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990 Aviation September 15, 1924 American World Flight The American world fliers, after their long flight from Greenland to Labrador, spent one day at Indian Harbor tuning up their machines. On Sept. 2 they hopped off at 10:25 a. m. The start was made in good flying weather, but over Belle Isle Straits and along the Coast of Newfoundland they rain into rain and haze, with a thirty mile head wind so that it took them 5 hr. 33 min. to cover the 276 mi. to Hawkes Bay, Newfoundland. On Sept. 3 the fliers left Hawkes Bay in spite of bad weather and a head wind. They covered the 455 mi. to Pictou, Nova Scotia in 6 hr. 34 min. On landing it was found that the rear spreader bar on Lieutenant Smith's plane was [[image with caption]] Wade's hard luck--The Boston alongside the U.S.S. Richmond, just before the latter's loading boom broke and smashed the plan's wings and floats [[/image and caption]] cracked and a new one was rushed there on the destroyer Coghlan. The next day proved to be too stormy for work on the planes. Lieutenants Wade and Ogden whose plane was wrecked while being towed off the Orkney Islands, had been at Pictou for over a week and had everything in fine shape for the reception of the fliers. Their new plane, the Boston II, which had been flown to Pictou by Lieutenants McDonald and Bertrandias had to have a propeller replaced. The whole countryside turned out to greet fliers and they were given a great reception. On Sept. 5 the world fliers prepared to set out for Boston. Wade's new ship gave some trouble and he had difficulty getting it off. Nelson slipped off of his pontoon just before the flight started and got wet to the waist, but carries on with the flight without changing his clothing. The fliers got off at 11:15 a. m. and headed across Northumberland Straits and then made the land hop over the Isthmus of Chignecto and so into the Bay of Fundy. Here they began to encounter fog and rain and when they reached Casco Bay, Maine, the weather grew so thick that they decided to land. They had covered about 400 mi. in 6 hr. 35 min. Maj. General Patrick, heading a squadron of thirteen planes, had flown out from Boston to greet the fliers, but was forced to turn back without finding them. The thousands waiting at the Boston Airport were also disappointed. The next day General Patrick with his squadron flew up to escort the three round the world fliers to their official landing in the United States. The globe trotters were short of gas, however, and had had to send for it from Bath, Me., and they did not get off from Casco Bay until 12:07 p. m. They covered the 120 odd miles to Boston in 2 hr. 8 min. Here they met with a big official reception from various officials of the State of Massachusetts and the City of Boston. The fliers were out on the field before sun rise the next morning and the ships were towed in from their moorings. A great crane lifted them out of the water, the pontoons were removed, wheels substituted and the planes were let down again as land machines. The process took a little over an hour for Lieutenant Smith's plane, but Lieutenant Nelson's plane, which was the last to be swung out of the water, took only 25 min. The rest of the day the pilots spent tuning up their ships which had been wheeled over to the hangars. A crowd estimated at ten thousand gathered to watch them work. On Monday, Sept. 8, the three fliers took off from Boston at 12:02 p. m. The direct line to Mitchel Field, L. I., is only 175 mi., but the world navigators circled over the Commons before leaving Boston, and when they neared New York they veered off from their course to make a big circle over the Bronx, New York and Brooklyn so that it took them 3 hr. 43 min. to reach Mitchel Field. The globe trotters were accompanied from Boston by a squadron of DH's headed by General Patrick. A great crowd which awaited them at Mitchel Field burst into rousing cheers as the fliers and their escort circled overhead. The world cruisers were lined up in front of the grandstand, but it was some time before the fliers could work their way through the crowd. When they finally did so they were ranged in line on the speakers platform while Senator Wadsworth and Congressman La Guardia delivered welcoming addresses. The Prince of Wales also greeted the fliers, but for once he was not the major attraction. In connection with the American World Flight the two photographs which are reproduced on this page have considerable historic interest. They show beyond any doubt that the vague rumors to the effect that Lieutenant Wade "cracked up" on landing off the Faroe Islands are totally unfounded. One of the pictures shows the plane Boston in tow of a destroyer after the forced landing, while in the other illustration the plane is safely in the lee of the cruiser Richmond. In both pictures the plane is seen to be floating intact. It was only after the cruiser attempted to hoist the Boston on board, and the loading boom broke, that the plane was damaged beyond repair, both wings and floats being smashed by the boom. The Wings that Stood Up "We are flying with the same wings, the same bodies, the same everything except motors and pontoons we had when we left Clover Field," Liet. John Harding, mechanic for Lieut. [[image with caption]] The world cruiser Boston, Lieut. Wade's ship, being towed by a destroyer after the forced landing in the Atlantic off the Faroe Islands [[/image with caption]] Erik Nelson of the world cruiser New Orleans remarked as they had landed at Pictou, N. S. Considering that the wings were fabric covered, their resistance to temperature changes varying from Arctic cold to Indian heat will surprise many people. It is therefore interesting to learn that the U. S. world cruisers had all their fabric surfaces first treated with clear acetate dope, and then finished with pigmented dopes in khaki, red, white and blue to Air Service specifications. This was finally one coat of Valspar varnish. All of the pigmented dopes and the majority of the acetate dope was furnished by Titanine, Inc. of Union, N. J.
