The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1931-10-08
2 Americans
Conquer the
Wide Pacific
.Herndon, Pangburn Land at
Wenatchee, Wash, After
1865 Mile Flight
GET $4,000 CHECK
Travelled at Average Speed of
119 Miles Per Hour-Lose
Landing Gear
,ET $4,000 CHECK

Wenatchee, Wash, Oct. 5-Com-
plotting the first nonstop airplane
flight across the Pacific ocean,
Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Hern-
don, American filters, landed here
today. ......
The plane landed On her belly,
tipped over on her nose and then
settled back. She slid along slowly
in a cloud Of dust.
The plane came to rest on its
left wing, It's propeller was smash
ed in the landing. Aviators de-
scribed it as fish tail" landing.
Before coming down the filters
circled a few minutes and dump
ed their excess gasoline in order, to
prevent any possible outbreak OF
fire when they hit the ground min
us landing gear, which had been
dropped shortly after their takeoff
at Samushire Beach.
Successful in spanning the long
stretch of fog haunted ocean
which had baked the efforts of
many other aviators, Pangborn
and Herndon came in line to re-
ceive the $4,000 prize offered by
the Tokyo newspaper ASH for the
first nonstop airplane flight be-
tween Japan and the United
States.
From Samushiro Beach to We
nthee over the course plotted by
the filters before they started, the
distance is approximately 4,565
miles, which falls considerably
short Of the distance record set
last July by Russell Boardman and
John Polando in flying from New
York to Istanbul, Turkey, SOIL
miles.
q Pangborn and Herndon spanned
the Pacific in about Al hours.
Pangborn's mother was crying.
Both men had left the plane. Hern-
don had a cut over his left eye.
I Pangborn said the only damage
was to the propeller.
Ayiators here said It was q
wonderful landing. :.
first words were give
me a cigaret."
The representative of the jap
anese newspaper Asahi was stand
ing by with a SIS, 900 check for the
completion Of the first successful
nonstop thrans-Pacific flight from
Japan.
Every glad to see you boys" he
said.
Both men wore wool sox but no
shoes. Pangburn said they went
nearly to Spokane but turned
around and came back. They said
they were over Seattle but there
was -splenty" fog there.
We've been in Japan so long
we're still going barefooted,"
Pangborn said.
They had 100 gallons Of gas left.
They explained it was too foggy
for them to go to Salt Lake City.
1.-THE reason we came back was
because we like the apple capital"
Pangborn said. Wenatchee is a
center Of the apple industry in
Washington.
my, you don't even look tired,
Mrs. Pangborn said.
Their route brought them over
Vancouver island, they said. They
circled Mount Rainier three times
and passed over Seattle shortly af-
ter p. m. The crowd cheered
when the plane came down on a
runway.
z The filters left Samushiro at sol
p. m. EST, Saturday and landed
today at 1914 a. m, EST.
The Japanese newspaper respre-
sentative had been waiting to pre-
sent the check to some lucky nom
stop trans-Pacific birdmen.
Pangborn and Herndon said
they would fly to Dallas, Texas,
nonstop from here, to win and adj
ditional $4,000 prize which they
said is offered by wealthy Texan
for the first flight from Japan to
that city with only one stop
enroute. In Making the first nom
stop flight from Japan to the I'm
tied States, they qualified for a
$4,000 prize offered by a Japanese
newspaper.