The Indianapolis times., 1928-04-12

The "Great Circle" distance
from Dublin to Mitchell field
is 3, 165 miles, but the length of
the "Great Circle" over the
water route is only 1890 miles.
Flying a treacherous course which
never yet has been conquered by
man, the Junkers monoplane Bre-
men, which took off from here at
dawn today, is believed to have
covered more than one-half Of her
water course in a projected fight
from Dublin to New York.
Sighted Only Once
Only once was the plane, carry
ing Capt. Herman Koehl. German
war ace; Baron Ehrerfried Gunther
von Hunenfeld, close friend Of the
former crown prince, and Col
James E. Fitzmaurice, Irish Free
State air force commandant,
sighted.
That was over Costello Bay near
Galway. on the Irish coast, 120
miles from Dublin.
A strong raw easterly gale swept
Nova Scotia, accompanied by
showers. Visibility was poor. Dur
ing the night the temperature
dropped below 80, the freezing
point.
Storm warnings as far as East
port, Maine. and fresh winds for
most of the north coast CT the
United States were predicted BY the
United States Government weather
bureau.
The plane carried $50 gallons OF
gasoline-a full load-whicl, it was
estimated. would enable the plane
to keep aloft for forty-five hours.
between five and ten hours longer
than the estimated duration of the
flight.
The Bremen is capable of more
than ninety miles an hour flying
speed.
The fuselage was marked with
German flag and alongside Of ii
had been painted Free-State Tri-
Color since Commandant Fitz-
Maurice joined the expedition.
The fliers had superb courage
when they left
The plane had been on the run
way for about an hour. its motor
roaring through the morning calm.
'MitcheI Field or Heaven"
The three fliers stood about, lis
tening for the slightest deviation
from perfection, They pronounced
it perfect.
They climbed into the cabin Of
the Junkers machine, waved a fare
well, and, with a deafening roar,
the plane rolled slowly down the
runway, gained speed, then lifted
easily and pointed west.
President Cosgrove and the Ger
man consul saw them off.
Only few weeks ago the Hon.
Elsie Mackay and Capt. Walter
Hinchliffe had attempted the same
flight. They never we're heard OF
after they left the Irish coast.
But the stoical Germans and the
Irishman repeated their
slogan of Mitchell Field, L l., or
Heaven" as they stepped into their
plane for the flight
From Newfoundland they expect
ed to follow a direct course down
the Atlantic side of North America.
Carry No Life BuOys
The fliers were unprepared for
siege on the buffeting north At
lantic seas should their plane be
forced down. Tt is land plane
One set of wheels was dropped al
the take-off.
They have no life buoys; they
have no radio. There is no life
boat
They discarded all of this ~ a
means of tightening the load.
Baron Won Huenfeld carried
pistol, but he said this had no
special significance.
"We do not know where we will
land or what conditions we may
meet" he said few days ago when
it was learned he carried the firing
arm.
They carried oranges, peeled ban
anas. special brand of strong cof-
fee, fresh water and slabs Of choco-
late. They figured this would be
sufficient to appease their appetitcs
in the thirty-six hours they conten-
plated Of flying.