TASMAN FLOWN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 12, 15 January 1934, Page 9

TASMAN FLOWN.

" SMITHY " AGAIN. DIFFICULT CONDITIONS I STRONG WINDS ALL WAY. LITTLE FUEL LEFT IN TANK. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Saturday. With practically no benzine to spare, the monoplane Southern Cross completed its fifth flight across the Tasman Sea at New Plymouth airport on Saturday evening-, after being in the air for 15 hours 25 minutes. Strong winds increased fuel consumption. Had it not been for skilful piloting by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain J. T. Pethybridge, and the navigation of Captain P. G. Taylor, under most trying conditions, the flight might not have ended at the scheduled point. As it was, the course was kept so accurately that the first landfall was Cape Egmont. When the Southern Cross left Richmond at 2.7 a.m. (Sydney time) she carried sufficient benzine for a flight of 18 hours, calculated at the normar consumption of 30 gallons an hour, but strong south-easterly and southerly winds were encountered. These retarded the machine until in the later stages the wind veered to the south-west. The result was that the consumption increased to 35 gallons an hour, a fact that made a considerable difference at the end of the day. Faultless navigation enabled the monoplane to make a timely landing at 7.32 p.m. (New Zealand time). Flying at 10 Feet Above Water. Owing to the rare and intermittent appearances of the sun, particularly about mid-day, it was necessary for Sir Charles to fly a fair distance at a height of only 10 feet above the water to facilitate observations by Captain Taylor. In fact, 75 per cent of the journey is stated to have been traversed at an altitude of less than 400 feet. The time taken, 15 hours 25 minutes, was 65 minutes longer than that of Flight-. Lieutenant C. T. P. Ulm for the same journey in the Faith in Australia on December 4, and 79$ minutes longer than the time of the Southern Cross when it made its first landing at New Plymouth from Sydney on January 11, 1933. Tho weather at New Plymouth was wet and cloudy for the greater part of the day, but about 4.30 p.m. it broke and Mount Egmont appeared bathed in brilliant sunshine. It is estimated that between 7000 and SOOO persons welcomed the aviators at the airport. Six hundred motor cars were drawn up within the parking area at Bell Block, besides which there were probably another hundred on other parts of the ground and several hundreds on the roads in tho vicinity. Hearty Welcome Given All. Sir Charles stepped from the Southern Cross amid the cheers of the crowd. The members of the crew followed, each being greeted with a rousing cheer. Cameras clicked for quite five minutes before Sir Charles and Lady Kingsford Smith and the members of the crew could be escorted to the dais from which speeches of welcome were made. Among those on the platform besides the monoplane's crew were Mr. S. E. Nielson, a passenger, and secretary of the New Zealand Aero Club, Mr. A. F. Sandford, president of the New Plymouth Aero Club, Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., and Mr. E. Gilmour, Mayor. "I feel es good as gold," said Sir Charles on landing. "My own flights have borne out that the Tasman has no fears for anyone who knows the typo of machine required for this particular crossing and route." Sir Charles said the latest flight was not nearly as good a crossing as tho previous one. There had been head winds most of the way. The Southern Cross functioned perfectly. He paid a tribute to Captain Pethybridge, the co-pilot and engineer, who had done more of the flying than he. and to Mr. J. W. Stannage, the radio operator. "Conditions One Expects." "The flight was perfectly normal in every respect, and tho. weather conditions, though adverse part of the way, were what one expects on an ordinary ocean flight," said Captain Taylor, navigator of the Southern Cross. "The total distance covered was 1375 miles, or a few miles less than the distance covered by Mr. Ulm on his flight in the Faith in Australia last month." "Atmospherics were very bad, the radio conditions being the worst I have ever experienced in many Tasman crossings, ship or aeroplane," .said Mr. Stannage, the radio operator. REGULAR SERVICE. STILL FIVE YEARS AHEAD. RADIO BEACONS NEEDED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Saturday. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith described his latest flight as one that had brought him a step nearer the realisation of his ambition of a regular trans-Tasman service. This, he predicted, was still five years distant. It was very difficult to talk of a regular service when there were very few machines capable of doing such a job satisfactorily. Such a service would overcome weather conditions by the use of the radio beacon and of large multi-engined aeroplanes such as would make a forced landing impossible. The radio beacons would cost a good deal. Return Flight. His taking-off ground for the return trip was discussed. Sir Charles said he was prepared to fly back to Australia from New Plymouth airport if the ground improvements were finished. His taking-off point would to a certain extent be governed by meteorological conditions. The northern route from NinetyMile Beach usually provided on an average in March better weather for the return flight. Lady Kingsford Smith is uncertain how long she will remain in New Zealand. Sir Charles will go to Sydney on the Wanganella on February 2, and she may accompany liim. i