Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-01
BIZ WILEY POST.
rfiot Of the Monoplape Winnie Mae.

ffiot OF the Monoplape Winnie Mae.
EDMONTON. Alberta, July Its
all downhill work now. We hope to
land in New York tomorrow and II de-
cent weather continues we should be
able to land there in time to have
circled the world in nine days.
That is just one day better than we
had figured we would probably take
when we left Roosevelt Field on the
take-off to Newfoundland week ago
Tuesday. We afe 80 hours ahead of the
To-day schedule now, due to good wealth
er conditions encountered on the greater
part of the journey. but just before we
reached Edmonton we ran into q storm
area which may delay US slightly.
Land In Rainstorm.
We landed here inN the thick Of q
rainstorm, the heaviest In years, field
officials told us. It certainly seemed
that way, for we had been told that
they had an excellent field here When
We arrived 1t was sea of thick mud
so thick that 1t was impossible to taxi
the Winnie Mae in from the runway.
We had wonderful flying conditions
through the mountains, following a
great circle course so as to avoid higher
peaks. Visibility was good, and al
though we had a little trouble in lifting
the plane into the air at Fairbanks yes
terday morning, we encountered no real
trouble until we hit the storm area.
Will Take-off on Road.
Then it was bunny, real bunny
Tired after hours at the controls,
was battling the ship. which
kicked like mule. We landed Won
dering II we would be able to take of
again. but gas was running low and
the weather looked bad ahead so we
landed. The weather man here told
us last night that better conditions
could be expected today.
1t was this weather report that
finally made us decide to stay over
here. We are not sure about airport
conditions ahead and rather than take
o chance on having our flight delayed
we have stayed over to daylight. For
the take-of we will use long avenue
| Of concrete road two miles long and
$50 feet wide. It Is almost an ideal
runway and the best we have encoun-
tered on our trip around the world. 1t
Is being cleared by authorities here
in readiness for the take-off.
May Make Two U. s. Stops.
We have not reached o final de-
cision as to our route to New York
Airports everywhere from the Atlantic
Coast to Spokane have wired us in
viting us to use their facilities. We
may break our journey at Detroit for
few minutes, possibly half an hour,
| and then continue to Cleveland to re-
fuel for the last hop to New York. All
that depends upon weather conditions
We will take practically full load of
fuel, and If necessary climb over the
storm area, flying blind for at least a
part Of the way. That won't be any
thing new. for we new blind for almost
the entire distance from Kharbarovsk
to Nome.
In any case, we shall be In New York
well under the 10 days-then for some
sleep.
Motor Runs Perfectly.
In Edmonton. as everywhere through
out Our journey, officials have gone
out Of their way to facilitate our flight.
Immediately on landing here We were
cleared by the customs, and there will
be no delay when we take on today
at about am.
The Winnie Mae Is being refueled now
at the airport and will be hauled over
to the concrete runway in readiness for
the take-off. There is no necessity for
a motor check. as it licked over per-
fectly all the way from Fairbanks.
New York. Phones Flyers.
A police guard watched the machine
through the night, although there SEEM
ed little danger that any harm would
be done to 1t by souvenir hunters.
We are both tired, very tired, but
the telephone seems to give us no re-
spite. Immediately on landing we were
told that there were telephone calls
from New York, and since then the
bell has been jangling almost continu-
ally.
Gatty Talks for Both.
I am quite deaf, due to the roar
of the motor, and Harold Gatty has
| to do the talking for both. Gatty
is suffering little discomfort from the
bruises sustained when he was hit on
the left arm and chest as the prop"
swung from q backfire at the start from
| Solomon. Neither disability Is serious.
There are scores Of kilograms waiting
to be answered and dozens Of letters
from stamp and autograph collectors.
Some Of the letters came by air mail ad-
| dressed to us here, due to paper In the
United States publishing statement
that we were ready to autograph any
covers we received.
One ambitious person even enclosed
q stamp for return postage. Probably
InlS 0eluge Is cue In large measure W
! the fact we are now back in close touch
with the United States for the first time
| during our flight.
1t was difiicult to communicate with
New York from the time we left Berlin
throughout the journey. Until we
reached Edmonton. Now 1t is too easy
Had Planned solomon Stop.
The country we passed over in our
flight from Fairbanks was rough and
mountainous, but by following the great
circle course we managed to dodge the
| worst peaks. At no time did We have
to ascend hished than 1900 feet.
In case of forced landing In that
country 1t would have been bad. al
though no worse. perhaps, than at any
time since we left Khabarovsk. One
thing we must correct. It was believed
on our arrival here that we had over
shot Nome, Alaska, to land at Solomon.
This was not the case. for we had
planed landing at Solomon throughout
| our arrangements The landing field at
Nome would be inadequate for the Win