CHEERING VIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 221, 18 September 1934, Page 7

CHEERING VIEW.

"SMITHY" SHOULD WIN. "Times" Opinion on Centenary Air Race, A BRITISH "DARK HORSE." (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON, September 10. In the opinion of the aeronautical correspondent of '"The Times," Sir Charles Kingsford Smith has the best chance of winning the .Melbourne Centenary air race in view of his recent performances in Australia. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, says the correspondent, would be a popular winner. With his knowledge of the route, and his long-distance records, he might be expected to lose nothing through bad navigation or inattention. to the maintenance of his 'plane. Mr. C. W. A. Scott and Captain Neville Stack arc' very much in the .same class, and the latter has proved himself insensible of fatigue, and is accustomed to long non-stop flights. Moll and Parmentier, the Dutch flyers, are familiar with the route and the weather. The limiting factors will be the power and endurance of the hard-driven engines, and the ability of the pilots to forego sleep and remain efficient. A surprise may come from the new de Havilland Comet, the trials of which have been satisfactory, but of which little is yet known by the public. "Wβ believe that it achieves all we aimed at," said a representative of the de Havilland firm. "We dd not believe that any machine in the world, except the Comet, is capable of conforming to the strict international s'tandards while flying non-stop for 2700 miles at at least 200 miles an hour. FAMOUS SPEED FLYER. CAPT. HAWKS IN AIR. RACE. (Received 1 p.m.) LONDON", September 17. Major Herbert V. Thaclen and Mrs. Louise Tliaden, well-known flyers from Kansas City, have nominated America's most famous speed pilot, Captain Frank Hawks, as co-pilot with them in their entry for the Melbourne Centenary air race. FLIGHT ABANDONED. ICE CONDITIONS DANGEROUS. (Received 1.30 p.m.) RUGBY, September 17. Owing to bad weather and dangerous ico conditions in the Arctic waters, the proposed flight by the Royal Air Force formation to Greenland has been abandoned at the Faroe Islands. MENACE TO EMPIRE? HIGH SPEEDS IN AVIATION. LONDON, September 10. \Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's three recent flights at over 200 m.p.h. in Australia are worthy of admiration, also of deep thought, because, as air speed advances, the potential menace to an undefended civilian population grows, says the "Daily Mail." The lesson for Britain is that safety lies in the possession of a preponderant air fleet big and fast enough to prevent an enemy making the first attack.