Felix Waitkus

Photo:Felix Waitkus

Felix Waitkus

Donor

Photo:Painting of Lithuanica 11

Painting of Lithuanica 11

Painted by Ivan Berryman

Photo:Felix walked away from his crashed plane with few injuries

Felix walked away from his crashed plane with few injuries

Donor

Photo:1986 stamp for this National Hero

1986 stamp for this National Hero

Donor

Photo:Site of the commerative sculpture in Felix's honour at the beginning of the Bower Walk in Ballinrobe

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.

This page was added by Averil Staunton on 12/03/2011.
Comments about this page

Just a correction and to point out the renewed interest in Felix Waitkus came about owing to the many years of research by Patsy Murphy and by him and I getting involved in the project and this led to the festival being held for the past three years in Ballinrobe which culminated in the 75th anniversary festival last year which was shown on prime time television in Lithuania recently and will be shown in Ballinrobe in September next when a copy will be presented to the committee.

Reply

Thanks David for your comment.   We would love to hear about the research and indeed all the work both yourself and Patsy have done over the years to promote Felix Waitkus's memory and the very successful festivals.  

Would you like to add a story or information on the festival or indeed on Felix Waitkus?   We would be very happy to publish it for you. 

Ballinrobe and its Community certainly benefits from all the voluntary work both yourself and Patsy have done down through the years

 

By David Hall
On 19/05/2011
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