The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-02-28
TO GO
AROUND HORN
TO AID Peace
Pair Will Hop Off Soon on
$4,000 Mile Tour to
Win Goodwin.
FRESNO STARTING POINT
Many Dangers Faced by
Intrepid Airmen on
Long Journey.
BY JAMES C. ANGEL


Written for NEA Service and The Times
GAN DIEGO, Cal, Feb. %. -
~ Around the horn in an air.
planet
In few weeks, now, we are going
to set sail in a twentieth century
ship for the far-southern straits
that Magellan discovered in 1920.
Since then many a scuare-rigger
has passed through them on its
way to the Pacific, but no airplane
has made the trip.
Presho Stephenson is going with
me as co-pilot.
In a way we are seeking to add To
what Col. Charles A. Lindbergh al
ready has accomplished for the
peace and prosperity of the vest
ern hemisphere. We want to
demonstrate the practicability Of
connecting the United States by
air with the countries to the south.
Get Young Backer
When 1 mentioned the idea to F.
w. Hemingway, president of Bea-
con Always, he Immediately agreed
to arrange the trip. Hemingway is
a young man. An older one might
have hesitated. pointed out the
dangers of a $4,000 mile fight. But
1 have flown over Mexico and
South America, know the terrain in
a general way, and am sure that we
should have little difficulty
Our first hop will be a nonstop
from Fresno to Mexico City, dis
tance of l,750 miles. We expect to
complete this between dawn and
night, in about 10 hours.
The plane, equipped as it will be
for the flight. already has flown 200
miles an hour. Such speeds in the
air are neither impractical nor un-
We also will attempt to make the
complete circuit of $4,000 miles
without carrying spare parts for the
motor. That might sound fool
hardy, but it is not,
Trip to Be $50 Hours
A motor of the type we selected
has run continuously for 400 hours
at three-fourths speed Our total
flying time or the trip should not
exceed $50 hours.
The ship we will use is a special
Fokker biplane equipped with
300-horsepower Hall motor. This
power plant is six-cylinder design,
is water cooled, and has several new
features which should make for
smooth performance.
We will have a radio set capable
Of transmitting messages $4,000
miles. 1t was designed by William
Eitel, young inventor living near
Fresno.
Radio TO Give Speed
The radio will send our air speed
automatically from a wind driven
generator. Thus our progress, in
the form our speed and call letters,
may be followed by the world from
day to day.
When we take off from the mu-
nicipal airport at Fresno we will
have in our tanks 157 gallons OF
gasoline and ten gallons of lubri-
eating oil
We will fly a direct course down
California, across the Salton sea
and the International border at
Calexico and dash for the capital
of Mexico.
For at least 1000 miles we will
fly over country where an airplane
with the high landing speed Of
Seventy-tiv miles an hour cannot
land. We must stay in the air.
Familiar Routes
After Mexico City, our first hon
will carry us down the Mexican
air mail route to Tampico. Many
times I have flown that course. car
rying the air mail and oil conf
panieS' pay rolls.
During daylight hours we will
hop on from Tampico to Vera Cruz
to Guatemala--to Costa Rica-to
Panama-to Colombia-to Bolivia
to Paraguay-to Argentina-to the
Straits of Magellan, 1000 miles Tin
two jumps)-to Patagonia-then on
to Chile-to Peru-to Ecuador-to
Panama-and home.
Thus we hope to complete in two
months a gigantic figure eight,
whose lines measure nearly 25,010
miles, or the circumference Of the
nIO