AVIATORS HOP OFF.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 76, 10 January 1928, Page 5

AVIATORS HOP OFF.

FLIGHT ACROSS THE TASMAN DEPARTURE FROM SYDNEY THIS MORNING DUE AT TRENTHAM ABOUT SIX O’CLOCK PHYSICALLY FIT AND CONFIDENT. The New Zealand aviators, Captain George Hood and Lieutenant R. MoncriefT, left Sydttey for New Zealand in their monoplane, the Ao-tca-Roa, at 2.44 this morning. Though it is possible that a change may be made to Greymouth, if conditions in mid-flight render such a course expedient, the objective of the airmen is the Trent ham racecourse. The journey, some 1450 miles, is expected to occupy about 14 hours; consequently, allowing for the difference between Australian and New Zealand time (Summer-time) the landing should be about six o’clock this evening.

JOURNEY STARTED. AVIATORS IN GOOD SPIRITS. FAVOURABLE WEATHER REPORTS (Per Press Association—coc vngut.) (Received 1 This Day, 9.45 a.m.) SYDNEY, This/ Day. When the engine was started up at 2 o’clock this morning it was found that am oyer-supply of lubricating oil had been pumped into the containers, the overflow choking some vital points ef the machine. The trouble was soon remedied. At 2.40, Lieutenant Monerieff and Captain Hood took their places in the machine. Lieutenant Monerieff, as pilot, gave the order for the start. The chocks were pulled "from , the -wheels, the propellor revolved, and at 2.44, with the revolving at cruising speed, the pilot waved .his hand'as a signal of "departure. bThe “all clear” was given, the monoplane taxied into the open space of the aerodrome, and within 100 yards had risen and turned direct for New Zealand. Within a few minutes the craft was lost to sight. Sound tests before leaving showed that the wireless plant was in proper working order. Captain Hood and Lieutenant Moncriefr expressed themselves as absolutely physically lit and in good spirits. They said they were ready to undertake the journey cheerfully and confidently. Messages were sent to the airmen’s wives stating that they expected to be with them at Wellington to-night. The State Meteorologist was at the aerodrome with a specially-prepared weather report. He said that as far as he could make out, the weather was particularly favourable. Weather report’s were received from New Zea-land-by wireless till 12.30 a:m., also from ships at sea. AN UNEXPECTED DECISION.

FAVOURABLE WEATHER REPORTS {Received’ This Day, 12.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. A favourable weather report received late last night decided the flyers unexpectedly to start, after an announcement earlier in the day that they would not do so. This decision was not reached until toward midnight. Hie Maunganui experienced exceptionally fine weather on the voyage from Wellington. She reports that at 3.16 in the morning, when about 15 miles off the coast, the aviators were dimly discemable. At dawn, as they passed overhead at a considerable 'height, the engine sounded as if working perfectly. CABLEGRAM FROM MONCRIEFF. WELLINGTON, January 9. ! A cable message received from Lieutenant Monerieff reads: —“Weather still dull. Hope to leave in the next two days. Machine ready. Rood definitely coming. . Have received many New Zealand congratulatory cablegrams. Thanks all.” WEATHER FORECAST FAVOURABLE. WELLINGTON, January 9. There is no news in interested circles to-day about the Tasman flight, hut it is confidently anticipated that, providing the weather is favourable, the airmen will leave Sydney to-night and land at Trentham racecourse tomorrow evening. Dr. Kidson,* the Government Meteorologist, stated at mid-day that the weather conditions are good and are likely to remain favourable. WESTPORT INTERESTED.

WESTPORT. January 9. Keen interest is being taken in Westport in the Tasman flight. For weeks past, with the exception of one day, the weather has been gloriously fine, with cloudless skies as far over the Tasman as the eye-can reach. If the aviators could only pierce the fringe of rough weather on the Australian Coast it looks as if they would run into ideal weather conditions whgn approaching New Zealand. Should they reach Westport in the afternoon, they will have a' goed landing ground mi the North Beach, where Captains Buckley and Henderson made their taking off and landing place during r * visit to Westport.

