AERONAUTICS: Carnival

Carnival

If the U. S. had an air capital it was in Chicago last week for the ten-day period of the National Air Races. Airmen & aircraft from all parts of the land were congregated in the city proper and at Curtiss-Reynolds Airport, Glenview, 16 mi. northwest of the Loop.

Two features of General Manager Cliff Henderson’s program went far to heighten public interest: the engagement of European crack airmen for an acrobatic “Olym-piad”; the revival of free-for-all speed racing in the Thompson Trophy Race. The latter event promised to resolve into a battle between Travelair Mystery S’s, flown by Capt. Frank Monroe Hawks and Lieut. Jimmy H. Doolittle, and the Marine Corps entry, a special Curtiss Hawk with Conqueror motor, piloted by Capt. Arthur H. Page, winner of the Curtiss Marine Trophy Race.

Of the international stunters, France’s Marcel Doret was conceded the most thrilling performance of the opening days, with his loops that nearly cut the grass. Even more spectacular than the solo events were the tricks of the Navy’s High Hat and Red Ripper squadrons from the Lexington; the Army’s crack First Pursuit Squadron from Self ridge Field; and the Quantico Marines. Most novel stunt: three Navy Boeings, wing to wing, flopping over as one plane in a “formation barrel-roll.”

Most colorful civilian race was that won by Charles Sherman (“Casey”) Jones, president of Curtiss-Wright flying service. Veteran of a hundred races in his barn-storming days, this was his first active participation in a national event in four years. President Jones flew a Cessna, showed by his gains at each pylon that his cunning is far from lost.

Four men’s air derbies and one for women finished at the airport, were won as follows: from Miami, Art Killips; from Hartford, Conn., J. Wesley Smith; from Brownsville, Tex., Jack Livingston; from Seattle, Wash., John Blum; from Long Beach, Calif., Gladys O’Donnell.

Surprise

Capt. Wolfgang von Gronau, chief of the school for commercial pilots at Warne-munde on the Baltic, kissed his hausfrau last week, remarked casually, “It is time for the annual practice flight to Iceland; I will be gone tomorrow with three of my students.” Next day Frau von Gronau received a note: “I am leaving on a longer trip. Love to you and the children.” By that time the captain, with Students Eduard Zimmer, Fritz Albrecht, Franz Hack had taken off from the school’s seaplane port at List, on the North Sea Island of Sylt. Their plane, a two-motored Dornier-Wal flying boat, was the same used by Roald Amundsen in his attempted Polar flight of 1925, and by Capt. Frank Courtney in an unsuccessful Atlantic flight of 1928.

Capt. von Gronau and his students reached Reykjavik, Iceland via the Faroe Islands in routine order, ostentatiously prepared to “fly back to Germany.” But the captain refused to accept letters addressed to his homeland. An hour after their departure, Capt. von Gronau radioed to an astounded family, school and Transportation Ministry that he was headed west. Soon the plane reached Ivigtut, Greenland, pushed on to Cartwright Bay, Labrador, was forced down by rain at Queensport Harbor, N. S.; there waited for clear weather to fly to New York. Back at List, envious left-behind students crowded the inns, “Hoched”‘ their lucky colleagues and their respected chief time and time again in “Sylter waves,” a local concoction of rum, claret & pepper.

Exit NYRBA

Ever, before NYRBA’s first Consolidated flying boat took off from Buenos Aires for Miami last February there was talk of eventual merger between that line (New York, Rio & Buenos Aires) and Pan American Airways, then operating down the west coast of South America (TIME, July 22, 1929, et seq ). In recent weeks, with NYRBA encountering financial difficulties in its Argentine mail business, and with Pan-American invading the east coast between Paramaribo and Rio de Janeiro, the talk became louder.

