New Britain herald., 1930-09-02
Plane Roars Westward

Roaring westward at tremendous speed, Captain Dieudonne Coste and Maurice Bellonte in their plane, the "??' today were we'll into the last half of their journey from Paris to New York.
 In the first 19 hours of flight after departure from Le Bourget, France, at 10:54 a. m. (4:54 a. m.. E. $. T.) yesterday they covered 2,090 miles, at an average speed of about 115 miles per hour.
 A calculation based upon their maintaining this rate of speed would indicate their arrival at Curtiss field, Long Island at about 2 p. m. E. S. T., or within about 33 hours of their start from France.
 The latter stages of the long air trip however, must be made in the face of adverse winds which Coste himself a year ago described as a wall of wind" Those winds may not only be so strong as to slow down the two aviators considerably but undoubtedly in the past have been the ruin of other airmen who sought to make the westward cross ing of the Atlantic.
 Dodges Bad Weather
 For six hours, from 5 p. m.. E. S.. T., to II p. m, E. s. T., the "?" took a sharp southwestward course which placed it quickly far to the south of the usual ship and air routing off the coast of Newfoundland, and set it almost due east of New York city. It was presumed that this di- version was to escape adverse weather conditions and the fog of Newfoundland which Wing Com mander Charles Kingsford Smith found baffling
 Three positions given by the "?" indicated this detour. The first at ?. nl., E. S. T., radioed by the mas ter of the liner St. Louis, was SOHO north, and 3o:4o west, Or almost 1885 miles due west of Paris. An hour later the Bremen and Europa reported the planes position as 4s:3s north and 32 west, signifying the turn southwestward.
 Reported By Steamer
 At Il p. m. E. S. T., the steam ship Jacque Cartier reported to the ail ministry at Paris that the planes position was A3 north latitude, 4l:15 west longitude. route PIP. Since 5 p. rn., the plane apparently had travelled 71o miles southwestward, and was 2,0so miles from Paris The route, 272, meant PIP degrees east of north, or a direction just slightly north of due west
 Paris dispatches said that pro- gress of the plane toward it's goal exceeded even the most sanguine hopes Of the packers of the project.
 For much of the flight the two aviators had a tail wind of velocity varying from IS miles per hour. Countering the disadvantage as re- gards speed at which they would place Coste, was the advantage to be gained with tightening of his tre- mcndous fuel load a factor which ordinarily would greatly accelerate progress.
 Left After Slight Delay
 Captain Coste and Bellonte left Lo Bourget after five hour delay occasioned by haze and a cross wind which made the take-off dan- gerous When finally made, their take-off, described by Coste as the most dangerous part of long dis tance flight attempts, was perfect. The plane rapidly gained altitude and scared westward over France and the British Isles and out to sea where it stuck close to the ship lane and was in constant touch with chipping
 In his efforts to complete a non- stop flight from Paris to New York Coste is attempting what has never been accomplished. although at. tempted often. The Bremen, flown by the Fitzmaurice-Koehl-Von Hue. nefeld combination, reached Labra- dor from Ireland, and Wing Com mander Charles kingsford Smith recently flew from Ireland to Harbor Grace. Newfoundland, but other flights westward across the Atlantic have either been several stop affairs or failures.
 Captain Coste is perhaps the most widely known of French aviator: and holds for his plane the "o" the long distance flight record. made in trip from Paris to Tsitsihar, Man.