THE RETURN JOURNEY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLI, Issue 9431, 31 January 1921, Page 4

THE RETURN JOURNEY.

ff) AjbKad of schedule time. i tiftafeß MAIL FOR CHRIST;r o ; # CHURCH. ■'ij'jhSerej' she comes 1" was the cry „ishat : signalised the return of the, Avro .from Timaru at 12*40 p.m. to-day with (the aerial mail. . The machine was flying VsfY fast with the wind behind, it,., ani at .an altitude "of about SOftj feeis ; -to keep from under the low-lying^; clbudsi Dickson :flew.over the\ ground, and, turning, landed 'into the wind and taxied acrpss the paddock to the waiting mailman. : The mail from Ashburton to Christchurch showed a great increase on the mail to Timaru, 63 letters and four postcards going north from Ashburton as against about a score which went south this morning. Captain Dickson did not stop his engines, merely handing over the Ashburton mail from Titoar.u — a very small one — and taking on the Ashburton mail for Christy church. Receipts were exchanged, m due course, and five minutes after landing, kt 12.50 p.m., the machine was! taxi-ing away to come down into' the j wihcl, rise, turn sharply, and go off at a great speed to Christchurch with a helpful 'wind at its tail. Flying , conditions to-day were briefly outlined by Captain Dickson to a "Guardian" reporter^ He -said the trip to Timaru was a prolonged buffeting against strong headwinds, with conditions made unpleasant, especially for the passengers, by heavy showers,; Flying was.; very bumpy, and a low. altitude was kept to > clear the\clouds,although the direction ■ vras. taken .by. . compass bearings. . After the lat&.'gtafct from Christchurchi it. was'gr^iifying-' to land..' at Timaru, five minutes '^ahead of scheduled time. Conditions bnVthe return trip had been much pleasanter with the absence of rain, and the high velocity attained owing to favourable winds. Timaru had been left behind at 12.15 p.m., and 80 minutes later the Avro had touched land at Ashburton, so that the time lost before starts me from Timaru had been made up. The aeroplane left Ashburton .ten minutes m advance of the schedule. . haying used only five of the 20 mutates' waiting time allotted to the Ashburton stop. Unless anything unforeseen occurs, the aeroplane should be at Sockburn at 1.20 p.m., or 20 minutes ahead of time.

Captain Gray will take over the piloting 6f the service to-morrow. The passengers on the return journey were the same sfi-f this morning.