Viewing page 22 of 26

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

was so well pleased that he began making plans to fly it from Los Angeles to San Francisco over water via the shore route. Kearney started on this flight December 14th, 1912, carrying Chester Lawrence as a passenger. After flying about 45 miles they ran into fog and a bad storm and became lost. This total disappearance led to a concentrated search, and their bodies and some parts of the plane were found several days later. Both Day and Glenn Martin helped with this search and identification.
Day's shop kept busy and in January, 1913, he sold a plane to a Japanese graduate student from the San Diego Curtiss School. He also made several pontoons for Hydro  equipment at that time and his shop overhauled one of the Sloane Company's school planes. In February, Day sold a plane to another Japanese graduate aviator and in March, overhauled a plane for Frank Bryant and another for the Sloane Company. In late April, Day completed a new special 50 [[strikeout]] H.P. [[/strikeout]] Gnome-engined "Day Tractor" for a customer in Portland, Oregon.
In May 1913, Day announced the merger of his business with the Glenn Martin Company and he returned to Martin as General Superintendent. There, Day helped to start a special new plane for the Great Lakes Reliability Cruise scheduled to start from Chicago on July 8th. This was a competitive event for water flying craft from Chicago to Detroit, via the shoreline of the Great Lakes, through the Straits of Mackinaw. Called the "Martin Aeroyacht," it was a 38-foot-span tractor biplane with an 80 [[strikeout]] H.P. [[/strikeout]] Curtiss OX engine, and designed for either land or float undercarriage. It was flown in California for four days then shipped to Chicago, [[strikeout]] where it [[/strikeout]] arriving on July 5th. Day was with Martin on this expedition and was to accompany him, as his mechanic on the cruise.
Five contestants were entered in the event. In the rush to get ready Martin and Day had a mishap with the plane which delayed their starting on schedule. A severe storm in the area on July 8th nearly put an end to the event but they got away the following morning and flew to Lake Harbor near Muskegon, Michigan, that day. Storms held them there until the 14th when they flew on to Pentwater, Michigan. There they were held up again by bad weather and decided to quit the race because 
4