Darius & Girenas @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Darius & Girenas Darius & Girenas
    Darius & Girenas
  • Darius & Girenas Darius & Girenas
    Darius & Girenas
  • Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker (Replica of the Lituanica) Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker (Replica of the Lituanica)
    Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker (Replica of the Lituanica)
  • Darius (in cocpit) and<br>Girenas before the<br>Lituanica transatlantic<br>flight, in July 1933 Darius (in cocpit) and<br>Girenas before the<br>Lituanica transatlantic<br>flight, in July 1933
    Darius (in cocpit) and
    Girenas before the
    Lituanica transatlantic
    flight, in July 1933
  • The Transatlantic Committee of Greater<br>New-York sponsoring the flight The Transatlantic Committee of Greater<br>New-York sponsoring the flight
    The Transatlantic Committee of Greater
    New-York sponsoring the flight
  • 2013 2013
    2013
  • Kaunas, Model of the Lituanica Kaunas, Model of the Lituanica
    Kaunas, Model of the Lituanica
  • 1993 1993
    1993
  • Stasys Girenas<br>4 October 1893 - 17 July 1933 Stasys Girenas<br>4 October 1893 - 17 July 1933
    Stasys Girenas
    4 October 1893 - 17 July 1933
  • Steponas Darius<br>8 January 1896 - 17 July 1933 Steponas Darius<br>8 January 1896 - 17 July 1933
    Steponas Darius
    8 January 1896 - 17 July 1933
  • Funeral in Kaunas Funeral in Kaunas
    Funeral in Kaunas
  • The Lituanica above New-York The Lituanica above New-York
    The Lituanica above New-York
  • The Lithuanian Monument<br>in Marquette Park, Chicago The Lithuanian Monument<br>in Marquette Park, Chicago
    The Lithuanian Monument
    in Marquette Park, Chicago
  • The Puntukas Monument The Puntukas Monument
    The Puntukas Monument

Darius and Girėnas

Steponas Darius

Steponas Darius (known as Stephen Darius in the US; born Steponas Jucevičius-Darašius; January 8, 1896 – July 17, 1933) was a Lithuanian American pilot, who died in a non-stop flight attempt in the Lituanica from New York City to Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1933.

Biography

Born in Rubiškės, in the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire, Darius immigrated to the US with his family in 1907. In 1917 he joined the United States Army, after the United States entered World War I, and changed his name to Darius. He served as a telephone operator in the 149th Field Artillery Regiment, fought in France, was wounded and received the Purple Heart medal. In 1920, he returned to Lithuania and joined the Lithuanian Army, graduating from War School of Kaunas in 1921. He participated in the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923. While living in Lithuania he completed pilot training. In 1927 he returned to the United States and started working in civil aviation. He initially formed South Bend Airways in partnership with Carl G. Jordan of South Bend, Indiana. Their fleet consisted of a Pheasant H-10 and an Eaglerock Long Wing, both powered by OX-5 engines of World War I vintage. He lived for a while in the Jordan household prior to moving to Chicago.

While living in Lithuania he actively promoted various sports. He initiated building of first stadium in Kaunas; it was later was named after him – the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium. He played basketball, baseball, ice hockey, and practiced boxing and athletics, while also being an international footballer, having played for Lithuania national football team in its first competitive game against Estonia on June 23, 1923. Since he was the first to publish booklets about basketball and baseball, he is considered to have brought those sports to Lithuania. He was also the first chairman of Lithuanian Physical Education Union, and a founder of Sporto Zurnalas (Sports Magazine).

Death

On July 15, 1933, along with Stasys Girėnas, he attempted a nonstop flight from New York City, United States to Kaunas, Lithuania – a total of 7,186 kilometres (4,465 mi), in a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane named Lituanica. After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 37 hours and 11 minutes, they crashed on July 17, at 0:36 am (Berlin Time), by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, near the Myślibórz area, Poland), most probably because of difficult weather conditions combined with engine problems. Both aviators were killed in the crash. They had covered a distance of 6,411 km (3,984 mi) without landing, and were only 650 km (400 mi) short of their destination.

Awards and honors

  • A monument to Darius and Girėnas is located in the northeast corner of Marquette Park in Chicago.
  • Asteroid 288960 Steponasdarius, discovered by Kazimieras Černis and Justas Zdanavičius in 2004, was named in his memory. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on June 9, 2017 (M.P.C. 105279).
  • The World War II Liberty Ship SS Stepas Darius was named in his honor.

