A GREAT FLIGHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 133, 8 June 1925, Page 9

A GREAT FLIGHT.

ITALY TO AUSTRALIA

MAJOR DE PINEDO >S FEAT.

OXLY O>"E MISHAP,

(From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, June 4. The arrival of the Italian airman, Major de Pinedo, at Broome, on bis llight from Italy to Australia, constitutes what will surely go down as historic among the world's long-dis-tance flights. .Major de I'inedo is now to fly around Australia, und he will follow almost tlie same route as was taken by WingC'onimander Goble and Flight-Lieut. Maelntyre last year. Major de Pinedo, flew the 570 miles from Koepaug in the Dutch East Indies in six hours, arriving at Broome at five past one on Sunday. He is accompanied by Chief Captain Campanelli, his mechanic. According to reports receive! in Sydney from Broome, the .airmen look lit and well, and are thoroughly enjoying the flight. The 'plane made a perfect landing, alighting on the water as lightly as a seagull.

. Interviewing the Major was awkward, as his English is limited, and no interpreter was present. He said he left Brindisi on April 27, Hying to Alexandria. Conditions were good, but from there to Bagdad the air was very bumpy. From Bagdad to Karachi, the machine behaved wonderfully. Flying was not comfortable over the 700-mile stretch from Bombay to Calcutta. They had kept at a height of 9000 feet. At Akynb they had to remainofor two days, owing to rough seas. Rangoon to Penang was t>e worse stretch. It rained continually, and was always cloudy. They had to fly very low for seven hours, to keep out of the rain and under clouds. The journey to Singapore was uneventful, as was also the trip —Singapore. Java, Sumatra, to Koepang. From Koepang to Broome, conditions were the best experienced on the trip. He had covered .-,70 miles in six hours, which was one hour quicker than lie had 'expected. He was pleased to arrive in Australia, and appreciated the welcome given him on landing. A Sporting Flight. The object of the flight, he added, was purely sporting. Altogether, tbe trip was better than ho had expected, though, when tlie machine was bumping, flying was difficult. In -Siam the weather troubled him a little. He would make day flights to Melbourne, where he would' stay three weeks for overhaul, then on via Sydney. Thursday Island, Amboyna, Macassar, Manados. Manila, Formosa, to Japan. A month would be spent in Tokio, whence he would return via northern India. All people he had come in contact with had been most anxious to help, and he appreciated the offers very much. Major Francesco de Pinedo is a Neapolitan, 3-5 years of age. and is Chief'of Staff of" the Royal Italian Air Forces. He also holds the title of marchese. He served in the Great War, and was decorated four times. The object of the 'flight is to supply evidence of the technical efficiency of Italian areonautics, and especially the efficiency and air worthiness of the Savoia seaplane. It is an ordinary service scout bombing type of hydroplane, and, of course, was built in Italy. The motor is a Lorraine Deitrich, of 450-h.p.. giving the machine a speed of 135 miles an hour. It has a flight capacity of 10 hours, and so can fly a distance of about 1300 miles without stopping. Major de Pinedo is accompanied by a mechanic, non-commis-sioned-officer Ernesto Campanelli.

Major de Pinedo's flight has been notable, not only for its rapidity and freedom from accident, but also for several departures from recognised Hying routes. From Brindisi, for instance, he flew to Leros, a Turkish ■ island in the Aegean Sea, as a midway j halt to Bagdad. From 'the latter place j he went to Basra, and thence to j Charbar (Persia), following the recog- , nised airway to Karachi, the great I Indian air station. The airman had I then been 10 days on his flight, beins slightly behind his schedule, owing to 2 slight accident to one of the floats of his machine at Charbar. From Karachi Major de Pinedo flew to Bombay, the flight over this stage of 700 miles being accomplished in six hours 20 minutes. When he reached Bombay Major de j Pinedo had covered 4500 miles. Pluck and Faith. j From Bombay the airman made a hold move by using his seaplane to , travel over 050 miles of land to I Cocanada on the east coast. It was I the first time that the route had been used for an air machine of any kind, ! and Major de Pinedo's crossing of the ' Indian Peninsula in a craft essentially I meant for flying over water emphasised his pluck and his faith in his machine, j From Cocanada Major de Pinedo's way led him to Calcutta, a north- j easterly detour, following the coast line I of the Gull of Bengal, and necessitating I a south-westerly course to the next halting-place, Akyab. >"o town has j become more prominent than this one in the history of long-distance flying, j and only last year it was the halting- | place of Squadron-leader MacLaren (who crashed there), the squadron of. three United States seaplanes, the ; Frenchman. Captain d r oisy. and Major j Zanni. the Argentinian. Now Major I de Pinedo takes his place in the roll of I famous airmen who have made the Burmese town one of their halting j places. • Rangoon followed Akyab in the ! Italian's programme, but from the capital of Burma onwards little was heard of him until he once more touched British territory at Singapore. But lack of news does not detract from Major de Pinedo's 'feat on this stage"; which measured nhotit 1200 miles over the uncharted airway of the Malay Archir>ela<ro. with assistance hard to obtain in case of mishap. But tlie wortlilines* of Major de Pinedo's machine pvirlentlr proved itself, for he continued to make rapid progress from Singapore to Batavia (600 miles) to Bitna, P-OO miles, and Koepang-. 400 miles. Then came the news yesterday that he had crossed the 500 or 600 miles of sea to Broome, thus landinu oncp more in British territory, that had given him welcome on several prior occasions. j