The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-03-15

poets Of the fog clearing up we're as
good as I might expect for some
time to come. The North Atlantic
should be clear with only local
storms on the coast of Europe.
The moon had just passed full
and the percentage of days with
fog over Newfoundland and the
Grand Banks was increasing SO
that there seemed to be no advan-
tage in waiting longer
We went to Curtiss Field as
quickly as possible and made ar
rangements for the Paragraph to
be sealed and installed, and for the
plane to be Serviced and checked.
We decided partially to fill the
fuel tanks in the hangar before
towing the ship on a truck to Roose-
welt Field on the east, where the
servicing would be completed.
I left the responsibility for con-
ditioning the plane in the hands of
the men on the field, while 1 went
into the hotel for about two and
one-half hours of rest; but at the
hotel there were several more details
which had to be completed, and I
was unable to get any sleep that
night
returned to the field before day
light on the morning of the goth,
A light rain was falling, which con-
tinued until almost dawn.
Consequently we did not move the
ship to Roosevelt Field until much
later than we had planned, and the
takeoff was delayed from daybreak
until nearly 8 o'clock.
AT dawn the shower had passed,
although the sky was overcast, and
occasionally there would be some
slight precipitation.
The tail of the plane was dashed
to truck and escorted by a number
of motorcycle police. The slow trip
from Curtiss to Roosevelt Field was
begun.
The ship was placed at the eX-
treme west end Of the field. heading
along the east and west runway, and
the final fueling commenced.
About TAO a. m. the motor was
started and at 1852 I took off on
the flight for Paris.
The field was a little soft due to
the rain during the night and the
heavily loaded plane gathered speed
very slowly.
After passing the halfway mark,
however. it was apparent that
would Oe able to clear the obstruc-
tons at the end l passed over a
tractor by about fifteen feet and a
telephone line by about twenty, with
a fair reserve of flying speed.
1 believe that the ship would have
taken off from a hard field with at
least five hundred pounds more
weight
I turned slightly to the right to
avoid some high trees on a hill di-
rectly ahead. but by the time 1 had
gone a few hundred yards I had
sufficient altitude to clear all OBJ
StructionS and throttle the engine
down to 1850 r. P. M.
I took up a compass course at
once and soon reached Long Island
Sound, where the Curtiss Oriole, with
it's photographer, which had been
eScorting me. turned back.
The haze soon cleared and from
Cape Cod through the southern
half of Nova Scotia the weather
and visibility we're excellent.
1 was flying very low, sometimes
as close as ten feet from the trees
and water.
On the three hundred mile stretch
of water between Cape Cod ana
Nova Scotia I passed within view Of
numerous fishing vessels.
The northern part of Nova Scotia
contained a number of storm areas
and several times 1 flew through
cloudbursts.
AS I neared the northern coast,
snow appeared in patches on the
ground and far to the eastward the
coastline was covered with foG.
For many miles between Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland the ocean
was covered with caked ice, but as
I approached the coast the ice dis
appeared entirely and 1 saw several
ships in this area.
I had taken up a course for ST.
Johns, which is south of the great
Circle from New York to Paris, so
that there would be no question of
the fact that I passed Newfound-
land in case I was forced down in
the north Atlantic.
I passed over numerous icebergs
after leaving st. Johns, but saw no
ships except near the coast.
Darkness set in about 8:15 New
York time and a thin, low fog
formed, through which the white
bergs showed up with surprising
clearneSs.
This fog became thicker and in
creased in height until, within two
hours, I was just Skimming the top
of storm clouds at about ten thou
sand feet.
Even at this altitude there was a
thick haze, through which only the
stars directly overhead could be
seen.
There was no moon and it was
very dark. The tops of some of
the storm clouds we're several thou
sand feet above me, and at one
time, when I attempted to fly
through one of the larger clouds,
Sleet started to collect on my plane
and I was forced to turn around
and get back into clear air imme-
diately and then fly around any
clouds which could not get over.
The moon appeared on the hori-
zon after about two hours of dark
ness; then the flying was much less
complicated.
Dawn came at about l a. m, New
York time, and the temperature