Edward W. Baranauskas
The Second Transatlantic Flight Felix Waitkus: Forgotten Hero
Edward W. Baranauskas is a regular contributing writer to BRIDGES. He is also a fan of many Lithuanian-American heroes, including Darius and Girënas. The newspaper clippigs come from Mr. Baranauskas’s scrap book.
I am
sure most of us have heard of Darius and Girënas, the two Lithuanian-born
pilots, who attempted to fly non-stop from New York to Kaunas in July of
1933. The flight ended tragically, when their airplane, named Lituanica,
crashed in a forest in Germany, killing both only four hundred miles short
of their goal.
How many of us remember that there was another attempted non-stop flight from New York to Kaunas two years later? Who was the pilot, and did the flight come to a successful conclusion?
His name was Felix Waitkus, and he was known in Lithuanian circles as Feliksas Vaitkus. His parents came from Lithuania in 1904, and settled in the Bridgeport part of Chicago, where he was born three years later. He enlisted in the army in 1928, and after graduating from advanced pilot’s training school, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps. In 1931, he was placed in the reserves with the rank of first lieutenant and returned to civilian life to work with his father-in-law who operated a flying school in Kohler, Wisconsin.
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 this difficult period, which was called the “Great
Depression”. A much faster and more modern airplane (compared to the
Lituanica) was purchased from the Lockheed Aircraft Corp., called the
Lockheed Vega, 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 airplane 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 to fly to Lithuania.
The original flight date had to be changed to 1935 because modifications were needed to strengthen the aircraft's structure due to the installation of extra fuel tanks and a more powerful engine. New equipment was added, which Darius and Girënas did not have, such as a variable pitch propeller to improve engine performance and a radio compass. Lituanica II was flown extensively to insure its success.
Waitkus arrived at Floyd Bennett Field in New York in May of 1935. Up until then, no pilots were able to fly over the Atlantic due to poor weather conditions, and so he had to wait until the chief meteorologist gave him a favorable weather report. It was not until four months later, on the evening of September 20, he was informed that the weather along his route had improved where conditions were average with no major changes expected in the next 24 hours. Encouraged with this news, Waitkus decided to fly.
The next day, September 21, at 6:45 in the morning, Lituanica II was headed for Europe. Unfortunately, Waitkus had to fight the worst possible weather conditions, flying through rain, fog, and icing conditions, so that most of his navigation had to be by his new radio compass. More than once he noticed ice forming on the wings and had to descend to a lower altitude until it all thawed off. Waitkus was helped considerably by hourly broadcasts from an Irish radio station. He learned that Dublin was fogged in, as well as all areas heading east as far as the Baltic Sea. He knew that he could not make it to Kaunas due to his low fuel supply, and being exhausted after a 23-hour struggle fighting the elements, he felt it was best to come down somewhere in Ireland.
He spotted an open field and came down, with the airplane suffering extensive damage. He was lucky to be alive without suffering any injuries. Lituanica II was crated for shipment to Lithuania, where it would be restored. By ship and by train he made his way to Kaunas where he was given a hero’s welcome.
The only one to fly across the North Atlantic in 1935 was Felix Waitkus, and even though he came down in Ireland and not in Kaunas, he was entered in aviation’s history books for being the sixth pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic.
He was recalled to active duty in the Army Air Corps in 1940, serving as the chief test pilot at the Boeing Aircraft Co. in Seattle, testing hundreds of B-17 and B-29 bombers. He was recalled again to serve in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.
He died of a heart attack while stationed at Weisbaden, Germany on July 25, 1956 at the age of 49. His body was shipped home and interred in his wife’s family plot in the Kohler Cemetery at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. At the time of his passing he held the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Not many Lithuanian-Americans remember Felix Waitkus, who he was, and what he tried to do. This year will mark the 65th anniversary of his attempted non-stop flight to the land where his parents first saw the light of day, and I hope this story will bring him the honors that he so justly deserves.