THE TASMAN FLIGHT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 84, 19 January 1928, Page 6

THE TASMAN FLIGHT

ANOTHER ASPIRANT. A HAMILTON RESIDENT. i ' (Per Press Association.) HAMILTON, January 18. Provided he can obtain a suitable machine Mr Pliifip Bailey, of Hamilton, proposes to become another aspirant for the trans-Tasman flight. He has communicated with Major do Haviland, of Melbourne, asking whether a suitable DH9 type of biplane fitted with floats is available and is awaiting advice. The undertaking, is dependent on whether a favourable reply is l received. *

Mr Bailey states that the project is very indefinite at present* but he thinks that the flight could be done in I the class of machine mentioned. Alj though it is regarded, as out of date, it Mas a reliable, totally enclosed engine, 1 and has good performances'* which 1 makes it particularly adaptable to a | trans-Tasman flight. Mr Bailey considers that th© cost of fitting out the machine should be ! covered by £IOOO, and anticipates no difficulty in securing financial support if a DH9 machine can be secured. He i stresses the point, however, that the proposal is still far from a definite undertaking. Mr Bailey is 35 years of age, and a poultry-keeper. He saw service in the Royal Air Force at Home during and after the war until 1922. ,

The DH9 type of aeroplane, two of which ‘ are at Wigram Aerodrome, is not considered by experienced airmen to be a suitable type for 1 a long-dis-tance flight, chiefly on account of its low speed and its limited range. Stripped of everything but bare essentials, 1 and using all the available space for fuel, a DH9, at the most, could stay in the air for a little longer than 10 hours. If Mr Bailey intends to use a standard machine it will be equipped with a “Puma” engine, the maximum speed of which, for cruising purposes, is 80 to 85 miles per hour. Thus, given ten hours’ flying at this speed, which is a slow one as far as modem aircraft goes, the* pilot would find himself without petrol when he was 850 miles from liis starting point. He would then have to descend on the sea when a little over half w r ay‘ on his journey.

MAJOR DE HAVILAND NOT INFORMED. SYDNEY, January 18. Referring to a report cabled from New 'Zealand that a Mr Bailey proposed to make -a flight from Australia* Major de Haviland said he had never heal’d of Mr Bailey, and had never heard of a proposal to use a De Haviland machine on such a flight.