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Pioneers, from Page 3seige. Ford's orders were to gee back to the U.S. the long way around, a 32,000 mule flight with unknown bases, no navigations aids, and no credit cards to use if he found fuel.Additional orders arrived. Ford was to go back to Noumea in New Caedonia, (an 8 hour flight) to pick up company personnel, fly them to Australia, then keep going as long as he could to the west. On December 15th the flight started in darkness and radio silence. The Clipper arrived at dawn. In one hour they loaded 22 men, women, children, and all the gasoline they could carry. The next stop, 6 1/2 hours later, was Gladstone, Australia. There, all passengers were unloaded and a search began for 100 octane gas, but none could be found. At 6:00a.m. the next morning the flying boat flew to Darwin 11 hours across land. Darwin was in a state of hysteria. All women were to be evacuated momentarily, and a terrific thunder storm was inprogress. Lightning flashed all around as the gas tanks were being filled, and work progressed until 2:00a.m. At 6:00a.m. Ford took off for Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies. Suddenly, as heneared Surabaya, fourfighter planes rose tointercept him. These were British pilots, and theradioman could hear them discussing shooting down the flying boat. Contact by radio was attempted again and again, with no success. Ford could only fly staight ahead, but finally was allowed to land. Then Ford attempted to buy 100 octane fuel...there was none, so he was forced to fill the tankswith automobile gas even thought the next leg of the journey would be the longest any of them had ever attempted, 21 hours acrossthe Indian Ocean to Ceylon.On December 21, Ford ordered the anchor hauled up. turned the Clipper into the wind, and with all four engines roaring he took off using his last aviation gas. When he switched to auto gas the engines began to pop and spit.All afternoon they flewwest crossing the Java Sea. During the night they flew over the Bay of Bengal, and worried about missing Ceylon altogether. They had no charts, only the longitude and latitude of theirdestination.preserve the tranquility of Mecca. As soon as he took off and climbed above the clouds, he headed straightAt one point while flying at a low altitude, they flew right over a Japanese submarine. Thesub crew scrambled for their deck gun while Ford added full power to the knocking engines. Soon they spotted Ceylon and landed in the harbor at Trincomalee.For one day followingthis 21 hour flight the crewrested. On Christmas eve, about two thousand pounds overloaded with aviation fuel, and engines still knocking, they took off for Karachi, and 34 minutes out of Ceylon the number 3 engine blew with oil pouring over the wing. Ford turned back to Ceylon and landed. After the flight engineersrepaired the engine theytried again on December 26th to get to Karachi and landed there at 4:00p.m. They rested at the Carelton Hotel, changed a piston in one engine, took on 3,100 gallons of fuel, and on December 28th flew along the northern coast of the Gulf of Oman, across the Persian Gulf to Bahrain in only 8 hours. Again Fordwas forced to top off thetanks with automobile gasoline.He had also been deniedpermission to overflyArabia, and was required to fly around the entirePenninsula in order toacross the Arabian desert navigating by the sun only. The cloud cover broke just as he overflew the GreatMosque at Mecca.Then the Clipper crossed the Red Sea, and across the Sudan. Late in the afternoon the Nile came into view. Ford followed the river to Khartoum and landed on the river. Later when roaring down the Nile on takeoff part of an exhaust stack blew off the Number 1 engine making loud nbises and creating a fire hazard. Knowing it could not be repaired in Khartoum they kept on going to Leopoldville and landed on the Congo River. There they loaded 5,100 gallons of aviation fuel weighing33.660 ibs.. and had to take off on a very hot day with no head wind to help them get airborne. The flying boat was so heavy that it would not lift form the water in the usual 30 seconds. It took 90 seconds, and the Clipper began climbing slowly justbefore the cataracts in the river were reached. After flying through the deepgorges the plane gained altitude and Ford headed due west across the Atlantic towards Brazil.All afternoon and night the engines droned on, and atSee Pioneers, Page 9We're happy to aninterior designerWith over 14 yeaiyouincolor coordinatcovering productsWe're readv andBroadloom carpeno
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Wimberley Wednesday View
Wimberley, Texas, US
Wed, Mar 02, 1994
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