Flights & Flyers

Endurance Attempts. Of a flock of aspirants towards new refueling endurance records, one at Houston, Texas, another at Shreveport, La., each managed to keep aloft more than 100 hours last week. A third, a Curtiss-Robertsoh at St. Louis, had been up more than 200 hours, flew on into this week hopeful of passing the 246-hour record.

Stultz Drunk? After Wilmer Stultz was killed, a medical examination, ordered by the District Attorney of Nassau County, Long Island, disclosed sufficient alcohol in his brain to indicate that he was drunk at the time of his crash (TIME, July 8, 15). Last week a Justice of the Peace, acting as Coroner, held an inquest. The autopsy evidence was not offered in evidence. Witnesses who were close to Stultz before his fatal flight said they did not consider him drunk then. So the Coroner's decision was that Stultz died of a broken neck while doing a "falling leaf."

Airvia's N. Y.-Boston Line. Airvia Transportation Co. last week began its long-planned seaplane service between New York and Boston with American Aeronautical Savoia-Marchetti seaplanes. Colonial Airways operates land planes between those cities. Airvia's first working planes are named the Roger Q. Williams and the Lewis A. Yancey, after the trans-Atlantic flyers (TIME, July 15), both members of the firm.

Super Super-Whale. An early morning sun glittered on Lake Constance, Switzerland. Hundreds of people along the shore at Altenrheim eyed a fabulous structure at the water's edge--a yacht-like thing beneath a single wing 157 ft. wide. Above the wings were six turrets supporting six pairs of tandem motors. Mechanics, climbing up through the turrets, inspected the motors. Below the mono-wing on each side was a float like the half wing of a sesquiplane. The great structure was the mighty enlargement of Dr. Claude Dornier's Super-Whale, which he had been secretly building for two and a half years. Its flying capacity was 100 passengers. It was going on its trial runs. Dr. Dornier, usually self-contained and impassive, stood nervously on the lake shore, watch in hand. He gave a signal. The crew of 16 took their posts, the twelve motors thundered. The enormous flying boat slid out with ponderous ease across the glassy water after taxiing about for practice, the helmsman circled back for another signal, opened the throttles wide. After a run of 30 seconds, the gigantic ship lifted clear of the lake and flew. Dr. Dornier bursting with excitement and relief, said: "It is going to be a wonderful flying machine." He is looking for a buyer.