The take-off" was the most perilous part of the flight to date for the huge planes. Several of them were forced to make two runs down the two-mile channel before they were able to lift themselves from the water.
The others meanwhile circled overhead.
The plane piloted by It, T. Ju Hamilton, former Naval Academy football ' coach, suffered engine trouble at the start, and It. Hamilton flew a VP-12 squadron plane.
The first of the bombers took off at 830 am. under overcast skies. Other "flying fortresses" followed it into the air in regular alignment. The planes are the first group to be "routinely transferred" to Honolulu this year. There will be several more flights in the coming months, and at the end of the year Hawaii will be one of the world's strongest
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.