SNOW HINDERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 15, 19 January 1933, Page 7

SNOW HINDERS.

HINKLER SEARCH.

CLIMBERS' OFFER.

Mountaineers to Scour Alpine _ Slopes.

MRS. MOLLISON WILL FLY.

(United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

(Received 11 a.m.) LONDON", January 18. The continuance of snowy conditions in the Alps is not only hindering Captain W. L. Hope's search, but is rendering more remote the sighting of the aeroplane from the air. In consequence the London search committee has accepted the offer of two expert mountaineers to go to the Alps to carefully search the area in Montana and Vermala and other slopes where an aeroplane was seen.

The committee has also accepted Mrs. J. A. Mollison's offer to aid tlie search. She will leave at tlie first opportunity. The Australian Press Association's correspondent at Lausanne states that Captain Hope, accompanied by Herr Kaniniaclier, director of the Lausanne airport, flew for 2>J hours over the side valleys of tlie Rhone. Fog and cloud reduced visibility and the searchers had to return when snow began to fall., M. Mittelliolzer, a leading Swiss airman, states that the day Mr. Hinkler began his flight the weather was bad over the mountains in the Valais canton, and an ascent to 15,720 feet would be necessary in order to fly above the clouds. This was impossible owing to the heavy load of petrol carried by Hinkler. He is of the opinion that Mr. Hinkler, owing to fog and clouds, lost his way through insufficient knowledge of tlie geography of the region and probably crashed into a mountain-side. It is a thousand to one against a single aero- j plane finding any trace of Mr. Hinkler or liis machine. j

. An earlier message from Lausanne stated that Captain Hope had received two clues. Two students who were ski-ing near the Diablerets on Saturday, January 7, say they sighted a machine, probably Mr; Hiifkler's. A gendarme at Montana also saw a machine, the identification marks on which corresponded with those oji Mr. Hiiikler's aeroplane. The weather improved yesterday and Captain Hope searched the Simploii district. HINKLER BURGLARY. ! ~ Plans of Secret Aeroplane May Be Stolen. VALUABLE DETAILS. LONDON, January 18. The "News-Chronicle" states that the thieves who robbed the Southampton home of Mr. Bert Hinkler may have stolen the secret plans of Mr. Hiiikler's mystery monoplane, with which he hoped 'to make a fortune and bring aviation within the reach of the family man. The plans would be of the greatest value to the thieves if they were able to place them in the right quarters.

It is belicvdd that the raiders thoroughly examined Mr. Hinkler's monoplane in the shed, and it is also feared the blue prints in the house. Mrs. Hiykler's absence prevented certainty as to what was taken by the thieves.

"The suggestion that the burglars may have stolen the 6ecret plans of my husband's mystery monoplane is most disturbing," said Mrs. Bert Hinkler, who is at present in Auckland en route to Brisbane. "The plans referred to are probably those of a new light amphibian monoplane, ou which my husband has been working for at least five years. To perfect those plans was his greatest ambition."

Mrs. Hinkler said that their home was three miles out of Southampton, on the Portsmouth road. If the plans had not been deposited in a bank they would probably have been stored in a safe place in the house, together with other valuables. The plans represented the accumulated knowledge gathered by Mr. Hinkler in all his flying, it being his aim to construct a light amphibian plane,■ strong and with considerable cruising range, which could be handled easily) by one man, and which could be used over land or sea. Mrs. Hinkler, who is to sail for Sydney to-morrow to join Mr. Hinkler's parents at Brisbane, said that the model that- her husband had constructed, and which was kept in a hangar at their home, . had already been flown, but that there were further improvements to be made. It was her husband's hope to interest an aeroplane firm in the design, so that his "Ibis" machine might be manufactured commercially.

Mrs. Hin kler, who said that her husband always made arrangements for friends to visit the house frequently while he was away, is hopeful that Mr. Hinkler will still be found. "It would be possible for him to be marooned in the Alps for days without news of his whereabouts reaching the outside world," she said.