Evening star., 1929-01-04
Question Mark Upsets Con-
tinuous-FIight and Passen-
qers-AIoft Marks.
SIX TONS OF GASOLINE
TAKEN IN ITO MINUTES
Sixteen Aerial Refueling Contacts
Made as Craft Travelled
70 Miles an Hour.
By the Associated Press.

METROPOLITAN AIRPORT, LOS
ANGELES. January Alive determined
men, who have driven the Army'S mono
plane Question Mark through all exist
ing records for sustained flight by
heavier -than-air machines, continued
their epochal adventure today, showing
no inclination to come back to earth.
The Question Mark began it's fourth
day in the air at 1925 o'clock this
morning.
When taking on $50 gallons of gaso-
line at $50 am. the plane showed
no i'll effects from its long grind. 1t
was still flying over the Imperial VAL
ley, where it was forced yesterday be-
cause of fog along the coast. There
was no indication to ground observers
that any of its three Wright Us motors
was wearing out.
While the great black plane passed
the seventy-second consecutive hour of
flight, pursuit plane hovered above
it, and dropped breakfast to its crew.
Through contact hose 25 gallons of
oil was supplied.
Breakfast on the Question Mark con-
sisted Of oranges, oatmeal and coffee.
Refueling Plane No. 1.
1t took but minutes to supply the
Question Mark with ITO gallons of gas
oline at $50 am. The contact was made
at an altitude of 5000 feet A pursuit
vic 1a 0ttocfia,1 40 I'll
signaling that oil and breakfast would
be delivered at Z O'Clock.
Still Going Strong.
The limit of mans mastery of the
skies in heavier -than-air craft remained
undetermined today as the Question
Mark, mastering adverse elements and
minor mechanical imperfectionS, droned
onward toward a distant aerial goal,
after having mroken all existing world
endurance records
The Army5s tri-motored enigma which
assembled at 20 am january l. stead.
fIy advanced toward lighter-than-a
records this morning after having re-
turned to America one of the two prin-
cipal airplane endurance flight records
held abroad.
Ak1 oISOAid GAtOIJCdA lCCUAOs. AAIdb vi
continuous flight without refueling. was
surpassed at l 81 am. today, coast time,
at which hour the resoureeful five-man
crew had held the ship aloft for sc
hours. IS minutes q full hour longer
than tho record set six months ago by
the Germans Johann Ricticz and Will
helm Zimmerman.
The monoplane, cropping its way over
wide section of Southern California
in an effort to avoid creeping fog blan-
ketS and cloud banks, need only land
at this airport possibly several days or
week distant, to get official credit
for eclipSing that record, as well as the
refueling endurance record Of 60 hours
and minutes held by Belgians, which
fell last night.
Aeronautic regulations specify endur-
ance planes, in order to set a new rec
ord, must remain up an hour longer
than the previous record holder and
land at the same field used for the
take-oH.
New Record Established.
Even should the plane in the closing
hours Of its unprecedented flight be so
crippled that it could not return here
it will nevertheless have carried human
dence in airplaneS.
Two daWns hence, if the plane re-
mains up-ano its Army sponsors now
vision the ship as still in the air pos
sibly a week distant-it will be near
to the existing endurance record of a
man-made contrivance, which now is
held abroad.
That record of Ill hours and 46 min
utes Of continuous flight was made by
the German-built Graf Zeppelin in its
voyage from Frederickshafen to Lake
hurst. N. j.. last Fall.
A half hour before the monoplane
equaled the RicticZ-Zimmerman record
last night it took on ITO gallons of
gasoline in the third successful night
refueling, which was the sixteenth re-
fucling contact successfully made by the
two attendant ships.
The contact was made over the I'M
perial airport near FL Centro to which
point refueling Ship No. /, previously
operating at San Diego, was moved
yesterday when the fog drove flight
away from the coast line and emer-
gency measures were ordered by Maj.
Carl SpatZ in command aboard the
Question Mark. to meet the adverse
weather conditions.
After the transfer, which required
minutes, the plane swung away from
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