Imperial Valley press., 1928-02-20
PLANE' 5
CREW TO
TRY AGAIN
" "Albatross" Pilots Dis
appointed But Not Dis
couraged by Landing.
HITS WIND POCKET
Big Plane Forced Down
at SaltOn Sea When En-
gines Overhead.

Disappointed but not discouraged
by the failure which overlook them
yesterday, Charles F. Rocheville, Al
vim X. Peterson and Jack Reed,
pilots of the Albatross,' hope to
take off again Thursday in another
attempt to break the worlds en-
durance record. 1t was expected
they would be able to bring the
plane to the airport this afternoon,
or possibly tomorrow. and get it in
condition for the next try.
With the halfway mark passed,
its gas tanks stlil more than half
filled and every indication pointing
TO the shattering of the endurance
flight record, the " Albatross' ran
into wind pocket near Salton Sea
yesterday morning and was forced
to earth. Two of the motors had
been stilled in a gallant fight made
by the pilots to weather the trouble,
the center motor alone guiding the
ship to a resting place on the bank
of the sea some 90 miles from home.
1t was just 1910 O'Clock when
the Albatross' landed, the plane
having been in the air exactly 27
hours, - minutes and 54 seconds.
1t was approximately 1915 o'clock
before officials at the field and
those waiting word of the progress
of the plane were made aware of
the landing. Officials and news
/ papermen made dash for the point
of forced landing in automobiles.
The pilots, Peterson, Reed and
| Rocheville were dejectedly working
on the plane in an effort to get it
whipped about into shape when they
arrived. Then they told of the bat
tie with the air currents. The ship
had passed over the field west of
Imperial shortly after o'clock and
had gone to the vicinity of Salton
sea to take advantage of tho
smoother sailing afforded there.
Ride "Air Cushion
The pilots had discovered that by
staying just above the natural wind
sweep over the lake, they were CIV
en- big advantage by what is term
ed an "air cushion In this they
could cut down the speed of the
plane to approximately 45 miles an
hour, letting it drift along with
their motors turning at around 1850
revolutions a minute. This would
mean a big saving in gasoline and
would serve to keep the motors in
good condition.
But the pilots allowed the ma
chine to carry too far along this air
cushion and before they were hardly
aware of it they had plunged head
long into the downsweep of the
wind as it comes over the mountains
to the north. They hastily speeded
up the motors to fight their way out
/ of it but the wind was hitting
straight down on the plane and they
! made little headway, presently the
motor beneath the right wing of
/ the plane began to heat up. 1t
grew hotter and hotter until finally
it was necessary to shut it off en-
tirely. The fight proceeded with
the other two motors. But the mot
or under the left wing quickly show
ed signs of heat and after several
minutes more of battling it too was
Stilled.
Unable to make their way out
with only the center motor running,
the pilots did the only thing left.
They landed, picking out a good
spot on the east side of Salton sea
where the ship was brought to rest.
While the motors were heated up
to great extent they were not in
iurcd save for a possible slight scor-
ing in the cylinders. The pilots,
still confident that they can shatter