The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-07-05
HUNTERS END
RECORD FLIGHT
OF 553 HOURS
CIoqqed Oil Line Forces
ChiCagOanS to Earth
With New Mark.
LANDING IS UNEXPECTED
Crowd Goes Wild as Filters
Halt Attempt; HOnOrS
Are Threatened.
BY STANLEY WHITAKER
United Press san Corresponden. =


United Press Sian Correspondent
CHICAGO. July 5.-Man's long
est fight with the wings that the
Wright brothers invented q quarter
OF a century ago. lasted 5j3 hours,
40 minutes. and go seconds.
Today a, the Insecure pinnacle
OF aviadons fame, stood John and
Kenneth Hunter. two exhausted
Sparta chi farmer boys who drove
their secondhand Stinson-Detroit-
err monOplane around and around
over SKY Harbor airport and
marked after their names. here
tofore unknown, an all time record
for continuous flight.
Tire Hunter brothers landed
their wabbling monoplane City of
Chicago at 9.20.30 central stand
ard timeJ Friday night, when an
oil line became clogged and
stopped the flight that seemingly
would 60 or indefinitely.
The fame that came TO John and
Kenneth as they stepped from the
Oil-soaked cabin of the airplane
that had been their home for more
than tWenty-three days. may be
fleeting. Already Dale Jackson
and Forest O'Brine, from whom
they wrested the record, have an
nounced an attempt to regain their
lost laurels within a week. Another
threat to the farmer miner aviatOrS
came from indianapolis, where
Lieutenant Lawrence GenarO hopes
to begin an attempt for the record
within two weeks.
Landing Is Perfect
The almost perfect three-point
landing. which aviators said was by
no means the least remarkable
thing about the flight, was unex-
pected.
Only a few minutes before. the
refueling plane, the Big Ben, pi-
lOted BY two others OF the Hunter
family. Walter and Albert. had
taken Up gas and oil and no one
among the 5000 persons on the
field o. among the flight personnel,
was expecting the City of Chicago
to land at that time.
The plane, in fact, had dropped
to a height OF only 100 feet before
it was realized that the Hunters
at last were about to come back to
earth.
With John at The controls, the
plane dropped to the runway and
settled easily. The crowd immedi-
atelv became riOtCus. crushed its
way through the police lines and
bore down upon the oil-smeared
plane. threatening for the moment
to crush both it and its tired occu-
pants.
Many persons suffered slight in
juries in the mob demonstration,
but the injuries we're forgotten IN
the excitement Of the landing.
Smeared with Oil
John was the first to emerge from
the ship. he was smeared with oil
from head 10 foot. was hollow eyed
and a bit unsteady and a cut over
his eye showed distinctly. The cut
was received several days ago when
an oil can fell on him while he was
sleeping in the tiny cabin of the
plane.
Inside the hangar. the boys
washed away some of the three
weeks accumulation Of grease and
dirt. Then they gave short radio
talks and when It became possible
L ct them through the crowd. they
were taken to a downtown hotel to
get some much-needed rest.
That's one thing I'll never try
again. said Kenneth, YEARLY.
The BOYS said they had not in
tended TO come down until this
afternoon. The ship, they believed.
still was good for many more hours,
but the minor troubles had become
so numerous that they could not
stand the grind any longer.
Mrs. Ida Hunter. their mother.
had been wishing for several days
they would come down. and SO had
Irene. their school teacher. sister.
who supervised the cooking Of all
Their meals up until the last day.
Mother Was Worried
Probably the proudest woman in
the world. Mrs. Hunter also had
been one Of the most worried. fear
ing. she said. that her boys were
hurting themselves by staying up
too long. Irene, too. was almost
exhausted from the long grind.
There was one thing, however.
that made Kenneth, who is Just q,
wish he was still up in the air,
that was the crowd, the newspaper
men. and the cameramen. A
modest youth. who for twenty
three DAYS had been even more re-
moved from the world Of people
than in the days when he dug coal
in the Its OF southern Illinois.
Kenneth fel; a bit lost among the
milling. shouting. crowd that was
rcclaimins him a hero Of heroes.
A YEAR ago the Hunters made
similar. but unsuccessful attempt
in the SANE plane. which then was
known as the we Will" That
fleht anc the debts incurred then
was one OF the things that went
No TO bother the boys during the
last week The hackers OF the
first attempt sent a sheriff to the
neld several DAYS ago with papers
intended 10 tie up their profits
10 pay the old bills.
The former record. which the
Hunters broke. was set az ST. Louis
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