423.7 m.p.h.

Because she lost so many pilots and planes in trials, Italy did not enter the 1931 Schneider trophy race which England won at 407 m.p.h. Since then the three surviving members of her team kept pegging away at that record. Two--Captain Berrini and Lieut. Neri--died trying to beat it. Last week the last member. Warrant Officer Francesco Agello, whipped a Macchi 72 seaplane over the measured course at Lake Garda on the eastern border of Lombardy. Timing cameras recorded his average speed unofficially at 423.7 m.p.h.

Meanwhile last week the Federation Aeronautique Internationale had cleared its books of 100 fussy classifications of records. World records were reduced to seven, currently held as follows:

Altitude: Professor Auguste Piccard; 53,153 ft. in free balloon (Belgium).

Speed: Flight-Lieut. George Stain-forth; 407 m.p.h. in seaplane (Great Britain).

Duration (refueling): John & Kenneth Hunter; 553 hr. 41 min. in landplane (U. S.).

Duration (without refuel): H. Kaulen; 87 hr. in free balloon (Germany).

Distance (straight line) : Squadron Leader C. B. Gayford and Flight-Lieut. G. E. Nicholetts; 5.126 mi. in landplane (Great Britain).

Distance (broken-line with refueling"): Lieuts. Lowell Smith & J. P. Richter, 3,293 mi. in landplane (U. S.).

Distance (broken-line without refueling) : Lucien Bossoutrot & Maurice Rossi, 6,587 mi. in landplane (France).

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