A NEW RECORD. DOGGED BY ILL-LUCK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 286, 3 December 1931, Page 7

A NEW RECORD.

DOGGED BY ILL-LUCK.

HINKLER'S MONKEY.

Live Mascot Takes Flight Over "" Atlantic. AIRMAN'S COMPANION. (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Received 11 a.m.) I RABAT (Morocco), December 2. Mr. Bert Hinkler, the Australian airman, reached here in continuation of his flight from Brazil, and his trans-Atlantic hop. The first monkey to cross the Atlantic by air was Bert Hink'.er's tiny female pet which was presented to Lim in.Brazil. The Australian became so iond of his acquisition that he decided she eaould share his fame. The monkey sat alongside him all the way across and enjoyed Hinkler'a bananas. The monkey hopped on to his arms when he landed at Rabat amid tremendous enthusiasm. The airman states that he is building a special amphibian 'plane for a flight across the Pacific.

Relieving Mail 'Plane Damaged

At Darwin.

KINGSFORD SMITH'S ESCAPE,

DARWIN, December 2. Misfortune still dogs the Auetralian and New Zealand air mail to Britain.

Air-Commodore Ivingsford Smith, in the monoplane Southern Star—which is on the way to the Malay States to pick up the wrecked Southern Sun's mailshad a narrow escape from serious accident when landing at the , Darwin aerodrome at 1.40 p.m. to-day. Heavy clouds, thunder and lightning and steady rain made the visibility bad.

Flying low for the landing, the monoplane struck a telegraph pole at the lower end of the aerodrome.

The impact tore the fabric of one wing, broke the rocker arm on one cylinder of the starboard engine, and dented the propeller. The other engines were not damaged, although part of the telegraph wire caught on the port engine. The ground engineer ie hopeful that repairs will be effected to allow of a resumption of the journey to-morro.r.

Smith says the trip from Sydney was uneventful, but it was very hot. The latter part of the flight was through heavy rainstorms.