The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-11
White Bird and Black Angel

If begins to look as if Captain Nungessers over
seas plane the White Bird with its Skull anu clo0'
bones candles and coffin insignia, had performed ny
r. its sinister markings. The black angel seems 10
have been riding on its wings
According to plan, it was to have made the non
sion fight from Paris to New York in from thirty-
six to forty hours. At noon today, Eastern stanuaro
time about eighty-four hours had elapsed since It's
take.of from the French capitaFs airport lie
Bourget.
If, the great adventure has turned to tragedy,
we venture to say it was not the human elemen'
that failed hut the mechanical The will was
there and the sheer, unfipching daredevil courage
was there only the frailness of the craft the pio'
neers rode in can account for their failure TO pun
through.
wbetber Cantain Nungesser and Major Coli his
navigator have Joined the great and growing group
of immortals now in aviations Valhalla, or will turn
I'm safe and sound ashore afoat somewhere at
sea. thew have done enough to have their names
inscribed in the book of mems gold deeds Iheirs
was not an empty tragedy, vain reaching out lor
fame They accomplished something, proved SOME
thing and in addition, offered and probably gave the
maximum any man can give for the ADVANCEMENT
of human knowledge. For one thing they ue"oh-
strated that aviation still has very long way 10 go
before the great air liners we see pictured deck su
perimposed upon deck war planes big as pattie-
shps and as heavily armed go careenlng through
the Skies across the seas and around the earth on
endless errands Of peace and war.
Theirs was the very latest word the ultimate
product of one the greatest aircraft laboratories
In the world. Yet it could not ny from Farls 10 Ne"
yorlx-not even after it has been stripped to the
danger point to tighten it and give it every chance
In fact here is probably the secret of the fights
at il has failed,
The White Bird left Paris only after every pos
sibe safety margin had been shorn from it. A land
plane it's running gear was dropped soon after II
left the ground Not a seaplane, it was without
pontoons and could snot land water, even the
smoothest kind of water, without considerable
danger.
And finally every ounce of gasoline was sacri-
feed at the last minute beyond the bare require
ments nicely calculated for Decline journey to
America with luck riding with them all the way.
This is not the way transatlantic planes of the
future will set out No matter what enthusiasts may
claim, before trans-ocean flying can become COM
monplace before nations will consent to scrap their
nayies and depend upon aerial armadas fer their
national security, airplanes must become as reape
as ships upon and trains upon their rails
Neither passengers freight will regularly be
trusted to aircraft until they can start and travel
schedule, sunshine or storm anu Will pl"e'i'oiiJ
dead certainty of arriving safely and on time at
their destination.
The intrepid Nungesser and Coli remind us once
more how far we have got to go before we reach
such goal They show wildly, perhaps trag-
ically our present day limitations; what we can
and what we can not do in the air today.
.5 Eventually, of course man will win out in the
air as he is doing land and sea. Glance over your
paper if you are doubling Thomas. Observe, If
you will, Lloyd Bertaud and Clarence Chamberln,
two Americans, are already tuning up their engine
preparing to attempt the very feat that seems to
have cost the lives of Nungesser and Coli, while
still others are preparing to carry on If Chamberlin
and Bertaud fail
The source Of human courage is unfailing That
being So whatever he sets out to accomplish, that
thing man will one day surely do.