ALL GOING WELL. MESSAGE AT 11.45 a.m. GISBORNE, This Day. A wireless message from the Ao-tea-Roa, picked up by Mr O’Meara, at 11.45 a.m., says: “All going well.” RECEIPT AT WELLINGTON. WELLINGTON, This Day. Up till a ouarter to nine, signals were received from the aeroplane regularly at Wellington. A stoppage was then experienced, but communication with Sydney elicited the fact that messages were still being heard there. The stoppage here was only temporarily, as signals are again being heard. The break must have been due to atmospherics. LISTENING FOR SIGNALS. (Received This Day, 2.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. The wireless operator of the Maunganui (Mr Jones) who has been listening in since three o’clock this morning for messages from the Ao-tea-Roa, heard signals, but nothing sufficient definitely to identity the aviators. Neither Lieutenant Moncrief nor Captain Heed is a. qualified operator. It was arranged that they should send a long dash of five minutes every quarter of an hour. Tins was possibly the signal Mr nones Heard. The Amalgamated Wireless says it has neard i.otnmg. BECOME FAINTER IN SYDNEY. (Received This Day, 2.15 p.m.) 'SYDNEY, This Day. The Amalgamated 1 Wireless states that it picked up the flyers’ preail angea signals to 8.30. Then they gradually grew fainter and are now practically out of touch, but they believe New Zealand gained touch. The latest signals showed all~well. GREAT WELCOME ASSURED.

INTEREST AT WELLINGTON. WELLINGTON, This Day. The sole topic of conversation at Wellington centres on the ’plane now beating its lonely way across the Tasman. The weather locally is perfect, and everything promises well for a good, landing at Trentham. A ,great crowd is expected to go out, and an enthusiastic welcome is certain to be accorded the flyers. Mesdames Monerieff and Hood are in town awaiting the event, confidently assured of a happy and successful issue. - The Mayor (Mr Troup) will be at Trentham to welcome the men on their arrival, and he has asked employers generally, as far as possible, to allow employees away an hour earlier with a view to their having the opportunity to go to Trentham to take part in showing the Dominion’s appreciation. THE PIONEER ATTEMPT.

MANY FACTORS INVOLVED. The flight across the Tasman has been a dream of aviation enthusiasts in New Zealand, and in Australia also, for a. long time past —since before, in fact, English, Continental, and American airmen commenced piling record on record, from 1919 when the Atlantic was crossed first via Newfoundland’, the Azores, Lisbon, and England, and a. little later in a non-stop , flight from Newfoundland to Ireland' by the British airmen, Sir John Aleock and Sir Arthur Brown, in November of that year. Mnaiice was always tho first difficulty, and there was, moreover, no assurance that there would' he found the right machine and the right men to take it across. In the light of experiences, tragic, sensational, or gloriously successful, of flying men o% the older world, it is anoarent now that the earlier proposals for a trans-Tasman 'light were impossible of achievement, or pog-silde only by a marvellously for-

tunate combination of conditions and circumstances. -Air navigation over great distances and aircraft reliability have been built up during very recent years. Over and above that, practically nothing was known of the air conditions at flying levels over the Tasman, nor, indeed, was the need of as full knowledge as possible truly appreciated until experiences elsewhere liaci bitterly emphasised it. : There are two types of long-distance flights, those made up of long and short hops, by which the pilot covers many thousands of miles, and single extended flights. Some of the “most notable of the multi-stage flights were the 'airplane journey in 1919 of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith from England to Australia, and', in . 1926, Sir Alan Cobham’s flying boat journey from England to Australia and hack, 26,000 miles; the round the world flight of the American _ army ’planes, 27,553 miles; and De Pinedo’s marvellous flying boat voyage of 48,000 miles, touching Italy, Africa, South America, North America, and the Azores. In the single extended flight the pilot demands of himself and his motor the last ounce; in this class are the flights of Lindbergh, across the Atlantic; of Kelly and Macready, who took an army monopla.ne from" New York to the Pacific coast, 2520 miles; and a number of overland flights from Continental centres to Siberia, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Both types test the machine and the man to the utmost. Compared with the.vast stretches of airways travelled in non-stop flights m the Northern Hemisphere, the transTasman distance is not so great in miles, hut when the New Zealand aviators leave the Australian coastline behind they will fly into an unknown region; the paper course will he clear before them, hut of the conditions of the 1430 miles of air ahead there is no guidebook. The Tasman is a storm centre for most of the winds that blow, hut meteorologically it is a No Man’s Land, •and sea surface conditions are known more by their effects than from their causes. The Tasman’s weather apparently moves not so much from Australia to New Zealand, or vice versa, as from the south-west, from the Antarctic, and the broad charting of weather is therefore practically an impossibility; localised charting, from steamship reports, has not so far ranked in high importance. Even had there been a collection of such data over many years, so systematically.' gathered and compiled as to enable ocean and land forecasts' to he made upon a broader basis than at .present, the upper air conditions would remain a blank unknown, and the key to the storms within thejstorm which are the weather puzzles oT the Tac-man would still he missing. The “Ao-tea-Roa,” though in the main similar to the Ryan monoplane flown by Lindbergh, is somewhat smaller and is to start- the flight with less than half the petrol, 200 gallons, as against 451. The engine, a Wright Whirlwind, is similar to Lindbergh’s, the best engine of its class and pmver available.