Last week talk became fact in the announcement that on Sept. 15 Pan-American will acquire NYRBA’s planes, ports, equipment and technical data. P. A. A. thus ropes the southern continent with an unbroken peripheral line as far south as Santiago (Pacific) and Buenos Aires (Atlantic) which are joined by a line over the Andes. Simultaneous with the announcement came word from Buenos Aires that NYRBA had petitioned for cancellation of Argentine government contracts for service from Buenos Aires to New York, to Santiago and to Montevideo. Reason for the petition: losses of 4,000,000 pesos (circa $1,700,000).

In view of NYRBA’s unhappy position in South America, Pan-American officials chose to speak of the current deal as a “purchase of assets,” not a “merger.” The fact is, Aviation Corporation of the Amercas,* holding company for P. A. A., offers one share of its stock for 5 ¼ shares of NYRBA. Aviation Corp. of the Americas will straightway scrap the acquired company, turn the physical assets (including 32 airplanes, numerous terminals, floats, radio stations) to P. A. A.

Important among NYRBA’s assets is its board chairman, able William Patterson MacCracken Jr., onetime Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, who conducted the negotiations with P. A. A.’s able, youthful (31) President Juan Terry Trippe. He will probably join the P. A. A. administration.

Opportune is the move for P. A. A. in regard to mail contracts. Heretofore U. S. contracts for South American mail have been granted only to the west coast lines and as far south as Paramaribo on the east (all P. A. A. routes). On Sept. 11, the Postmaster General will receive bids for the first long east coast contract, from Paramaribo south to Rio de Janeiro (Santos). P. A. A. will be the only qualified bidder.

What Happened to Andrée

A party of Norwegian scientists from the sealer Brattvaag put ashore on desolate White Island northeast of Spitsbergen three weeks ago. About 150 yards from shore they rounded a big rock, stopped, stared with amazement at a litter of cooking utensils laid bare of ice by the August sun. The same question sprang to the mind of each, the same name to all their lips: “Andrée?”

Eagerly they searched the vicinity, found imbedded in the ice three bodies, well preserved. From the clothing of one the discoverers took a pedometer, excitedly read the engraved name of Salomon August Andree. A 33-year mystery— was solved. They knew for certain now that the other two were the bodies of Knut Fraenkel and Nils Strindberg who, with Swedish Scientist Andrée, vanished in 1897 in an attempt to fly across the North Pole in a balloon.

Nearby were found three rifles, a harpoon, a boat, two sledges—all part of the emergency equipment of the balloon, of which there was no trace. The corpses’ moccasins were severely worn, suggesting a long march over the floes from where the balloon came down. Most precious of all was Andree’s diary. Its pages were so fragile that the finders feared to examine it. But one entry was visible— July 18, 1897, just one week after the fated takeoff.

Dr. S. Horn, head of the expedition, took the bodies and paraphernalia aboard the Brattvaag (which is not due in Tromso, Norway until Sept. 10), gave the news to the master of a homeward-bound sealer, who reported the momentous find at Tromso last week.

Andree’s venture, first of its kind, was founded on what he sincerely believed to be scientific data. It had the financial support of the King of Sweden and Norway and of Alfred Nobel. His balloon, an elaborate affair, measured 97 ft. from the top of the bag (wt. 1½ tons) to the bottom of the two-decked basket. It was rigged with drag ropes and sails, by which Andree was confident the prevailing south winds would blow it over the Pole, 700 mi. away.

On July 11, 1897 the Oernen (Eagle) with its three occupants cast off from Danes Island, Spitsbergen, sailed north, was lost forever. Of a number of carrier pigeons taken along, one made its way home with a cheery message despatched 12 hr. after the takeoff. A number of message-buoys were also recovered, one as late as September 1912, but only two contained notes, both written prior to the one borne by the pigeon. Since November 1897, numerous expeditions have gone in search of the Andree party. It was rightly assumed that the winds had borne them far east, but no trace was found until Horn’s fortuitous discovery.

* Not to be confused with The Aviation Corp. Cof Delaware).