Girl under Moon

As the Man-in-the-Moon stared coldly down at Long Island last week, Elinor Smith, slim and 17, flew past his pock-marked face. His expression did not change. She whirled her biplane -- a Brunner-Winkle Bird -- and flew past him again, again, again. She was willing to do that all night, for she was trying for a new woman's solo record. The old record, made by one Bobby Trout on New Year's Day in California, was 12 hr., n min. After several hours, Miss Smith began to sing -- every song she could remember. That was not insouciance at the moon's stare but a way of keeping warm and awake. By and by the moon set. After 13 hr., 16 min., 45 sec. in the air alone, Record-Holder Smith returned to earth. Endurance records by women, qua women, have no official standing.