’Plane and Equipment. The general specifications of these Wright Whirlwinds are as follow: Model J, oc - -Bore. 4.5 in; stroke, 5.5 in.; displacement, 788 cubic inches; compression ratio, 5.2 to 1 h.p. at sea level, 200 at 1800 revs, per minute . weight, dry, 5081 b (average); height- over all, 34in.; diameter over all, 45in: fuel consumption/ at 200 h.p., not more than .61b. per h.p. per hour; oil consumption at 200 h.p., not more lhan .C2511> per h.p. per hour.It is a motor developed under the keenest and most scientific competition, with a particular eye to long-distance anti commercial flying, air-cooled, and designed for economic as well _ as high reliable performance. In addition to strains placed upon these, engines during the great ocean flights, Wright Whirlwinds have been subjected to exceptionally severe machine-tests. Three 54-hour endurance tests carried out indicate/ its extreme durability. Though the ’plane is a land machine and would he unable to rise and continue the flight in the event of a forced descent in mid-sea it is so designed and constructed as to remain safely on the water for something like twelve hours in average conditions. Air chambers and floats are built into the craft, and a collapsible rubber boat with water and rations is part of the equipment.

Meanmg of the Flight. The venture may be regarded from any one of several aspects: It is the last long jump on the Imperial airways from the Homeland to her Dominions, and one of the most difficult of all these air connections; the completion of,the flights of the Smith brothers and Sir Alan Cobham ; it is a means to the further impression on the public mind of the increasing safety and ultimate certainty of general travel by air; a means to awaken/New Zealand to the necessity of a defence system adequate to the conditions that must come with the steady development of aircraft and air navigation : a pioneer exploration of air routes from which lessons of the greatest importance may be learned and passed on • as a flight to New Zealand across what may be regarded as the home ocean, by New Zealanders determined to be first across. No one of these considerations will stand alone as the force which impelled the aviators to tackle the double task, first of interesting others sufficiently to make the attempt a. financial possibility, then of the long flight over an unknown but much suspected airway itself. The great probability—the certainty, in fact—is that the first task loomed before them as the greater and the less likely of achievement; of jthe flight achievement they were obviously confident from, the first.

The Aviators. Lieutenant John R. Monerieff, of Wellington, the leader of the expedition, who is 29 years of age, was born in Scotland, arriving in New Zealand at' the age of 16. Captain George Hood, of « Masterton, who is aged 35. is the son of Mr F. Hood, a well-known pioneer in the Wairarapa. Each saw service during the war. With the two men in Australia, where the monoplane was assembled,, was Captain I. L. Right, of Dannevirke, who was associated with the Royal Air Force during the war, and who maintained a keen interest in aviation on his return to the Dominion. Lieutenant Monerieff interested his uncle, Mr J. McCrorie, of Dunedin, in the venture, who readily agreed to materially assist in financing the scheme some months ago. Lieutenant Uoncried then conferred with Captain Right, who co-operated in raising the capital with which to buy an aeroplane. Major Wilkes considered tlie machine excellently suited for the flight. The monoplane will land at Trentham, where arrangements - have been made. Ao-tea-Roa (tbe Long White Cloud) ig the name painted on its wings.