A short story about a long shot entry
21 Sep 1935 ... Floyd Bennet Field in New York ... 0645 EST
Insipired by the failed attempt in 1933 of the ill fated "Lithuanica" and financed by the Chicago Lithuanian community ... Solo Pilot, Felix Waitkus was headed across the North Atlantic for Europe in the "Lithuanica II" ... attempting to fly non-stop to Lithuania from the United States.
The aircraft he was flying was a Lockheed Vega model 5 ... same model as the Vegas flown earlier by Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart ... along pretty much the same route.
After 23 hours of fighting poor weather (not as reported before departure) and running low on fuel ... Felix played it smart and found a place to land safely in Ireland.
He failed to make it all the way to Lithuania, but he did succeed in becoming the 6th person to fly solo across the North Atlantic.
What happened to the aircraft? ... well there's really not much evidence, but there is a story about what may have happened .....
Locals speak of a partisan to the majority of the pubs in the nearby area ... an occasionally rowdy bloke known by the name ... salt_air.
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Turns out after a four year stint as a mercenary pilot with the RAF in WW I with a unit ... that undertook mostly covert activity ... he's been hired from time to time as a pilot to fly or help ferry aircraft long distances for wealthy folks that had acquired surplus aircraft, but weren't able to fly them for whatever reason.
With the calendars moved forward now to the Spring of 1938 salt finds himself in Oslo, Norway ... living "large" after just collecting for services performed getting a restored Vickers Vimy in one piece to a private collector said to have ties to the Norwegian Royal Family.
Two days pass after the "Celebration" and a hand written note is passed under the door to salt_air's room at the Inn ...
From an "outside" representative and financier to one the political parties (unnamed) in South Africa is a proposal for the in tact delivery of one Lockheed Vega 5B from the airport at Hammerfest, Norway to the Cape Town Maitland Aerodrome, Union of South Africa.
If accepted he would use the masquerade of an upcoming Race to the bring the aircraft ... right post haste past all of the Nazi Collectors that were trying to make it their own ...to the very airport where delivery would be accepted.
Catch was once he departed he would have to complete the journey with a total flight time of less than 60 hours ...
If that criteria wasn't meet, then the flight would carry no bounty ... if it was meet, the bounty would be quite handsome and the pilot would also be privy to any prizes that may be awarded by the Race Committee.
The ink had smeared over the signature .... but it appears to have been signed by a Miss Nellie.
"This is the front desk ... how may I help you?"
"When does the next train out to Hammerfest leave?"
"One moment please .... 0500 tomorrow morning sir."
"Please secure a ticket for me and put the fare on my bill ... Ill be checking out in the morning."
"Very well sir .... have a good night ... hope you enjoyed your stay."
Official entry ... I'm signing on in the Lockheed Vega 5B ... Lithuanica II paint scheme .... Golden Age Race.
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Good Luck all!