CRASH SOON FINISHES ROUND-WORLD FLIGHT

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1041, 4 August 1930, Page 9

CRASH SOON FINISHES ROUND-WORLD FLIGHT

MONOPLANE'WRECKED TYRE BURSTS AT TAKE-OFF United B.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright Reed. 10.40 a.m. NEW YORK, Sunday. Mr. John Henry Mears, famed as a globe-trotter, has had ill-luck almost at the outset of an endeavour to regain the, round-the-world record taken from him by the Graf Zeppelin. Mears left the Rooseveld Field yesterday for Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, in a .Lockheed-Vega monoplane with Captain H. J. Brown, formerly an air-mail pilot, at the controls, and reached Harbour Grace in the afternoon.

The fliers attempted to take off early this morning for Baldonnel, Ireland, but a tyre exploded as the plane sped down the runway, and the plane was completely destroyed. Neither Mears nor Brown was injured. *

The airmen had a Sealyham terrier with them. Mears made a record round-the-world journey (partly flight) in 1913 and a flight in 1928, and had hoped on this occasion to make the circuit in 20 days. The Graf Zeppelin’s record is 21 days 7 hours 32 minutes. The route mapped out by -Mears and his companion was via Dublin, Berlin, Moscow, Nova Sibrak, Chita, Khabarovsk, Chignik, across the Behring Sea and North Pacific to Seattle. Chicago and New York.

The monoplane, which is called the City of New York, was equipped with a 425 horse-power Was]) motor and had a flying range of 18 hours, or 2,500 miles, and a cruising speed of 150 miles an hour.

The Graf Zeppelin, which finished her round-the-world trip at the end of August, 1929, occupied in her record journey (including waiting time) 21 days 7 hours 32 minutes. The time occupied in globe-encircling journeys has been greatly diminished in the last 54 years. Between 1889 and 1911, improvements in steamship and land travel reduced the time by nearly one-half, namely, from 72 to 39 days, and that since then the use of flight, first partially, and in tills latest journey wholly, the time has again been reduced by nearly a half, namely, from 39 to 21 days. Days. Hr. Min IS7G—Captain W. D. Seymour . . 117 1889 — Miss Nellie Bly ..72 6 11 1890— G. Francis Train ..67 12 3 1901—Capt. Fitz Morris .. f.O 12 29 1903—Henry Frederick . . 51 ' 7 20 1907—C01. Burnley Campbell 40 19 30 1911—A. Jaeger-Schmidt . 39 19 42 1913—J. 11. Mears .... 35 21 35 (Used a hydro-air- / plane to cross Puget Sound) 192 C—E. C. Evans and D. O. Wells 28 14 36 1928 J. H Mears and Capt. Chas. Collyer 23 15 S (Took their own airplane and used it for eight flying days) 192 S—Mr. T. Ariki, of Japan 33 16 26 1929 Graf Zeppelin .... 21 7 32 All except the travellers in the Graf Zeppelin spent practically the whole of the time indicated in actual travelling. The Graf Zeppelin was only 11 days 23 hours 33 minutes in flight. Magellan’s journey round the worTd 400 years ago occupied three years.