Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-10
A Vast Difference.

AVlaClOn accomplishment taxes
prominent place in the days news.
Roger @. williams and Capt. Lewis
Yancey spanned the Atlantic in their
single-motored land plane and L. w.
Mendell and r. B. Reinhart created a
new endurance record for refueled ships
by passing the Observation-Disclosures
ty-fourth- hour mark set up a short
time ago by Roy L. Mitchell and Byron
K Newcomb and at latest reports are
still aloft with goal of three hundred
hours. Williams and Yancey started
out from Old Orchard, Me-, with the
announced intention of completing a
nonstop flight to Rome. They were
forced to descend far short of their des-
tination because their gasoline supply
was exhausted. Mendell and Reinhart,
commercial aviators, were ambitious to
break the endurance record. They sue
ceeded and are going on to still greater
laurels.
The vast difference in scientific knowl-
edge accruing from these two flights Is
obvious. The Rome bound plane proved
nothing except that continued smiles
from Lady Luck, skillful navigation and
a functioning motor will keep an over
loaded ship in the air long enough to
cross the ocean wastes. Two planes
within the past month have flown the
Atlantic. Neither of them has reached
its destination. Lack of fuel brought
them both to earth, despite the fact
that when they left the American coast
they were loaded almost to the break
ing point with gasoline. That they ar
rived safely on the European continent
is a matter of congratulation for per-
sonal courage, but from a scientific
standpoint nothing has been gained.
Lindbergh made the only perfect flight
across the Atlantic. He left New York
for Paris and reached there on sched-
uled time. He proved it could be done
and at the same time proved that moth
ing could be gained by doing it again.
How different are the attempts to
break the endurance record! Safe, sane
and practical and of enormous scien-
tific value, each attempt, whether a
success or a failure, adds to mans
knowledge of the art Of flying. What
better way can there be Of testing the
life Of a motor than under actual flying
conditions? Starting at five days with
the Army plane, the Question Mark, the
record has been successfully jumped
to eight days at the present time. The
Question Mark was forced to earth be-
cause of motor trouble. The record
holders since then have proved that
this particular breakage can be over
come. A distinct gain! If the present
holders Of the record come down be-
cause of engine trouble it will be easy
to determine just what caused the
failure and to guard against 1t in the
future.
The beauty of the endurance test is
that heretofore obscure flyers are win
ming their way to national fame, even
IL only for a moment. While no credit
can be taken from the men who pass
weary hours in the air to establish q
new record, it is the plane and the
motor that are being put through the
acid test even more than the human
beings. This fact increases confidence
in aviation a hundredfold. That engine
builders have succeeded in constructing
motors that will run continuously for
seven, eight, nine or ten days. that
plane builders have succeeded in con-
structing ships that will withstand the
elements and the stresses and strains
of vibration for that length Of time,
are facts that the public wants to know
about before 1t adopts airplane travel
completely as its own. More power to
the endurance flyers!