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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0317.PDF
FEBRUARY 14, 1929 AIRLISMS FKOM THE FOUR. WINDS, Remarkable Balloon Adventure LAST Sunday morning a balloon ascended from Bitter- feld, near Leipzig, for an inland cruise with Dr. Paul Rohr, Herr Paul Thieleck (a dentist), and Herr G. Rexhausen (a farmer) on board. A sudden storm swung them in a northerly direction, however, and a? a descent would have been too dangerous they had no alternative but to drift with the storm. About mid-day a strange land was passed which they imagined to be the Netherlands and an hour or so later the sea was reached. An attempt to descend was made but the apparatus for releasing the gas failed, so the balloon continued to drift. The English coast was reached and they were blown along it for some distance and were then carried out to sea again. For some hours the balloon sailed north- wards and when darkness descended the position seemed critical. At 3 a.m. the reflection of the lights of a city were sighted which proved to be Aberdeen. Hills then loomed menacingly as the balloon passed over Scotland, and collisions actually occurred. Ballast and instruments were thrown overboard to lighten the car but it did not improve the situation much. Finally, the car caught in a. tree and the three balloonists were pitched out. One of them received an injury to his ankle. They set off in the darkness but did not meet assistance until late in the morning, when a man kindly took them to his home. They had been without food for eighteen hours. At Aberdeen the German Consul arranged for their return to Germany. Balloon Adventure at Reading THE Hon. A. F. de Moleyns and Mr. Percival Spencer ascended in a balloon from Reading recently and the car struck the roof of a shed, dislodged some tiles, and brought down some telegraph wires. The balloon emerged from its danger eventually and rose clear, passing over the town in a western direction. Mr. Van Lear Black ON February 11 the American millionaire, Mr. Van Leur Black, left Croydon Aerodrome in a three-engined Fokker monoplane (Wright " Whirlwinds ") for a business air tour of 35,000 miles to Egypt, Cape Town, India and China. Besides his two Dutch pilots he was accompanied by his valet. The machine passed Le Bourget, Paris, at 11.25 a.m. Forced Landings at Wimbledon K MONOPLANE engaged on the French air service readied Croydon from Paris on February 10 and left for Cricklewood on February 11, escorted by a D.H. " Moth " belonging to Handley Page, Ltd. The light plane was forced to land in Wimbledon Park, and the monoplane circled for nearly an hour searching for its escort. Having failed, the pilot made a safe landing on the Common, as he did not know the way to Cricklewood. On board were a mechanic and passenger as well as the pilot. Endurance Records ON January 3 last, Miss Bobbie Trout, an 18-year-old girl of Los Angeles, flew continuously for 12 hrs. 5 mins., in a Golden Eagle machine fitted with a 60 h.p. engine. On January 30, Miss Elinor Smith beat that time with a conti- nuous nijrht of 13 hrs. J6 mins. 45 sees, over New York. She is a year younger than Miss Trout. The latter again took up the challenge on February 11 and put up a record of 17 hrs. 5 mins. 37 sees, in the Golden Eagle machine. Explorer's Ship Adrift COMMANDER R. BYRD'S ship, City of New York, was torn from its achorage by a gale which swept across the Antarctic last week and is drifting helplessly in the Bay of Whales. Costly Aircraft Carriers THE American aircraft carriers, Lexington and Saratoga, are reported to be so costly to run that they may have to be berthed to save expense. They are 33,000-ton ships and were commissioned in 1925. Each can accommodate 72 aeroplanes. Col. C. Lindbergh Engaged THE United States Ambassador at Mexico City, Mr. Dwight B. Morrow, announced the engagement of his daughter Anne to Col. Charles Lindbergh, the Atlantic airman, on February 12. Aircraft Assist Ice-Bound Ships MORE than seventy steamers are reported to be ice-bound in the Baltic and there is another sixty off the Elbe estuary. Aircraft are taking food supplies to many of the ships. Graf Zeppelin THE cruise of the Graf Zeppelin to Egypt has been post- poned until March 26 owing to the severe weather delaying preparations. Scandinavian Air Services IT has been decided to recommend the establishment . for one month next summer of a night air-mail service from Malmoe to Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London and Paris, according to a message from Copenhagen. It is proposed to link this service with those from Helsingfors, Oslo and Stockholm. Further, it has been thought advisable to have services throughout the year to start in the afternoon, linking Helsingfors, Oslo, Stockholm, Malmoe, Copenhagen and Western Europe. A SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN AMPHIBIAN : The Sikorsky S-38, fitted with two 410 h.p. Pratt and Whitney" Wasp " engines. Two of these machines were recently delivered to the U.S. Navy, and others are used by the Western Air Express and Pan American Airways on their commercial air mail and passenger routes. 123
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