Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03
RUSSIAN A|RMEN
CAPTURE GLORY
Soviet Planes Flight From
Moscow Is Regarded
as Daring.

Four daring Russian aviators now are
nearing the close of what will 20 down
in history as one of the outstanding
pioneering flights of the third decade of
human flight They now are being
honored in this country following a
fight from Moscow over great stretches
of wild and forbidding wastes, over the
vast, unihabited marShy forests of Sic
IBERIA and across the stormy northern
Pacific, particularly dangerous at this
! time of the year.
The flight is being made In the
| Soviet-built airplane Land of the Sow
cts, a twln-motored monoplane of I'M
scientific purposes and as q gesture Of
| good will.
Flyers Encounter Obstacles.
Since leaving Moscow the flyers have
encountered repeated Universities. Dense
smoke from forest fires in the Siberian
Taigs and heavy rains compelled them
to fly blind" for long periods and made
| the problems of navigation, already diff
hcult, almost insurmountable. Long
stretches of broken and barren country
beyond Lake Baikal and the long wa
ter hops over the Racif1c created great
hazards.
The present flight is the second at
tempt of the four to fly from Moscow
to New York. On their first attempt
they left Moscow August 8 in mono
plane similar to their present craft.
| The fight ended August Is when the
plane. flying in a thick fog, struck a
tree and was wrecked not far from
Taf- ,kelv AF lrn n
having flown approximately $500 miles
in SO hours. None of the crew was
injured.
Obtaining second plane, the same
crew began the second flight from Mos
COW August %. They are S. A.
Shestakov, chief pilot; P. E. Bolotov,
second pilot; Boris v. Sterlingov, navi-
gator, and D. v. Fufaey, mechanic.
Their first stop was at Kurgen, ST.
which was reached after 10 hours of
flying. The next stop covered 800
miles and placed them in Novosibirsk,
more than 1000 miles from Moscow, In
II hours of flying time. They arrived
at IrkutSk again on August 81, having
covered almost 5000 miles IN 90 flying
hours.
Fly Over Treacherous Country.
Hopping across Lake Baikal to Verk-
hneudinsk, the flyers continued on to
/. The hop to Blagovestchensk, near
the Manchurian border, was made the
following day over country made dam
gerouS by the possibility Of sand
storms and violent winds.
At Khabarocsk the flyers remained
nine days. until September IL, while
wheels were changed for pontoons and
the motors were overhauled and the
plane made ready for the long ocean
reaches ahead. Their last stop in con-
tinental Siberia was at Nikolaevsk, OPP
posite Sakhalin Island, from which they
began their fight to Petropavlovsk,
Kamchatka, arriving there Septem-
Der 10.
Attu, in the westernmost of the Aleu-
tan Islands, was reached September 81
after one of the worst experiences of the
trip. The hop of $50 miles was made
in hours and so minutes through vio-
lent storms and heavy banks of fog,
snow, hail and rain.
Their next hop almost brought the
fight to a disastrous close. After three
days at Attu, recovering from the effects
of the storm, they left for Dutch Har-
Dor, Unalaska, 752 miles away. The
flight took seven hours, of which two
hours were spent battling bad storm,
which developed into a terrific south
east gale as the plane landed. The
craft was nearly smashed on the rocks,
and was saved only by the prompt and
skillful work of the crew of the United
States Coast Guard cutter Chelan, de-
tailed there to assist the flyers.
The next fight carried the Soviet
aviators to their first stop on the North
American continent at Seward, Alaska
where they arrived September 81. They
pushed on to Sitka two days later, and
there encountered persistent fogs
through which they pressed CALAMITY
though forced to fly so low they could
not make use Of their radio antenna
They left Sitka October 8, bound for
Seattle by way Of the long Western
water passage, a distance Of more than
1000 miles.
Missing for Day.
They were reported missing for an
entire day after having been forced
down by motor trouble at Waterfall
on the west coast of Prince of Wales
Island, off Southeast Alaska. Visibility
had been poor when the plane took on
strong headwinds. Undaunted, the fly
ers took of, and while flying only a
few feet above the water in a severe
electrical storm and binding rain one
motor suddenly went dead Just of
Waterfall. The plane was turned to-
ward shore, and the other motor quit
just as the plane neared land.
While two of the flyers remained with
the plane, nooring 1t, the others made
their way on foot to Craig, IL miles
away. A number of Navy vessels and
planes had started out to search for
them when news was received of their
safe landing. They we're held at Water
fall nine days longer until new motor
could be installed. They finally reached
Seattle october IL. Since that time the
Land Of the Soviets has been on its
leisurely way across the United States,
while the members of its crew have re-
| ceived the most enthusiastic receptions
at their many stopping places.
The flyers have had the cooperation
of the Navy Department since they en-
tered American waters. Commanders
of naval vessels and naval districts have
| co-operated in establishing communica-
tons along the way, transmitting spe-
cial reports on the weather and the
position of the plane.
The flight Is sponsored by the Osca-
viakhin. or Society for the Promotion
of Aviation and Chemistry, which built
the plane from popular subscription.
| This is the chief mass aviation organi-
cation in the u. S. S. r., having mem
bership of more than 3,500,00 Russians.
with $4,000 branches in cities and coun-
tryside.