MISS AROHA CLIFFORD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 51, Issue 135, 20 March 1931, Page 2

MISS AROHA CLIFFORD

iFLYINC IN BRITAIN. (Special to “The Guardian.”) Wellington, March 19. / Although Miss Aroha Clifford did not obtain her father’s consent to fly home from Great Britain as far as Australia, she evidently made good use of her time in England: as far as flying was concerned. Miss Clifford and her father, Mr W. L Clifford, returned by the Rangitane to-day. Miss Clifford told a newspaper representative that three months of her time in England was spent at De Haviland’s factory taking the private owners’ course in mechanics, which had given her a good knowledge of running repairs. “That was a whole time job really,” said Miss Clifford, “but I also joined the London Aeroplane Club and frequently flew their machines from Stag Lane until I got mv own Puss Moth. I flew a lot over England) and had ten days on the Continent, De Haviland’s providing a pilot. We went to Nice and Berne, and had a couple of marvellous days’ flying round _ the Alps, and then on to Amsterdam.” Miss Clifford met Miss Amy Johnson and Miss Winifred Spooner, whose plucky swim for help when forced down off the Italian coast in an attempt to lower the record flying time to Cape Town thrilled newspaper readers some months back. Miss Clifford liked Miss Spooner very much and understands that she is getting ready to set out again over the same course. , “We saw some marvellous flying at the Brooklands ' School of Flying, when a pagoaht- was arranged for the delegates to the India Round Table Conference, the demonstrations of inverted flying being particularly thrilling. We also made a hurried trip to the Continent after we first arrived' in England and saw the last performance of the Passion Play at Oberammergau. On the way out I flew across*the Panama Canal' as a passenger in a. cabin machine. It was rat.her/ funny to wait, at the other end and see the ship come in.” Miss Clifford says she has no immediate plans Tor flying now that she is back in. the Dominion, but liei; Puss Moth is being sent out to her. When the Rangitane arrived in the stream an aeroplane from the Rongotai base, piloted by Captain Stedman, circled over the ship with the engine shut off and greetings were clearly exchanged with Miss Clifford and her father.