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VOL. 46,
TWO
And so, on the same day the America had been walked
out of its hangar, Wellman started her engines and she lifted
off. With the 49-year-old Wellmanwere Melvin Vaniman, a
young American mechanic and balloonist, and as the expedition navigator, Felix Reisenberg, of Columbia University.
For the first few kilometres everything went fine. Suddenly
a squall blew up, buffeting and driving the America back
toward Spitsbergen. Wellman knew thatto avoid a crash he
must bring the ship down. The hydrogen was released and
the airship collapsed in a heap on the ice. Once more Wellman
loaded the America on a ship for transport back to France
for repairs.
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. .
Stewart B. Nelson
1397 Kersey Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20854
U.S.A .