MYSTERIES OF THE AIR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10350, 13 March 1925, Page 7

MYSTERIES OF THE AIR.

AEROPLANES THAT DISAPPEAR

Yet another has been added to the unsolved mysteries of the air by the disappearance of Flight-Lieutenant W. T. Day and Pilot-Officer D. R. Stewart, two members of the ltoyal Air Force in Iraq, who set out on July 24 from their aerodrome at Shaibali, and never returned, writes Richard Worth in the “ Daily Mail.” Their abandoned machine was found in a lonely part of the desert. It was intact, there was petrol in trlio tank, jukl as a mutter of fact it was afterwards flown back to the aerodrome. The most exhaustive search has failed to discover any trace of the missing airmen. , ' , The history of flying is marked by such mysteries. The Channel, which to-day is crossed and re-crossed times out of number every week, has a sinister reputation in this respect. In 1910 Air Cecil Grace, perhaps Britain s first airman at the time, set out to fly from Calais to Dover. His machine was seen through the fog by the ci ew of a fishing smack. From that moment he was never seen again, nor was any trace ever found of his machine. Perhaps the best-i emembered Channel air mystery w r as that which robbed aviation of a brilliant exponent—Gustav Hamel, one of the most daring, as well as one of the most skilful, pilots who ever took up a machine. Gustav Hamel set out to fly the Channel—which _ he had then crossed a dozen times without mishap—on May 23, 1914. He •inver reached the other side, nor was his fate ever known. Destroyers helped in the search for some trace of his machine, but none was found. There were countless rumours that he had been saved—on one occasion all England thrilled with the news that the gallant airman had been picked un by a fishing smack in the North Sea, but this proved to be without foundation in fact. Another mystery, equally battling, is that of the‘fate of three Air Force pilots who set out from Shotwigk aero-

drome, near Chester in February, 1920 to fly to Baldonnel, near Dublin. The weather on both sides of the lush Channel was reported favourable. All three were skilled pilots, and one had already done the journey before. In addition, all three machines were fitted with wireless, which was tested and found in excellent order before they beernn their flight. They never reached their destination, nor was their fate ever ascertained.