We all have to do our work in our own places within the limits of our possibilities, and if we dare to dream, we will be able to cope with every difficulty, Defence Minister Csaba Hende said at the memorial to the transatlantic aviators in Bicske on July 15.
On July 15 in the early evening hours, 81 years after the successful transatlantic flight by pilot György Endresz and navigator Sándor Magyar, a commemorative ceremony was held to pay tribute to the two heroes at the site of their crash landing in Bicske. Defence Minister Csaba Hende delivered a speech at the event.
“If we want to improve the situation of our nation that was torn to many parts in Trianon, if we want to express our togetherness and want to experience it in our lives, then we must do our work day by day”, Csaba Hende said. “We all have to do our work in our own places within the limits of our own possibilities, taking care of those for whom we are responsible. If we do so, if we have the determination and dare to dream, then we can cope with every difficulty”, the Minister added. He pointed out that this is the way for us to find together the roads leading to the future. “Now, when we are working for the renewal of Hungary, I call on everybody to join this common work. Learning from the example of the transatlantic aviators, we can gain strength for accomplishing our everyday heroic feats”, Hende Csaba said in his speech.
György Endresz and Sándor Magyar flew across the Atlantic Ocean in July 1931. Their aircraft named “Justice for Hungary” took off from Harbour Grace airport, Newfoundland on July 15, 1931. Endresz and Magyar set a new record already in the first half of the route, as they reached the coasts of Europe in 13 hrs 50 mins, although their compass went wrong shortly after the take-off. They experienced problems with the fuel system above Győr, Hungary, then after flying another 70 kilometers they had an engine breakdown. They approached the ground by gliding, and made a successful crash landing at the edge of Felcsút, near Bicske in the afternoon of July 16. The two transatlantic aviators covered the distance of 5,770 kilometers in 25 hrs 20 mins – faster than anyone else before them – and they managed to beat another two world records on that day.
The mayors of the neighboring settlements were present at the commemorative event, which was also attended by Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian cosmonaut and Péter Besenyei, world champion in aerobatics. The participants were entertained by the program of the Ethnic Dance Group of Szár and the Festival Wind Ensemble of Bicske. The ceremony finished with a wreath-laying by the memorial to the transatlantic aviators.
(Ministry of Defence)
