motor that your
ear gets trained to every beat. II it
is missing, the plane would drop to
the ground, where death may await
you. Therefore, just as soon as you
doze off you are likely to awake with
a start, because you think the motor
has stopped. We tried separately
several times on our trip to make
ourselves as comfortable as possible
on top of the gas tank and sleep, but
try as we might, we could not, and
finally we gave it up and sat up at
the stick.
When you are at the "stick" in an
airplane-especially on flight across
the ocean-you don't do much think
ing about anything except manag-
ing the plane right, but when the
other fellow is on the job all sorts
of thoughts run through your mind
often thoughts that have nothing
to do with flying at all.
Thinks of Prayers.
Since Chamberlin was at the stick
more than Levine on our flight ne
didn't do much thinking on general
subjects, but Levine. being totally I'M
able to sleep. INDUCED in all sorts OF
incongruous thoughts. Soon after
darkness fell last Saturday and also
on Sunday night he found himself
thinking westward:
my daughter Eloyse is going to
bed at home many hundred miles
westward.
II can almost hear her say her
prayers" he told Chamberlin, asking
God to get daddy over there safely,
and her mother joining her in the
prayer and perhaps crying"
We figured originally on making
Berlin in about Sc hours-as a matter
of fact, it took us 43 from New York
to our first landing. near Eiselben in
Germany, some distance south of
Berlin, seven hours late. We flew
from New York to Lands End at the
southern Up Vi ldllNl, III % II AlCuA %
Between New York and Newfound-
land we lost two and one-half hours
but with favoring winds and good Wis
Utility we flew across the Atlantic at
such high speed that we were ahead
of our schedule. But all of the adj
vantage gained on this part Of the
flight was lost when we found our
selves in the midst of big storm
over Europe. concerning which we
had been unable to get accurate in
formation before our start from New
York.
Plane Behaved Admirably.
Our plane behaved admirably.
Chamberlin believes he could have
taken off successfully even with an
other 500 pounds of gasoline more
than we carried on our flight. The
plane is such wonder that we have
not yet found the limit at which it
will lift. Every time we thought
during our tests that we had loaded
onto it the maximum load which 1t
would lift the plane just walked
away''--carrying practically twice its
own weight.
We spent the afternoon before our
start from New York at the Weather
Bureau, with Mr.. kImball, one or the
weather experts there, studying the
weather map and the latest develop
ments over the ocean and in Europe
so far as they were known. MIR.
Kimball was not at all enthusiastic
about our chances Of SUCCESSIVE re-
marked to us that we might possibly
make it. He told us we should have
very little fog between New York and
Nova Scotia, and that over Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland there should
be perfect visibility with head winds.
At that time there was a storm in
| mid-Atlantic that showed signs OF
clearing, but in case it did not, Mr.
Kimball advised us, if we found our