Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-07
PLANE AND FLYERS
|NF|NE CONDITION.;
ALOFT 146 HOURS
All Records Are Shattered.
Men Deafened by Roar
of Motors.
QUESTION MARK H0vERs
CLOSE TO HOME PORT
Trouble Saturday Night Which
Threatened Forced Landing
Seems Eliminated.
R1 the Associated Press.

Rr the Associated Press.
METROPOLITAN AIRPORT, Los
Angeles, January MAN and ma
chine still were pitted against time
and gravity today as the Army mono
plane Question Mark continued on its
seventh day of flight. There were no
more records left 10 break and it few
To the watchword sail on and on
Apparently in perfect condition, the
plane ended its 146th hour in the air
at 9.26:46 am. Observers reported 1t
had consumed a minimum of gasoline
during the night, indicating that the
motors were performing at their best.
This was said TO mean that the time
when the great mechanical bird gives
way under the strain is remote
Reports on the condition of the five
men were that they were as fit as the
plane, except that they had been
deafened by the constant roar of the
motors They previously had declared
that the longer they remained up the
better they liked it.
All memories of the trying week end,
during which they had to contend
against missing spark plugs, cold, dim
cult refueling situations and lack OF
sleep, seemed to have vanished.
Close to Home Port.
The big nlonoplane continued to hover
close to its home port, however, in Or
der to keep the records it has made.
The plane must land at the scene OF
the take-off in order TO have the rec
ords officially accepted.
AT GAS am. the Question Mark
made contact with a refueling plane
and took aboard its usual supply of
gasoline. A package Of delicacies and
emergency rations also was transferred.
The 139th hour of continuous night
was passed at 1925 am.
Motor trouble which developed Sat-
urday night apparently had been elm
mated. The trouble, caused by fouled
plugs, was eliminated by Capt. Ira
Eaker, chief pilot, when he threw open
wide the throttle of the big liner and
brought the tagging cylinders back into
one time Saturday night that Maj. Carl
Spatz, in command, ordered all men to
their posts to be ready for a glide to
earth.
Passes Dixmude Mark.
The first crisis was caused earlier last
week by combined fog, clouds, bao
weather and threatened fuel shortage:
The Question Mark, which took on
from this airport at 7:26 am. New Year
day. claimed the last aircraft endurance
record yesterday morning when it soar
ed past the estimated 1l8 hours of con-
tinuous fight made by the lu-fateo
Dixmude, lost in the Mediterranean.
The nonoplane already has beaten
the more recent and better known en-
durance and distance record Of the Graf
Zeppelin, which covered Ill hours "a
minutes and $500 miles in its nmplng
voyage to America last Fall.
Shortly after eclipSing all lighter
than-air records, the ship doubled the
previous endurance refueling records OF
sirplanes. and at the 131St hour last
night had remained aloft double the
time that an airplane ever flew before.
1t is estimated that the ship in its
amazing demonstration of mechanical
and air-worthiness has flown be-
tween 10000 and 10000 miles, nearly
half the distance around the world.
shortly after midnight today also was
the Speediest yet accomplished by the
two large Army planes engaged in its
resupply. But 80 minutes were re-
quired by the refueling ships from the
time the Question Mark dropped fuel
signal flare until the plane had gone
up, put ITO gallons Of gasoline aboard
{ d landed again.
It was believed this supply would
keep the ship, which had returned to
high attitudes within gliding distance
Of this port going until nearly daylight
During Saturday nights motor trouble
when the ship mounted to unusually
high attitudes, five refuelings were
neceSSitated.
Feasibility Held Proved.
Flight observers point out that the
many night contacts with the ship, as
we'll as the large number Of daily day
light contacts made, has proven com
pletely the feasibility of refueline
planes in fight, an operation attempted
only few times prior to the present
fight. and then never with great
success.
An entry by Lieut.. Elwood r
Quesada, one of the four pilots aboard
in the log dropped here yesterday re.
yealed that the men no longer coulc
trust their ears in determining condl-
ton of the motors. During Saturday
nights dif1culty he had written:
"One motor sounds all right but i
doesn't look so good. 1t is slowing up
We can't trust our ears any more. i
looks as though the human being
would outlast the motors. They arr
going fast"
sundays performance, however, III
dicated that Quesada's fears for the III
of the motors were groundless for tn
present at least. Ground and refuelini
observers said they appeared TO b
tunctionlng smoothly.
Eaker'S Message.
An entry by Capt. Eaker at o'clOc
Yesterday morning indicated what tn
flyers have TO contend with in low tenn
peratures. 1t said:
Just took over (tbe con. :oD for al
hour. 1 found 1t too cold for me a
5000 feet and dropped to 1000. w
are suffering from cold more tonlgh
than any night SO far. One. OF our win
dows blew away today and there Is
bowling gale in here all the time
Shortly thereafter Maj. Spatz wrote:
Everything is in readiness for
forced landing The plane will not hol
it's altitude on two motors. l be
lieve our hearing has been temporarll
affected. because to all of us our sigh
tells us cylinder is gone, but our hear
ing tells us nothing"
. -----~-
Habitual Criminal Code Upheld.