This article is from page 35 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 35 JPG
THERE are some stories that are too good to be left untold. Like that Spring afternoon back in 1934, when a plane fell from the sky in a field in Moy and the attention of the world was all on north Clare.
Decades before Air Lingus or Shannon Airport had even been conceived, the crashing landing of the Leonardo daVinci in a field in Clooneyogan made national headline in Dublin, New York and Rome.
Piloted by American Captain George Pond and Italian Lieutenant Sesare Sabelli, it was attempting to become the first craft ever to fly from the US all the way to Italy. As we ap- proach the 75th anniversary of the crash, a group of locals are planning
the first formal commemoration of the flight of the deVinc1.
“Their goal was to fly direct from New York to Rome. At the time that would have broken the distance record for flying across the Atlantic. It had been tried before on a few oc- casions be they hadn’t made it,” said Michael Hayes of the Moy Historical Society.
“The left from New York and after 33 hours of fling they crash landed in Clooneyogan.
‘The plane had bad engine trouble during the crossing and more than once Pond had to clime out on the wing and fix a problem with the fuel Wb avery
‘There was a lot of competition to be the first to do it and when they crashed in Moy they were of the
opinion that their fuel lies had been tapered with. They were trying to do an emergency landing at Lahinch but the tide was in so they had to circle – but they eventually ran out of fuel and crashed here in Moy.”
After landing in Moy they were re- ceived by Eamon de Valera in Dub- lin before returning to Clare to finish their journey.
After encountering more engine trouble they landed in Wales before eventually landing in Rome on June 12 where they were greeted by Pope Pius XII and Mussolini.
The Moy Historical Society are compiling information on the flight and are trying to raise enough money to commemorate next years anniver- Se HMe
We have contact both the Ameri-
can and Italian embassies and they are keen on the idea,’ continued Michael.
“Michael McTigue is putting to- gether the place but we are looking for anyone who has information on the plane but also for anyone who might be interested in sponsoring the plaque and helping us to get this project off the ground.”
For more information § contact Michael Hayes on 087 9025283 or Colm Hennessy on 086 8123811.