Evening star., 1935-08-04

said, is seeking consent of the Frenc
Col. Roscoe Turner, 1888 Bendix
winner, is rebuilding the plane in
which he won the Thompson speed
classic last year to gain still more
speed for Bendix competition this
year. Last year he was forced out of
the Bendix by broken oil line, but
on the day after the Bendix he flew
across the United States for a new
record and then turned back to Cleve-
land and won the Thompson race in
the same ship.
Ben o. Howard who has been out
of the competitive flying game for sew
eral years to devote his time TO the
building of racing airplanes, is ex-
pected to fly his own plane, Mister
Mulligan, in the BendiX.
Several airplanes are being completed
secretly for the Bendix and little is
known of them yet. Among them is
a rebuilt Gee-Bee racer which will be
flown by Cecil Allen. This airplane,
Henderson said, has been timed un-
officially at 321 miles per hour, seven
miles per hour faster than the present
world speed record for land airplanes.
Keith Rider is expected to enter the
Bendix flying the all-metal ship in
which he recently established the new
Canada Mexico record.
Vance Breese is expected to fly a
new all-metal plane which has at
tracted wide attention among Pacific
Coast pilots.
Howard Hughes, motion picture pro-
ducer and sportsman pilot, is building
an airplane for the Bendix, according
to reports from Henderson. Nothing
is known of the details of the ship.
Hughes was the producer of "Hell's
Angels" and other aviation films.
S. H. Oshkosh" Whitman, who has
been a consistent winner of closed
course events for small airplanes dur
ing the past two years, is completing
a big racer for the Bendix and also
plans to fly it in the Thompson three
days later, Henderson reported.
1t has been reported from Louisiana
that the Wedell- Williams Air Service
Corp. will enter its "95" Weden- Will
liams Special, with Johnnie Worthen
at the controls. The "95" was de-
signed by the late Jimmie Wedell, who
also designed the "a" in which he
set many world records. Jimmie also
designed the ship with which Roscoe
Turner won last years Thompson.
Lee Wallace, Fort Worth, Tex,
veteran airline pilot and one of the
first Americans to fly in South Am
erica, has rebuilt and streamlined
Waco, which is said to have made 241
miles per hour in speed trials, and Is
planning to enter the Bendix.
Transportation around the world in
IS days will become a reality as soon
as the trans-Paciflc service of Pan
American Airways is inaugurated, it
is pointed out by United Air Lines Of
f1cials. Establishment of Pacific island
bases for the new service has been
completed and service trials soon are
to begin over the whole route from
California to the Orient, according to
present plans.
The 15-day schedule includes a
steamer crossing of the Atlantic. In
auguration of transatlantic air serv-
ice will reduce travel time around the
globe to less than two weeks
The schedule, as now worked out,
calls for the following itinerary; Cali
fornia to Manila by air, three days;
Manila to Singapore, by air, one day;
Singapore to Amsterdam by air, five
days; Amsterdam to Paris by air, two
hours; Paris to LIE Harve by train,
three hours; LIE Rarve to New York
by steamer, four and one-half days;
New York to California, overnight, by
air.
When Jules Verne wrote his
Around the World in 80 Days" in
1872, his work was regarded as SEN
sationaI fiction. The idea of a trip
around the earth in 80 days was re-
garded only 63 years ago as fan
tastic and impossible.
It was not until 1889 that any one
appeared to contest the record of
Verne's hero. Phineas Fogg. In that
year Jaseph Pulitzer, publisher Of the
New York World, started his famous
reporter, Nellie Bly,. after the Fogg
record and she made the trip in 70
days hours and II minutes. Within
the year George Francis Train cut
the record to 81 days II hours and 8
minutes and his record stood for II
years.
The airplane first was used in rec
ord travel around the world in 1918,
when John Henry Mears few from
Victoria to Seattle during the course
of world-girdling trip which he COM
pleted in IS days 81 hours So minutes
and 48 seconds, just 48 seconds behind
the schedule he had set for himself.
The present record stands at days
IS hours 49 minutes and 80 seconds
established by the solo flight of Wiley
Post in July, 1888.
The anticipated commercial sched-
ule of IS days, although more than
twice as long as the record time of
Post, calls for travel over a much
longer route than that covered by
the one-eyed Oklahoman and also
allows for a great deal more leisure
time, including number Of overnight
hotel stops.
Clyde Pangborn, himself a veteran
of the round-the-world game, is PLAN
ming a nonstop flight around the
earth, with three refuelings in flight,
and hopes to make the trip in Az
days or less.
Many, many stories are coming back
from the Pan-American Anyways eXpe-
dition which resulted in establish
ment of the mid-Pacific air bases for
the coming trans-Paciflc air service.
The more important of these stories