A large group of people gathered at Old Orchard Beach to watch preparations for the Bellanca J plane The Pathfinder being taken to the starting line in preparation for a transatlantic flight.

The plane replaced the Green Flash that caught a wheel in soft sand, causing a nosedive and ground loop, making the plane unable to fly in a race across the Atlantic with the French Oiseau Canari.

The French plane completed the trip and the new American plane with pilot Roger Q. Williams and navigator Lewis A. Yancey, followed, leaving Old Orchard Beach July 8 and flying to Spain, then Rome.