POTS OF GOLD FOR AIRMAN

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 52, 24 May 1927, Page 1

POTS OF GOLD FOR AIRMAN

LINDBERGH’S RICH REWARDS

CINEMA AND VAUDEVILLE CONTRACTS OFFERED

CAPTAIN CHARLES LINDBERGH, the 25 years’ old American aviator, besides having one of the world's great flying feats to his credit, can now become a wealthy man. Cinema, vaudeville, writing and advertising contracts yielding between one and two million dollars are within his grasp.

By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright Reed. 8 a.m. NEW YORK, Monday. A million dollar pot of gold at the end of his 3,600-mile rainbow awaits Captain Lindbergh.

He has definite offers of 735,000 dollars in cinema and commercial contracts and it is stated that a fortune of more than 1,000,000 dollars is within his grasp if he is willing to fulfil an elaborate array of cinema, vaudeville, advertising testimonials and other contracts. This is itemised as follows: Film acting, 500,000 dollars; vaudeville, 250,000 dollars; miscellaneous writing, 100.000 dollars; book royalties, 50,000 dollars; testimonials and endorsements for manufacturers between 50,000 and 100,000 dollars apiece. A film offer of 500,000 dollars has already been cabled. Unprecedented public interest in the flight continues unabated.

Every newspaper in the country is printing thousands of words daily. Before leaving, Captain Lindbergh ordered a clipping bureau in New York to watch the newspapers for anything likely to interest his mother. The bureau estimated that it was more printed than any other news story in history with 27,000 columns of space at present published.—A. and N.Z.

“GOOD DEAL OF LUCK”

AIRMAN’S STORY FLIGHT MADE TO SCHEDULE By Cable.—Press AssocUirrinn. — Copyri'ih PARIS, Monday “Gee, boys, I am here/* was Captain Lindbergh’s greeting on Saturday night, when he thrust his head out of the cockpit of the airplane in which he had succeeded in flying from New York to the Le Bourget airdrome, Paris. This exclamation was followed by a momentary doubt on the part of the airman. “Say, is this Paris? I am Lindbergh,” he said. When he had been assured that he had reached his destination he simply replied, “Good.” The journalists could not secure a connected story of his flight from him until to-day, when he consented to give them a joint interview in the hall of the United States Embassy. The airman spoke quietly, with an utter absence of “side.” Indeed, the journalists had to extract the details of the flight from him by means of questions and answers. He explained that owing to the construction of his airplane he could not look out ahead. He could only see in front of him by means of a periscope, though his view to the left and to the right was uninterrupted. He carried no lights, as all the dials in the machine were luminous.

“I made the whole flight close to the schedule I had planned,” said Captain Lindbergh. “But there ' was a good deal of luck in it. I flew by dead reckoning and it brought me to the coast of Ireland within three miles of the great circle. I only saw the light of a single ship owing to fog. For many hours I could not see the ocean. “HORRIBLY BORED” “To tell you the truth, I was horribly bored. I was never in the least sleepy and I made no use of the caffeine and other stimulants I had aboard the plane. “I did not become sleepy because I had not any wind to face, as I was down in the cockpit. “Everything was in my favour except that I encountered sleet which was capable of forcing the airplane down in a few minutes. Once I dropped to ascertain if it was foggy on the sea. It was, and as I could not get above or below the fog I had to go through it. “One sleet storm was of such violence that I almost decided to turn back. “It was full daylight when I reached the coast of Ireland. I knew it was Ireland because of the mountains. My maps showed the French coast to be plain, the English coast hilly, and the Irish coast mountainous. “I shall ever remember that sight of Ireland.”

Continuing, Captain Lindbergh said: “After that the flight over the remaining 600 miles of the journey was simple. I was eating my last sandwich when France hove into sight. “I instantly recognised Cherbourg from my map, on which the route was clearly marked from there to Paris. “I could see searchlights 30 miles away.” It seems that the airman used a simple schoolboy’s map across France. This only indicated the chief ports, lines of railways and Paris. SEES EIFFEL TOWER ‘ When I saw the Eiffel Tower,” he continued, “I knew I was on the right course.

NEW PROJECTS

ACROSS ATLANTIC

“I had 451 gallons of petrol when I started and I only used 12 gallons an hour, so I could have continued and the old ship would have gone another 1,000 miles if she had been put to it.” His failure to estimate the petrol supply that would be necessary more accurately was apparently Captain Lindbergh’s only regret. The flight was made in 33J hours. The airman covered 3,726 miles. He thus beat the flight of 3,345 miles made by the French airmen, MM. Costes and Rignot from Paris to Java in August, 1926. SPEAKS TO MOTHER Captain Lindbergh spoke by telephone from Paris to his mother in Detroit. This is the first time Paris and New York have been connected by telephone.—A. and N.Z.

TRANSPACIFIC FLIGHT SOUTH POLE ALSO GOAL By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright Reed. 8 a.m. WASHINGTON, Monday. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Mr. William MacCracken, who is also in charge of civil aviation, said that a Transpacific fligh to Manila was among the great aviation projects of the future.

Captain Lindbergh’s flight to Paris is over a greater distance than any single leg of the Pacific-Manila flight via Honolulu and Guam. The chief effort of airplane builders, following Captain Lindbergh’s achievement will be to increase the safety of planes consistent with weight-car-rying capacity. Mr. MacCracken also believed that Captain Lindbergh's success is likely to lead to an early attempt to fly o the South Pole.

In the meantime, with Captain Lindbergh’s backers disclaiming any intention of participating in the prize money, it is estimated that the flier could amass a fortune if he desired.— A. and N.Z.

DI PIN EDO STARTS By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright NEW YORK, Monday. The Marchese di Pinedo left Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, this morning.

His intention is to fly direct to the Azores. —A. and N.Z.