Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-29
FLAMES DESTROY
WING OF DO-X IN
HARBOR AT LISBON
Defective Electric Connection
Blamed for Ignition of In
fIammabIe Lining.
By the Associated Press.

by the ASsOCldteQ EIeSS.
LISBON, Portugal, November 29.-
Sudden fire roaring through the great
German seaplane DO-x today de-
stroyed one of the huge wings and left
the proud queen of the sky founder
ing like a dirty derelict in the harbor
swell
Blackened with smoke and tilted
crafty by the weight of the remain
ing wing she lay helpless in the harbor,
her high hopes of breasting the At
lantic for a flight to America gone.
An hour or so before the fire broke
out they had filled the fuel tanks with
hundreds of gallons of gasoline. APP
parently a defective electric connec-
ton ignited the infiamamble lining of
the wing, and the wing was completely
destroyed despite the valiant efforts OF
the sea watch" the skeleton crew left
aboard, and volunteers from the Por-
tuguese marine air station ashore.
Arrived on Thursday.
The Do-x, biggest flying boat in the
world, arrived here Thursday at the end
of a European tour which had taken
her to Holland, England, France and
Spain, from Altenrhein, Switzerland,
where she was built
Her owners had planned fight to
New York by way Of the Azores, but
abandoned this project because of bad
weather over the ocean. They hoped,
however, to send the plane to Brazil
next month or early in January.
Flight Began November 5.
The fight Of the DO-X from Swift
zerland, which was to have ended in
New York, began on November 5. The
first stop was In Amsterdam, whence
she proceeded to Calshot England.
There the Prince of Wales handled her
controls in a brief flight.
From Calshot she went on to Bor-
deaux. There was considerable concern
for her safety during that flight, for her
progress was slow and her radio silent
during much of the trip.
She came down in river 80 miles
from Bordeaux, continued TO the city
the next day and remained there during
a spell of bad weather until November
10, wnen she moved down to Santander,
Spain. From there she continued to
Corunna and reached Lisbon couple
Of days later.
There arose reports that her Amer
lean engines had not functioned salts
factorily and the ship was to be thor
oughly overhauled before continuing
either to New York or Brazil.
Built to Garry 100 Passengers.
This great vessel is 100 feet long.
with wing spread of 100 feet. She
was built to carry 100 passengers on
flights up to $40 miles. There are IL
engines each of 500 horsepower-an en-
CINE efficiency more than double that
of the Graf Zeppelin. Her builders, DR..
Claude Dornier and his brother Maurice,
said she could attain a top speed OF
$50 miles an hour and could cruise at
100 miles
There are three decks inside, with the
bridge forward, inclosed In glass. The
navigating room is behind the wheel
house, adjoining the machine room from
which the planes great power plant Is
controlled.
Capt Friedrich Christensen COM
manded the ship on the European tour
and was left in charge when DR.. Claude
Dornier went up to Paris early this
week on the way TO Germany. One of
the pilots was Clarence Schildhauer. an
American aviator. The motor experts
from the American factory also made
the flight from Altenrhein.
The DO-X was built in Switzerland,
across Lake Constance from Germany,
because the Versailles treaty forbids the
building of such great planes on Ger
man soil