PLUCKY ATTEMPT FAILS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 257, 20 January 1928, Page 1

PLUCKY ATTEMPT FAILS

ENDURANCE RECORD UNBROKEN PLANE FORCED DOWN AFTER FIFTY HOURS DISAPPOINTED at failing, chilled and exhausted by 50 hours’ flying, and deafened by the drone of the motors, Captain Kingsford Smith and Lieutenant G. Pond were lifted from their airplane yesterday. They had just failed by 2hrs 16m to heat the endurance record, but Smith announced with pluck that they would try again,

SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday. Received 11 a.m. fIAPTAIN KINGSFORD SMITH and V 7 Lieutenant G. Fund landed ot 10.16 this morning, after 50 hours 7 minutes in the air, failing by 2 hours 16 minutes to reach the time of the existing air endurance record. Fuel was exhausted, and the plane was forced down.—A. and N.Z.-Sun. PROGRESS MESSAGES Received 0.5 a.m. SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday. “Gas generators jammed; petrol getting low,” was the last report of the Spirit of California at 11.57 on Wednesday evening.—A. and N.Z. (Received 9.J5 a.m. In his latest message, Captain Smith said; "Experiencing extreme cold, but it is ‘liveable’ in the plane.” He said nothing in regard to the petrol supply.—A. and N.Z. Received 9.25 a.m. The Spirit of California reported at 2.40 a.m. that the gas was getting low, but he thought they could hold out. until daylight.—A. and N.Z. Received 10 a.m. Captain Smith wirelessed: “Petrol nearly exhausted. We can remain in the air only a short time longer, falling far short of the record.”—A. and N.Z. Received_lo.3o a.m. At 9.15 the plane circled over the Mills Field at an elevation of 2,500 feet, with her three mtgtors throttled down to the limit. Captain Smith then sent a radio that the reserve tank held enough petrol to last another, half an hour.—A. and N.Z. (Reed. 11 a.m). CHILLED AND EXHAUSTED Realising the inevitability of failure during the last few hours, due to the shortage of petrol, Captain Smith and Lieutenant Pond struggled desperatively to conserve the fuel and remained in the air above the Mills Field until the emergency tanks were drained. They landed chilled and exhausted. Both had to be lifted from the plane. Smith said: “We will be ready to try again after several days’ rest. If the temperature gives us an even break, we’ll come down with the record.”

By Cable.— Press Association.—Copyright.

The fliers upon landing, deaf-

ened by the drone of the motors, were unable to hear the shouts of the onlookers.

They said: “We knew, at two o’clock this morning that we would be unable to break the record. The petrol consumption had been far greater than we estimated. We suffered much from cold and loss of sleep, but we decided to remain in the air as long as possible.” They blamed the failure wholly upon the cold, which forced them to speed the motors to obtain warmth, thus increasing the petrol consumption.—A. and N.Z. Captain Kingsford-Smith and Lieutenant Pond made an unsuccesful attempt last month to break the endurance flight record. They were forced to descend after being in the air for 49£ hours owing to their petrol supply being exhausted. They said that fog also was partly responsible for their failure. Both pilots were on the verge of collapse when their machine reached the ground. In August last year two German aviators, Herr Risticz and Herr Decard, f\ying in a Junker plane, made a circuit of Dessaue and broke the world’s endurance record by remaining in the air 52 hours 23 minutes. In that period they flew 3410 miles.