Evening star., 1946-01-27
JET Plane Spans
j. ). in 4Hours
And 13 Minutes
Averages 584 M.P.H.
To Break Record by
Hour and q Quarter
(Picture on Page A-5.)

tPtcture on Page A-5.)
BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Jan. 26. The
transcontinental flight record
was shattered today by three
Army jet-propelled planes, which
streaked from Long Beach, Calf,
to La Guardia Field at speeds
approaching that of sound.
All three planes were Lockheed
P-80 pursuit ships The one piloted
by Col. William M. Council of Pitts
burgh, flight test official from Wright
Field, Ohio, flew nonstop and COW
cred the 2,470 miles in 4 hours, 13
and 26 seconds-58482 miles
an hour, clipping nearly an hour
and a quarter from the previous
record. Two others stopped at To-
peka, Kans., for refueling.
Col. Council figured his top speed
during the flight at $50 miles an
hour, which he calculated to be about
30 miles less than the speed of sound
at the high levels he flew.
B-29 Held Old Record.
The former transcontinental fight
record, 2,464 miles from Burbank.
Calf, to Floyd Bennett Field,
Brooklyn, in hours and q minutes,
was established last December II
with a Boeing B-29 Super Fortress.
Even the two pilots who stopped
for fuel at Topeka today beat the
old record by comfortable margins.
Capt. Martin C. Smith of Kidder.
Mo. another Army test pilot from
Wright Field, covered the distance
in four hours, 33 minutes and 25
seconds, and Capt. John S. Babel
of Abba, Iowa, a fighter pilot of the
412th jet-propelled fighter group at
March Field, Riverside, Calf, made
it in four hours, % minutes and 81
seconds.
Capt. Babel, who stopped for four
minutes at Topeka, made an aver
age speed of SCI miles an hour.
Capt. Smith stopped for six minutes
at Topeka and averaged $40 miles
an hour.
35,000-Foot Altitude.
Most of the time the planes flew
at attitudes of $4,000 to 4l,000 feet.
Col. Councills nonstop fight
was considered in some quarters as
a sign that the problem of long
flights in jet-propelled planes had
been solved. AS recently as last sum-
mer the problem of fuelling jet
planes for long flights was reported
far from solution. Col. Councill's
plane was equipped with diversified
fuel tanks. The other had regular
tanks. So
The official times on today's
flights were clocked and announced
by John P. ". Heinmuller, timer for
the National Aeronautics Associa-
ton.
Col Council left Long Beach at
12:44:34 pm. (EST) and reached
La Guardia Field at 4;58:00 pm.
Capt. Smith left Long Beach at
12:33:35 pm and arrived over La
Guardia at 5:07:00, and Capt. Babel
started his flight at 12:58:31 and
finished at 5:22:25.
Exceed 900 Miles an Hour.
Army officials said all three planes
probably exceeded 600 miles an hour
at times.
Col. Councill left Long Beach with
l las gallons of fuel, and on arrival
here had 120 gallons left.
He was high in his praise of the
plane, saying the engine functioned,
perfectly"
81 flew as far as st. Joseph, Mo,
at $4,000 feet" he said. From st.
Joe to New York I came in at
10000 to 41,000 feet. I had my
oxygen mask on, and I was COM
Portable, but it looked pretty cold
I started to let down from
Al 900 feet around Sunbury, Pa, and
I buzzed La Guardia Field at 1000
feet, and my indicator registered
615 miles an hour.
Didn't See Ground.
He estimated his top speed at
about $50 miles an hour, made be-
tween Chanute Field, Ill, and
Akron, Ohio
From Chanute Field to New York
I never saw the ground" he said.
Then I let down, and the first
thing I saw was the East River and
Central Park"
Col. Council, 50, and graduate
of Carnegie Tech, has flown Lock-
heed jet-propelled fighters since
their first flights. Last August / he
flew P-80 from Dayton, Ohio, to
New York in 81 minutes speed
of about 538 miles an hour.
He served as commanding officer
of P-38 group in the 18th Air
Force at Guadalcanal, and flew 10
combat missions in the South Pacific
as fighter pilot, shooting down
three enemy planes. He received
(See JET PLANES, Page A-5,)