The Washington times., 1928-08-08

lIuTINGT sWOEQ aIEO1U 1AAS q. - ~.
cal bureau confirming the earlier rs-
nrrfs IN fhe weather. These atmo-
| spheric conditions were better tna -
| any since we had begun WAITING LOT
q proper time to start, or az leaS.
| for the past two months.
Incidentally. the forecast on WHICH
We based our decision to start was
fulfilled as far as we went: lhey
were SO excellent that at the time We :
were forced to Light We still nau 2
enough fuel for 80 hours more q
flying.
that afternoon and night we
worked over our machine, Eyslsl
strut, every connection, every
which would have to bear STRAIN
was tested and found in perIecs
order. We put aboard $500 liters
OF benzine about 1,7OO gallonsl
and 220 liters Of oil.
Plane Proved Right
our Lorraine Dietrich motor was
| tested, final adjustments were
made and II was adjudged py
us and by mechanics to be IN CON
dition to carry the plane as long
as there was fuel- and oil. IL mas
| $50 horsepower.
There was In our minds never
| d thought that our plane could
fail, We had flown It $50 hours
and we had made one endurancs
test Of 81 hours. Not g defect
| in construction or operation did
we discover In this time
For safety in case Of mishap We
hac valves for dumping the fuel
i in q few seconds and rubber boat
4 in which we could leave the plane
lie ii failed to, float. The tanks
emptied OF benzine were relied
upon to give the machine consid'
cradle buoyancy.
Well Equipped
Other Of our equipment included
q More1I magnetic compass,
drift indicator, an earth inductor
General Electric compass and an
I improved sextant, made by Fave
/ le Petote. BY way OF food we had
i TO lfters of water, two chickens.
some biscuits and some coffee.
At II O'Clock that night OH
! preparations were complete VS.
went to bed and were awakened
When we went to- the field to
1 start we found crowd, including
many of our friends, gathered I'm,
der an overcast sky. The wind
Twas from the quarter and we could
not use IT to advantage on the
4 fa1xe.off. For this reason our run
4 on the ground was rather long
! 100 meters.
Escorted to Coast
The air was calm. with slight
tail wind. The sky remained over.
cast as long as we were above
France. IA plane escorted us to the
coast. which we reached at L'Orient
at 7:28 o'clock.
Fishermen were starting out II
their boats at that time In the morn
ing and they waved rs adieu as we
put out to sea above them. We OBJ
served the waves and could readily
deduce that we stiII had q wind be.
| hind us. Air conditions were 80
/ favorable that we were able to re-
duce the revolutions of our motor
and save fuel without much lessen
ing the speed Of the plane.
Fog Now Too Thick
This was az we left the coast. II
soon changed Half an hour from
| L1Orient we ran into a mountain Of
| fog.
This fog was so thick we could
/ see nothing ahead, above or below
i lis. Going down slowly. we found
l that 1t ended about 20 meters above
i the sea and left a clear path. But
we were too heavily loaded to risk
flying that low.
We chose to climb and travel
J. nat the
! fog and the clouds. This was
died well and rode smoothly. but
because of the clouds and fog we
could take no observations what
ever.
AT about o'clock that morning
I reduced the revolutions Of motor
| another hundred per minute. We
were making a fine saving Of fuel.
Two hours of this and the weather
broke. The clouds thinned and
the fog lifted. The sun came out
and the wind freshened. We inn
Inediateiy made observations and
| learned that we were so kilometers
off our course, taken there by the
brisk north wind.
The sea, that had been calm, rose,
and began breaking, indicating thai
the wind was increasing. The air be
came so clear that we could easily
| see for a distance OF so kilometers.
| Going lower. we found that flying
| at SO meters above the water was
not tiresome and there we stayed
At this low altitude the air was al
smooth as q highway and OF ar
even temperature, whether we Were
in the sun or an occasional sligh
mist, because 1t was so close U
the water.
Took New Course
We continued on the course w
had taken until $50 o'clock tina
evening and then Kubala indicated
a new course due west.
This was to be kept along tn'
firty-first degree until we crossed
the steamship lanes. Following
would cut $50 kilometers from oul
projected flight over the Azores.
By 1870 we were in line with III,
Azores. We had been flying =
hours and everything appeared :
be working for us better than W.
had dared to hope. -,oo.
Half an hour later, at ocI0Ch
the fog and clouds returned. Ins
wind was high at the upper Attitudes
and We flew through the fog nea'
the water in order to avoid IT.
1t was at 1880 that Kubala went u
the bottom of the ship to make al
observation of our drift from the true
course because of the wind. Tnere
or the floor, he found oil, a quantltS
OF it.
Decision Necessary
Tn oraa+ olar,,o he sh0lIted to ms