New Britain herald., 1927-09-06
Hill, Bertaud and Payne Riding in Cabin Trip Will Cover More Than 4,lOO Miles.
Ship Is Exact Reproduce ton of Ill-Fated St. Ra. phael, in Which the Fly ing Princess and Avia- tors Rode to Doom.

Old Orchard. Me. Sept. 6 LP, - The plane Old Glory, bound for Rome took off from the beach at 1928 p. m., eastern daylight time to- day.
 The plane carried three men. A nonstop flight was planned. J. D. Hill won the toss of the coin from his co-pilot, Lloyd Bertaud and took his seat at the controls The giant ship rolled easily down the beach at the start, gradually gaining momen- tum.
 After about a mile and a half the wheels left the ground and the Old Glory rose slowly but steadily into the air.
 There was a margin of at least a mile between the takeoff point and Old Orchard pier, which crosses the beach. Hill bore out over the water and passed the end of the pier with a few hundred feet altitude. He kept on away south. before swinging off and taking his course.
 Fades In Distance
 A few minutes later the Old Glory was a speck on the horizon as she gained speed and altitude rapidly, with helping wind of 15 miles from the southwest.
 "Phil' Payne, representative Of William Randolph Hearst, who is sponsoring the flight. was the last to enter the plane before the takeoff. While Hill and Bertaud were climb ing into the cockpit, he had raced back to kiss goodbye once more, his wife. Dorothy
 Relatives and friends of all the flyers had gathered around the plane. several hours before.
 Last minute weather reports, which continued to be entirely favorable, were given the men by James H. Scarr of the New York weather bureau. on the basis of tele- graph reports from both sides.
 Scarr indicated that there was a light rain reported along the French coast, but said there was good chance that that would clear within the 40-odd hours that the flight is expected to take. The only other bothersome point. he said, was low area some 2,000 miles from New foundland.
 Storm In Way
 This low area was moving for ward so slowly. however. that it was believed Old Glory could skirt the southern edge.
 Shortly before the plane took off the Rev. James F. Mullen. pastor of St. Margaret's church. old Orchard. mounted an empty oil barrel. sprinkled holy water on the nose of the plane and pronounced a bless ing. Early this morning he had con- ducted a special mass in his church for Payne. Bertaud and their fami- lies.
 Among those at the starting point 10 wish the airmen q good trip were Mrs. Payne. Miss Edith Young. her sister, Mrs. Bertaud and Mrs. Flor ence Callaghan, the mother of Lloyd Bertaud
 The sealing of the barograph, which will record officially the dis tance covered in the flight, which it's sponsors hope may be q new dis tance record, was witnessed by Ma jor Carl Smith of the Maine Na- tional Guard, who acted as repre- sentative for Governor Ralph o. Brewster of Portland. whose law partner he is.
 Just before the plane took off, Mir. Payne said that within a few days. Mir. Hearst had telegraphed each of the tliers that if they had any doubt of the success of the flight he was willing to withdraw the plane and pay them the full sum of their con- tracts. Both men, however. declared that they would go ahead, unless he forbade them
 Flight To Be Longest
 New York, Sept 6 tP.-A success ful flight to Rome in the Old Glory would bring to Pilots ]. D. Hill and Lloyd Bertaud the record for long distance nonstop Atlantic flying, because they would outdistance the four previous Atlantic air crossings this summer by from about 200 to more than HOO miles. The distance to be covered by Hill and Bertaud, following a modi fled great circle course, is approXi- mately 4,t0o miles. The distance covered by Schlee and Brock, around-the world fliers, in their hop from Harbor Grace, N. F.. to London, Eng. was c,S50 miles. The distance and time in the Lind bergh, Chamberln and Byrd flights as compiled by the National Geo graphic society were: Lindbergh, 3.6lo miles, 3S hours. 30 minutes. Chamberln, 3,9o5 miles, 4o hours. 90 minutes.
 Byrd, 3.4T1 miles, fl hours, c7 minutes. Ryrd's own estimate was 4.c00 miles.)
 l Like Lost Airplane l New York, Sept. R)-The mono- plane Old Glory. which left Old