Flights & Flyers

Zilch. Lieut.-Commander Francis Monroe Hawks flew nonstop across the U. S. last week in 13 1/2 hr., four hours faster than the previous nonstop record which he also held. Commander Hawks held the controls for a little less than one-third of the time--the first two hours out of Los Angeles, the last two hours before landing in Brooklyn. The rest of the time, the ship was guided by "Mr. Zilch," Commander Hawks's name for a robot pilot built by George De Besson, California engineer. Said Pilot Hawks: ''The only trouble was I got sleepy."

Bullet. Two months ago at Lake Garda, Italy, stocky little Francesco Agello, 30, sole survivor of Italy's 1931 Schneider Cup team, whipped the seaplane Red Bullet over the course for a new world record of 423.7 m.p.h. A month later his chief, Colonel Mario Bernasconi, was timed unofficially at 434 m.p.h. Last week Warrant Officer Agello, leader of the speed school, tried the course again in his Red Bullet. Timing cameras, again unofficial, caught his speed at 440 m.p.h.

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