New Britain herald., 1929-01-04

! on New Years day when Captain
Esk.r. chief pilot. opened the throt-
ties and started the night.
The last 80 hours have been hec-
tic ones aboard the Question Mark.
hours Of toll loaded with uncertain
/, ty. First there was fog at SAN Diego
which compelled Major spatx to
change his plans which called for
refueling contact over the army air
corps station. Rockwell field on
North Island.
He realized that the success of the
Question Mark depended upon his
ability to get gasoline at Los
Angeles. Having reached this I'M
portant decision as dusk drew ITS
curtains "Wednesday over the noun
tains and valleys beneath him. Ma
jor Spatz was next confronted by N.
problem Of getting a message 70 the
ground personnel at Los Angeles
With his heavy laden ship N"i,r
Spatz did not dare take the r;s'!: Of
going lower than > 00o feet and FIR n
this position he had to drop m'--
sage of vital Importance and "p'n
the finding of which in the dark IF
the night on the 400 .,re area II
the Los Angeles Metropolitan air-
port depended the continued success
Of his mission. The gasoline gauges
showed that there VAS fuel for only
two more hours and unless pew
supply could be had the flight would
end
II WAS pitch dark when about
y. m. Wednesday. the Question Mark
circled the Metropolitan field. To
further aggravate the problem. the
battery aboard the ship went dead
thus having the ship in darkness.
Flashlights We're resorted to but
could not be seen from the ground.
| The rcd fare from Very pistol
told Lieut.. Moon, pilot OF the refuc,-
ing ship No. .. and Lieut.. Stowell.
airdrome officer. as Well as their
respective crews that messag was
being dropped. Afrer Is minutes
OF frantic search flares we're sent
up telling the circling Question Mark
that the mess" &c had not been
found. Once more the Question
Mark fired a flare and dropped
message. This latter fell on the
fringe OF the powerful food light
/ Of the field and was found. II an.
| ponnced in terse terms that ono
hundred and seventy-Nve gallons ~
gasoline we're to he delivered at
once.
A few minutes afterward Moon
and his crew took off and delivered
tho fuel
Shortly after midnight the Cues
ton Mark came back. fired three
green flares which meant more gaI
Once more Moon and his men went
alofi. located the Question Mark, In
the silvery path OF the rising moon
"a path full Of whirling air cur.
rents No contact was made. Moon
came back but hardly had landed
before three additional green flares
ordered him to come back.
This time. after difficult maneuv-
ering and extremely expert flying on
the part of the pilots Of both ships,
one hundred gallons Of fuel were
delivered.
From then until 10 o'clock YES
terday morning the Question Mark
few in monotonous circles broken
only by two contacts for fuel. oil.
food and water. Meanwhile fog Nas
closing in on Southern California
For time Major Spatz considered
the advisability OF transferring HIM
self and refueling crew No. ir
Imperial. Finally on learning tn,
Rockwell Field had been freed from
the fog blanket. Major. snatz hc"'-
cd south pushing through the fog
zones that separated him from his
new destination.
He circled Rockwell Field for the
rest OF the morning and until mid
afternoon taking on more fuel an
also a much-needed battery. About
$50 he headed into the Imperial
Valley followed by refueling plane
No. I piloted by Captain Hoyt, and
escorted by other planes.
There the Question Mark is soar
ing now. still sphinX-like in its ST.
{ .cllec to the query:
how long will i fly"