Stasys Girėnas

Stasys Girėnas (known as Stanley T. Girenas in the US; born Stasys Girskis; October 4, 1893 in Vytogala, Kovno Governorate – July 17, 1933 near Soldin, Germany) was a Lithuanian-American pilot, who died in a non-stop flight attempt with the Lituanica from New York City to Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1933.

Biography

Girenas was born in Vytogala, in the Šilalė district of Lithuania, then part of the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire. In 1910, when he was 17 years old, he emigrated to the United States, and settled in Chicago. As a young man he worked in a printing house. In 1917, upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I, he enlisted in the United States Army, where he was trained as a mechanic. In 1919, after being honorably discharged, he worked as a cab driver, and at the same time learned to fly. He acquired a plane in 1925. Despite being injured in an air crash, he continued flying and working in civil aviation. In 1931 he won the first prize at the Chicago Air Festival for the best landing of a plane with its engine turned off.

Death

On July 15, 1933, along with Steponas Darius, he attempted a nonstop flight from New York City, to Kaunas, Lithuania - a total of 7,186 km (4,465 mi), in a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane named Lituanica. After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 37 hours and 11 minutes, their plane crashed on July 17, 0:36 AM (Berlin Time) by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, Myślibórz County, Poland). Difficult weather conditions combined with engine defects were the findings of the official investigation. Both aviators were killed in the crash. They had covered a distance of 6,412 kilometres (3,984 mi) without landing, only 650 km (400 mi) short of their final destination.

Awards and honors

  • In New York City, in 1957, the fliers were memorialized with a granite flagstaff showing the pair in bas-relief. The monument is located in Lithuania Square, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
  • Asteroid 288961 Stasysgirėnas, discovered by astronomers Kazimieras Černis and Justas Zdanavičius in 2004, was named in his memory. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on June 9, 2017 (M.P.C. 105279).

The Lituanica

The aircraft

On June 18, 1932, the pilots purchased the Pacemaker airplane, serial no. 137, registered as NC-688E, from the Pal-Waukee Company for $3,200. First produced and flown in 1929, forty units of the CH-300 Pacemaker were eventually built. It was a single-engine, six-seat, high-wing monoplane. The fuselage was welded chromoly steel tubing covered with fabric. The cabin interior was covered with a sound-absorbing material. The fuselage had side and top windows, with doors on both sides. The wings were of wooden construction, with two spars, also fabric-covered. The spars and ribs were made of spruce strips and plywood. The wings had two gasoline tanks with a total capacity of 88 US gallons (333 L). Wing struts were 2/3 wood, 1/3 steel (at the wings) with aero-dynamic steel ribs, fabric-covered, giving an additional 47 ft² (4.4 m²) lifting surface. Tail surfaces were made of welded steel tubing. The horizontal stabilizer was of spruce strips and plywood, with the trim-angle adjustable in flight. The landing gear was a curved steel bar with rubber rope suspension. Wheels 30 × 5 inches (762 by 127 mm). The engine was a Wright J6, radial, air cooled, 9 cylinders, 300 hp (225 kW). Funds for the plane was raised from numerous Lithuanian clubs and organizations, including air shows.

On January 20, 1933, the aircraft was moved to E. M. Laird workshops at 5321 W. 65th St. in the Clearing Industrial District, Chicago, where she was rebuilt and made suitable for the transatlantic flight. New elongated wings were built, with two additional gasoline tanks installed in the fuselage, having 220 and 185 US gallon capacity, each equipped with emergency dump valves. Beneath the pilot's seat a 25 US gallon oil tank was outfitted with 12 cooling tubes. A longer horizontal stabilizer was built. Aero-dynamic wheel pants were installed, and the fuselage received a new fabric covering. A new, higher compression engine, 365 hp (272 kW) Wright Whirlwind J6-9E, ser. No. 12733, had a "speed ring". On March 29, 1933, the rebuild was complete, and the registration number was changed to NR-688E, and the aircraft was painted orange. On both sides of the fuselage scrolls with the names of the sponsors were painted. The aircraft was dubbed Lituanica, Latin for Lithuania.

Flight

An ordinary unmodified plane of this size cannot cover a comparable distance (the Cessna 152, for instance, has a range of 1200 km), even today. The flight was also important from a scientific and technological perspective, as it explored air flows and the capabilities of this type of aircraft. In their last letter, the pilots wrote that either a successful flight or a possible catastrophe would be valuable and significant enough and hence it was worthwhile to fly in either case.

