Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-11
$35, 900 Flight to Honolulu
Delayed Until Rules Can
Be Met.
COMMITTEE INSISTENT
ON REDUCING HAZARDS
Majority of Entrants Held Unpre-
pared to Begin Trip Tomorrow.
Entry List to Remain Closed.


SAN FRANCISCO, August Ii
Postponement of tomorrow's $35 900
Dole flight from San Francisco Bay
to Honolulu because the entries who
have thus far presented themselves
ARE not now properly equipped or
qualifier" was ordered today by the
flight committee and the Department
of Commerce, subject to the approval
of the Honolulu chapter of the Ma
tional Aeronautic Association.
The committee announced it's deci-
sion to the Associated Press after a
meeting which lasted we'll into the
carly hours of the morning.
The following statement was given
out:
POstpOnement Favored
THE starting committee of the Dole
Honolulu flight, upon the recommen-
dation of Lieut.. b. H. Wyatt, an ex-
perienced navigator; Clarence NJ.
Young, director of aeronautics. De-
partment of Commerce; Maj. H. d.
Clagett, a member of the committee:
Valentine Gephart, secretary of the
National Aeronautic Associations: Capt.
c. w. Saunders, chairman of the
starting committee of the Dole flight,
and H. T.. MacConaughey, representa-
tive of Mr.. James d. Dole, concluded
to recommend the postponement of
the start of the flight for period not
exceeding two weeks.
a request for authority from Mr..
Dole and the Honolulu Chapter of the
National Aeronautic Association. to
make the postponement effective was
cabled to Honolulu last night.
New Entries Barred.
''The recommendation was promised
upon the opinion that the planes and
participants which have thus far pre-
sented themselves are not now prop
erly equipped or qualified and that
there Is not sufficient time remaining
in which to qualify; that even though
some of them might be able to pass
the preliminary navigation tests. to
start August l., the scheduled date,
would present hazards never con.
templated by the donor or the COM
mittee and the result could easily be
unfavorable.
at was further recommended that
no additional entries be accepted for
the postponed date
The postponement order closely fol-
lowed the crash of one of the entries
near San Diego yesterday in which
Lieuts. George w. ID. Covell and r.
S. Waggener of the Navy were killed
when their monoplane plunged into
a cliff in the fog, fell to the bottom
and burned. Although the direct
cause of the accident was not deter
mined, defective equipment was sus-
pected.
Disaster Held Easy.
This fight is something different
from other transoceanic flights,
Lieut.. Wyatt declared. This is a
supreme test of aerial navigation. The
planes are shooting at a target 300
miles wide in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean and an error of but couple
of degrees on the part of the navigator
would send plane at least 200 miles
or the course and such would spell
disaster for the flyers
The outcome of test flights by the
seven entries now here was reported
to have shown compasses several de.
grees off in some instances, rendering
them practically useless.
Some of the pilots arrived here with
the announcement that they planned
10 Cepend on dead reckoning" in their
flight toward the islands. The success
of this method was regarded as highly
questionable considering the small tar
get at which the flyers aimed.
Difficulty With Planes.
Lieut.. Wyatt complained early in
the week that he experienced difficulty
in getting the planes into the air for
their navigation tests. In view of this
fact members of the committee were
urged to postpone the flight.
Another factor that presented itself
was in regard to the planes that had
not arrived at the Oakland or San
Francisco starting lines. If the planes
of Capt. William p. Erwin of Dallas,
Tex; Arthur V. Rogers of Los An
eeles. Charles Parkhurst of Lomax,
Ill.,, and Fred Giles of Detroit should
arrive here before tomorrow noon il
was doubted that they would have
time to undergo the tests, and officials
of the flight declared they were GER
tainly not in favor of permitting any
entry to fly over the ocean without
qualifying as to fitness of planes, pi-
lots and navigators.