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46 NAVAL AIRPLANES QUIT PEARL HARBOR FOR MIDWAY LAGOON

Wartime Secrecy Maintained During Two Hours Squadron Takes to Air

WEATHER AHEAD SAID BAD

If Conditions Too Unfavorable, Stop May Be Made at French Frigate Shoals

THREE CRAFT FORCED BACK

Benga
HONOLULU, May 9. -Forty-six planes from the naval air base at Pearl Harbor hopped off between 7:17 and 9:17 o'clock this morning. Hawaiian time, on a mass flight to the Midway Island in connection with the giant fleet maneuvers now in progress over a wide area of the Pacific north of Hawaii.

The take-off was completed, amid an atmosphere of wartime secrecy, all newspapermen being excluded from the neighborhood of the airport. They watched the planes take the air from a nearby hillside overlooking the harbor.

The first ship took off at 7:17 o'clock, and others followed at short intervals until the whole squadron was in the air two hours later. The first planes cruised around the vicinity until all were flying, the entire squadron then heading off toward Midway. 

BAD WEATHER REPORTED
Flying in the van were the six big planes which flew to Honolulu from California last year. The squadron was expected to reach midway in [[?]] hours, but the latest reports indicate extremely unfavorable weather conditions, with the possibility of increasing storminess.

At 7 o'clock this morning, heavy rain was reported in the neighborhood of Midway, with a 24-mile wind. Should conditions prove too unfavorable, it is expected that the squadron will make an intermediate stop at the French Frigate Shoals, lying along the route. 

The theoretical object of the flight, which is a part of the fleet war games, is to establish a temporary advance air base on Midway. the planes are expected not to return to Hawaii for about a month, possibly flying from Midway to the Aleutians.

Nippon Dempo-United Press
HONOLULU, May 9. - Forty-five navy planes are en route o the Midway Islands today to participate in the annual fleet maneuvers. 

Under cover of a smoke screen the planes began taking off early this morning and by 8:15 o'clock 24 were aloft. The departures [[?ed]] with precision.

Transcription Notes:
Reopened for Editing 2024-02-06 19:31:33 MS -fixed many typos -removed hanging "-"s left in transcriptions from line breaks in document. i.e Mid- Way to Midway -added last paragraph break -two [[?]]s left but cutoff from page and cannot be resolved. back to review. --------- The rest of this is ripped off