After taking off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York on July 15, 1933, 6:24 am EDT, Darius and Girėnas successfully crossed the Atlantic, only to perish on July 17, 0:36 am (CET) by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, near Myślibórz, Poland ( 52°51'11.57"N 14°50'17.78"E)). The planned route was: New York – Newfoundland – Atlantic Ocean – Ireland – London – Amsterdam – Swinemünde – Königsberg – Kaunas airport (a total of 7,186 km). Due to weather conditions over Ireland, they veered to the north and reached Germany via Scotland and the North Sea. In 37 hours and 11 minutes, until the moment of the crash, they had flown 6,411 km (over 7,000 km in actual flight path), only 636 km short of their goal—Kaunas.

Possible reasons for the crash

A Lithuanian board of investigation was appointed to determine the cause. It concluded that the pilots were properly qualified, and the aircraft was properly outfitted. They added that the most difficult part of the flight was executed with great precision. The commission concluded that during the crash the aircraft engine was running (the propeller was rotating), and there was enough fuel on board.

Some sources mention pilot error, but both pilots were highly experienced. During his career as pilot, Darius had never been involved in any previous accidents. In 1931, Girėnas had won first prize in a flight festival in Chicago for gliding his plane and landing with a dead engine.

According to the board, the catastrophe occurred due to difficult weather conditions combined with engine defects. The crash most probably was a result of failed emergency landing. There were rumors and suspicions in some quarters, that the plane was shot down, having been mistaken for a spy plane, because it flew near a concentration camp. Autopsies of pilots revealed no signs of bullets. However, not all parts of the plane were returned to the Lithuanian government.

After the crash

On July 19, a German Deruluft airplane carried the bodies of the pilots back to Lithuania. The people of Kaunas met the heroes in great sorrow. The funeral was a solemn occasion and was the cause of official national mourning.

A few months after the Lituanica tragedy, some prominent members of the Chicago Lithuanian community discussed the possibility of financing another transatlantic flight. This idea was greeted with much enthusiasm, and enough funds were raised during the Great Depression. A faster and more modern Lockheed Vega was purchased from the Lockheed Aircraft Corp., the same model used by Wiley Post in his round-the-world flight, and by Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

The aircraft was christened Lituanica II on Sunday, April 22, 1934. When the pilot originally chosen for the flight unexpectedly resigned in the spring, the Lithuanian organizers turned to Felix Waitkus, and he accepted the challenge. Although he landed in Ireland and not in Kaunas, he entered aviation history for being the sixth pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic.

In 1934 the bodies of Darius and Girėnas were embalmed by professor Jurgis Zilinskas. In 1936 the Lithuanian government decided to build a mausoleum for Darius and Girėnas in Kaunas' old cemetery, that was destroyed after Soviet re-occupation. From then until the present day, the wreckage of Lituanica has been on display in the Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas.

The pilots' bodies rest in the Military Cemetery of Šančiai, Kaunas.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Lituanica of Wikipedia ( authors )

Darius and Girenas

Steponas Darius

  • Nationality : Lithuanian, American.
  • Born : January 9, 1896 in Rubiskès, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire
  • Died : July 17, 1933 (aged 37) in Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, Poland)
  • Formation : War school of Kaunas.
  • Activities : Soccer player, pilot.
  • Army : United States Army.
  • Flight license : 1927
  • Military rank : Captain.
  • Conflicts :
    • First World War.
    • Lithuanian wars of independence.
    • Revolt of Klaipėda (1923).
  • Sports specialty: Goalkeeper.
  • Teams :
    • LFLS Kaunas.
    • Lithuania Football Team (1923-1924) - 2 games played and 9 points scored.
  • Distinctions :
    • Purple Heart.
    • Medal for the liberation of Klaipèda.
    • Allied Victory Medal.

Stasys Girėnas

  • Nationality : Lithuanian
  • Born : October 4, 1893 in Vytogala, near Silale, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire
  • Died : July 17, 1933 (aged 39) in Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, Poland).
  • Known for : Second by the distance of non-stop flights and fourth by the time spent in air at the time, also being first official airmail shipment from United States to Europe.
  • Awards : The main prize in Chicago air festival for the best landing of the plane with its engine turned off (1931).
  • Full name : Stasys Girskis
  • Famous flights : Lithuanica flight
  • Flight license : 1925

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Lituanica of Wikipedia ( authors )
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