Imperial Valley press., 1928-02-08
A|RPLANE
RETURNS
TO field
.Albatross" Tank Found
Leaking After Splendid
Take-Off.
WILL TRY AGAIN
Plane Breaks Record For
Lifting and Functions
Perfectly.

With gasoline streaming from q
slit in one of its huge tanks, the
giant monoplane, "Albatross, was
brought back to the flying field
west of Imperial this morning, A
minutes after it had scared. into
the heavens in an effort to set q
new endurance flight record. The
huge plane had taken to the air in
less than mile at 1886 $40 shat
tering the world 5 record for lifting
power per horsepower. It landed
lack on the field at S:07 O'Clock.
More than l 900 persons had gath
cred at the field at o'clock this
morning and at 7:10 O'Clock it
started down the runway amid the
cheers of the throng.
During a minute that seemed an
hour to the throng it increased its
speed as it flew down the straight-
away. just before it reached the
mile mark the plane hit a slight
rise throwing it some four feet in
the air. The pilots gave it full power
and it held its elevation rising
higher as it progressed and disapl
peared in the distance.
The crowd fingered until George
Leonard and L. f. Gardner Jr., who
had escorted the plane in biplane,
returned to the field. They did a
tail spin as they circled over the
field, a sign that all was well. They
were radiant as they flew to earth
and reported the ship sailing over
Salton Sea, 100 feet high and a 60
mile stretch in which to make the
first turn.
Then the crowd dispersed. There
were only a few loiterers at the
field when a few minutes later the
big ship returned. 1t circled the
field and for a moment all thought
things were well but then it circled
once more and came to rest on the
field.
When the plane had struck the
slight rise, the entire weight of tho
gasoline in the tank had BEEN
thrown against portion of the
tank which had been split during a
test flight and soldered back to.
gether yesterday. The soldering
failed to stand the strain. The pill
OTIS did not at first realize the
break, but discovered it as they
flew over Salton Sea. They inves.
tigated fully, ascertaining that
there was no way to repair it and
then knew there was no need of
further delay. The majority of the
heavy load of gas was disposed of
in Salton Sea and the big ship
turned about.
Watchers Disappointed
A groan went up from the field
as those assembled realized that the
plane would land. A perfect drop
was affected and those gathered a.
bout rushed up to assist the pilots
from the ship. The pilots included
Charles Rocheville. Alvin Peterson
and Jack Reed. They dropped from
the ship, disappointment in their
features. They hurriedly explained
the troubles.
Experience is great teacher
Rocheville remarked, "but darned
| costly.'
Rocheville said that he believed
slight tailwind, prevailing when
they took off was in measure re-
spOnsible for the failure. He be-
lieves that the ship would have left
the ground earlier had it not been
for the wind
Despite disappointment in not be-
ing able to stick in the air the pill
OTIS were overioyed at the realiza-
tion that the big ship is capable of
carving its load into the heavens.
When they left the field they had
"useful" load of S,925 pounds.
This in addition TO 1000 pounds
makes a total of 1925 pounds