Evening star., 1939-05-21
Yankee Clipper
Reaches Azores
With II Aboard
Makes 2,300-MiIe
Hop in Is Hours
And n Minutes
Ey the Associated Press.

6S tDt Associated PfeSS.
NEW YORK, May 81 (Sunday).-
Pan n-American Airways reported
that the giant metal flying boat
Yankee Clipper landed at Horta,
the Azores. at 1:29 m. tE. S. T)
today. The clipper is inaugural
ing regular airliner service between
the United States and Europe.
The plane. carrying a crew of IA
and three observers-the first men
to cross the North Atlantic in a
plane operating on time table
and 1903 pounds of mail, took off
from ManhaSset Bay. Port WASH
ington, Long Island, N. Y, at 1907
pm. (E. S. t. yesterday, the 18th
anniversary of Col Lindbergh's his
toric transatlantic flight.
It made the 2300-mile hop in l3
hours and % minutes. averaging
about ITO miles an hour. Strong
favoring winds during the latter
part of the trip pushed the planes
speed at times to over 200 miles an
hour.
To Go to Lisbon Today.
The clipper is scheduled to go to
Lisbon, Portugal, today; Marseilles,
France. Monday, and Southampton,
England, Tuesday, returning here
later in the week
Passenger service, with two round
trips a week. is scheduled to start
in about five weeks, after four more
mail flights.
The start of scheduled trans
Atlantic transport flights from Man.
hasset Bay, hard by the little COM
munity of Port Washington, was
routine, even casual.
A few short speeches were made.
Congratulations were exchanged. A
message from President Roosevelt
was read
Stands by for Orders.
Then, Arthur E. La Porte, skipper
of the 4ll2-ton Yankee Clipper.
turned to Juan T. Trippe. president
of the operating company. Pam
American AirWays. Capt La Porto
saluted.
Capt. La Porte" asked Mr..
Trippe, rs the flight in order?"
The Yankee Clipper is ready.
sir, responded the skipper. "All
stations are manned. Standing by
for orders, sir
Mr.. Trippe nodded Very we'll,
captain. l commit to you these
manifests for the first United States
air mails for transatlantic dis
patch to Europe You have your
flight orders. Cast off and depart
for Marseille in accordance there
with"
The crew marched smartlv down
a small quay, stepped aboard. the
lines were cast off. and a few min
utes later the 5000 horsepower in
the Clippers motors lifted her Slow
ly aloft.
First Flight for Mail Only.
So. on the 18th anniversary Of
Charles A. Lindbergh's memorable
flight to Paris. began service which
men have talked about since the
North Atlantic first was spanned by
air in 1919 and actually have
planned for full decade.
This first flight over the so-called
southern" route is for mail only,
and four more mail trips will be
made before customers can step up
to an airplane ticket counter and
buy 160-mile- -an-hour transporta-
tion to Europe.
Two hours and So minutes after the
take-off Capt. La Porte wirelessed
Port Washington that he was AS
miles east of New York, had picked
up a tail wind to send his speed up to
ITS miles an hour, and that the
weather was good but haZy.
Will Garry 35 Passengers.
AS the big ship, which will carry
maximum of 35 passengers on its
runs starting about July l, swept
over the New York Worlds Fair,
Robert Hinckley, chairman of the
Civil Aeronautics Authority, ex-
changed greetings by wireless with
Capt. La Porte.
Fourteen of the men making the
trip are crew members. Three.
Carroll Cone, the company's Atlantic
division manager; William K. Nc
Kittrick, division chief steward, and
Fred Laidlaw, philatelic expert
went along as observers"