Transport: Level-Headed Kid

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Last week a fancy new name popped up for a transatlantic stunt hop. A California pilot named Thomas H. Smith called his a "research flight." He took off from Old Orchard Beach, Me. in a light Aeronca powered with a four-cylinder, 65-h.p. engine, started for Ireland with 160 gallons of fuel—enough, he hoped, for 32 to 40 hours. Smith had no permit from the Civil Aeronautics Authority, said he wanted to test the possibilities of light planes for long-distance flights. Said one of Smith's friends: "He is a level-headed kid and I think he'll make it." Forty hours later Irish airmen gave him up, turned out their field flood lights.