Burry Port
Note: This map gives only the location of the village within the UK.
BURRY PORT: Temporary seaplane alighting area?
Location: The town of Burry Port is on the A484 5nm west of Llanelli.
NOTES: One of the BIG problems in doing aviation research is that very often the few and sometimes only accounts of a significant flight can be found written up by people with virtually no knowledge of aviation matters and seeking to exploit an opportunity, such as an anniversary. This is an excellent example because the first account I found of this flight landing here reported that the Fokker type involved was a “Triplane”! There is, unfortunately, heaps of utter rubbish published regarding our aviatiion history.
It was of course a Fokker F.VIIb/3m tri-motor on floats and named Friendship and it landed here on the 18th June 1928 piloted by Wilmer L. Stultz with co-pilot and mechanic Louis E Gordon. (some say the mechanic was Lou Graham), after flying non-stop from Trepassey in Newfoundland in 20hrs 40 mins.
But, they had a very notable passenger on board – one Amelia Earhart. It is claimed she was the first woman passenger to cross the north Atlantic by air.
SO MUCH RUBBISH
Some say she was the pilot and indeed if you Google up Burry Port the results seem to insist this was the case! Yet another can of worms to be sorted perhaps? Except that when you look at other sites and read books dedicated to her memory and achievements, by much better informed peope, they all say she was invited along only as a passenger; although she did offer to help which she was quite capable of doing. This said, she is on record as saying she amounted to, "A sack of potatoes" regarding her contribution.
HIT AND MISS
This flight is very interesting because it shows how ‘hit and miss’ these early attempts were. For example the first part of the flight from Boston Harbour to Trepassey on the 3rd June went without a hitch. But, once loaded with enough fuel to attempt crossing the Atlantic, it wouldn’t fly! They then had to strip the aircraft down to bare essentials to get it off the water.
There is another very important aspect of basic flying, let alone trying a major feat, which probably few people today appreciate. When even a few hours of delay are viewed as being intolerable. These three sat at Trepassey until the 17th June, (two whole weeks), before deciding the conditions were favourable.
SOMETHING RECOMMENDED
I think I should make this note here. If you are interested in the Amelia Earhart story, read the book by Elgen M Long and his wife Marie K Long, “Amelia Earhart -The Mystery Solved”.
Without much if any doubt they have managed to explain why there is little if any mystery regarding her final fatal flight in crossing the Pacific Ocean
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