Evening star., 1933-08-03

Wiley Posts feat IN circumnavigat-
ing the globe by airplane in q little
more than week is hailed by the press
as one of the great achievements in
aviation Its conspicuous character Is
emphasized by the fact that other air
men were performing at exactly the
same time as he held the center of the
stage. He is lauded by the Rockford
Register-Republic as "the sturdy little
Oklahoman who offered an almost un-
paralleled exhibition Of grit. stamina
and fearless determination" The Port
land oregon Journal calls him king
of the sky"
Aviation experiences Of limited
period of two or three weeks are found
by the Boston Transcript to be remark
able. not only in the stories Of personal
experience, but also in the light that
is shed on the science OF flying. Re
ferring to the results Of the enterprises
Of the Italian squadron. OF Wiley tost,
Mattern, the MolhSons, the Llthuanlans
who crashed, and the Lndbergh searcn
for commercial routes, that paper states
that 'it may be long time before tnere
is again such a combination OF events !;
that "there is nothing in the past that
is quite like it." The Transcript de-
scribes the reaction to these events IN
the comment on this chapter in the
story of q new science:
Americans have witnessed the ar
rival of the great italian planes. NO
longer Is the crossing Of the Atlantic
the accomplishment only OF the planes
that fly alone At the same time, the
public has followed the efforts OF Mat
tern and Post to fly around the upper
portion Of the globe, and mas taken
pride in the dogged determination OF
the one and the notable success OF the
other. To add to the appeal which the
tale makes to sympathy as well as to
admiration was the transatlantic night
of the Molisons. which may be counted
as . success despite the accident at the
end. A more forcible evidence of the
dangers still encountered in these long
fights was the fate of the two Lithu-
anians who crashed to their death as
they also neared their goal after set
ting forth from New York. Less spec
tacular than these exploits, successful
and unsuccessful, but perhaps Of equal
significance as pointing to the air
voyaging of the future, is the present
undertaking of the Lindbergs seeking
a route for the commercial planes that
may yet cross the Atlantic in regular
service on route following the course
of the Norsemen a thousand years ago
and more as they moved from Iceland
to Greenland, and from Greenland to
Labrador and beyond. Gen. Balbo in
his westward flight followed a portion
of the route. He, too, indicated that
scheduled transatlantic journeys"
Wiley Posts circling Of the globe Is
described by the New York Times as
"a revelation of the new art Of flying. -
and "of flrst-rate technical importance"
It observes that mo plane ever before
set out with so splendid a mechanical
equipment" and voices the conclusion
that, by winning victory with the
wise use Of gyrostats, variable pitch
propeller and a radio compass, Post
definitely ushers IN new stage Of long
distance aviation" That paper, how
ever, concludes: There is still too
much luck in encircling the globe or a
goodly part Of it by air-the luck Of
alighting in some unknown spot with q
good machine shop and spare parts at
hand. The truth Is that wings, engines,
instruments, automatic aids, everything
but the ground, seems to be ready for
intercontinental flying on grand scale.
For 1t is from the ground that radio
guidance must come, and the ground
that must always afford haven OF
safety"
Post, in the opinion Of the Oklahoma
City Times, "has made the future easier
for others who will follow the route he
charted, and he has set mark for
others who sense the worth Of speed
In long distance transportation" The
Des Moines Tribune recognizes that
"his feat demonstrates again the amaz.
ing dependabtftty Of aircraft engines
as now developed and the great useful.