Evening star., 1937-03-18
Earlart
Continued From First Page.)

concerned have tried to safeguard
the project as thoroughly as circum-
stances permit
But at best it does contain elements
Of hazard not reckoned in everyday
travel. For instance, I cannot expect
the hourly weather reports pilots have
become so used to on the airWays here !,
I shall have neither directional radio
beam nor beacons strung out along
the route every few miles to guide me
shall be cutting corners in a part of
the world in which ! know neither the
topography nor the climate. However,
were I TO choose, I should always see
unknown places from the air, arst.
While the chief reason for the flight
Is my personal desire, nevertheless I
want it to be a thoroughgoing check
OF modern equipment. l expect to
keep log of what happens TO per-
sonnel and machine under various
conditions. Records, be they of sue
cess or failure, can do much 10 safe
guard subsequent flights.
Special Problems in Pacific.
The first stretch of the journey.
the Pacific, offers special problems
In three hops the Electra and I must
cross more than $500 miles of water
On two OF these stretches there Is no
land whatever. and all the way no
landing fields except at my objectives.
1t is not good sense to try such a
crossing without the aid Of celestial
navigation. On two previous ocean
flights and from Mexico across the
Gulf I've dead reckoned" and made
my land fall. But l was aiming at
continents, not small spots OF land in
the mightiest ocean.
Hawaii, 2,400 miles from California.
would be hard to find by this method
alone. Rowland Island-dimension
less than a mile by miles-l 400
miles further on, would be a fam
tastically tiny target. 20 take every
precautlon to find 4, l have four
means. One. read reckoning (Which
Is simply the estimate of position
given direction maintained for def
mite time; two, radio bearings from
ships at sea and shore stations; three.
radio directional finder in my cock
pit; four. celestial navigation. So far
as my experience goes, believe a lone
pilot cannot take an accurate sight
at will. airplanes being the compl-
Gated mechanisns they are today. So
I have asked Capt. Harry Manning
an old friend of Mr.. Putnams and
mine, TO be navigator.
Met Manning in 1928.
My first meeting with Capt. Man
ming was when he was skipper OF the
United States liner on which l re-
turned after my first flight across the
Atlantic in 1928. On that trip-my
first steamer crossing Of the Atlantic
he talked navigation to me. We
agreed that some day, when the
chance came, we would team up on a
flight. Now, eight years later, he still
wants to ship on such an aerial voy-
age and I still want him to.
The plane has been fitted with spe-
cial windows for his work He has
a good sized table TO hold necessary
charts. Three Omega chronometers-
the same type as used on Balbos mass
flight from Rome to Chicago-are be-
side the table, shock mounted on rub
Der Other chart room" equipment
includes altimeter, airspeed and drift
indicators, pelonus and compass. Capt
Manning will have access to any part
Of the plane, for cat walk over the
large gasoline tanks connects the
cabin in the rear with the cockpit
These quarters do not compare with
what he has on large Atlantic liner,
but he assures me they will do.
This Is the first time l have ever
tried TO write an advance story" of
fight In aviation, talking before
one has anything TO talk about is
unusually poor policy. So many
things can happen before the take
off TO change plan OF action, or
even cause complete abandonment
of the entire venture, that most pilots
prefer TO play owl and say nothing.
However. this time there are obliga-
tions and associations which, perhaps,
Justify foreword, despite these
disadvantages.
One Ocean Led 10 Another.
To begin with, I should tell how
and where the present project
started. Pilots are always dreaming
dreams, I think, After being just q
passenger on the Atlantic flight Of
1928, I wanted to duplicate the
crossing alone in my own plane. 1
pursued the dream OF a solo fight
for four years before it became 4
I reality In 1882. One ocean led natu-
rally to another and two years later,
through hard work and planning and
generous help, the opportunity came
to try the Pacific. felt, after that
| that ! should try no more long flights
without more than one enSine-fault-