|
Miss Amelia Earhart, ocean flier, will be invited to visit
Atchison her birthplace, as soon as possible after her
return from Europe, Joe Schmitz, president of the local
chapter of the National Aeronautical Association said today.
If Miss Earhart accepts the invitation, it is planned to
stage a community celebration in honor of the event with
other aviators also as the city's guests.
(By the Associated Press)
Burry Port, Wales, June 18.
Carrying the first woman ever to cross the Atlantic by air,
the American monoplane Friendship gracefully swept down on
Burry estuary on the south coast of Wales, shortly after
noon today, completing a brilliant 2,000 mile hop across the
northern Atlantic in less than 24 hours.
It was more than just a hop across the Atlantic for Miss
Amelia Earhart, Boston social worker, who was one of the
crew of the plane -- she took her turn at the stick just as
did Wilmer Stutz, the chief pilot in the long journey
through mist and rain that marked most of the
trip.
|
Out of gas and seeking for a haven, Stutz brought the great
plan down gently between Burry Port and Llanelly and brought
her to a stop with the nose of her pontoons, just touching
the shore.
While all England and Ireland waited on tiptoe this morning to
welcome the American trans-Atlantic plane Friendship, from
her Atlantic flight, Miss Earhart and her two companions
settled down unexpectedly in Burry estuary,
Wales.
The Friendship, without warning, slipped in over Bristol
channel, which is at the mouth of the River Severn, and came
down in Burry estuary several miles off Burry
Port.
It was 12:40 p.m. just 10 hours and 49 minutes after the
Friendship took off from Trepassey, Newfoundland, where she
has been held about ten days by unfavorable weather
conditions and difficulty in making a takeoff with her great
lead of gasoline.
The tri-motored plane, the first equipped with pontoons to
make the direct crossing, came to rest as the tide was fully
out and the pontoons soon drove their noses into the sand
close to shore.
|
A launch was sent out immediately to the plane to determine
the wishes of the fliers and render any assistance
possible.
Not in years has this tiny port experienced such a thrill as
when the big plane swooped into the estuary carrying the
first woman ever to cross the Atlantic by air.
It was doubtful if many people in the little port even knew
that the plane was enroute from Newfoundland. However, it
did not take long for news of that seaport was all set to
give the American girl and the plane a great welcome. The
first definite report that the Friendship was on this side
of the Atlantic came from the Steamship America, over which
the plane circles twice some 70 miles southeast of Cobb. The
plane dropped several knote, but these did not land on the
steamer.
With word of the plane's sighting so near Ireland, it was then
assured that the great venture would turn out successfully,
but the big questions remained as to just where she would
settle down and touch the goal for victory.
|