AERONAUTICS: Flights & Flyers: Jun. 2, 1930

Berlin to Rio. Excited Spanish soldiers bungled the refueling at Seville. Instead of the expected northeast trades off the African coast, came head and beam winds. Torrential downpours near the Equator bore down like tons of added ballast. But the Graf Zeppelin plowed steadily along her new trade route to Brazil, landed at Pernambuco after 62 hours. The time from Friedrichshafen to Rio de Janeiro was six and a half days. Besides being her sixth Atlantic crossing the flight was a two-point triumph for the Graf: 1) proving the dirigible equal to...

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