Felix Waitkus
Felix Waitkus
Donor
Painting of Lithuanica 11
Painted by Ivan Berryman
Felix walked away from his crashed plane with few injuries
Donor
1986 stamp for this National Hero
Donor
Site of the commerative sculpture in Felix's honour at the beginning of the Bower Walk in Ballinrobe
Averil Staunton
A 'lucky' Pilot's crash in Ballinrobe
By Averil Staunton
In 1935, bad weather conditions forced Lithuanian pilot Felix Waitkus to make an emergency landing just outside Ballinrobe in his plane Lituanica II. This was a with a single engine, single seat airplane.
He had earlier taken off from New York, and was the only solo pilot to cross the Atlantic that year, and the sixth ever in aviation history. Waitkus fought terrible weather conditions and was helped considerably by hourly broadcasts from an Irish radio station.
Lithuanian residents
Renewed interest in the Waitkus’ story arose as a result of many years of research by David Hall and Patsy Murphy, Ballinrobe. They have contributed significantly in raising awareness of the story, and organising the festivals over the past three years.
Ballinrobe has hosted Ireland’s Lithuanian Community for these annual festivals which provided the impetus for a formal Twinning arrangement with the city of Jonava, the ninth largest in Lithuania which took place in 2010, and again David and Patsy contributed to the organizing of this project.