NEW ZEALAND FLYER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 256, 29 October 1934, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND FLYER.

Leisurely Trip from England To Australia. MISFORTUNES EN ROUTE. (Received 12 noon.) DARWIN, October 2S.

Mr. S. G. White, of Kahui, Havelock North, New Zealand, who left England on September IS in a Gipsy Moth on a solo flight to Australia, arrived at Darwin at 1.20 p.m. yesterday. He left to-day for Sydney. He lias earned the admiration of everyone here for his flight in his tiny machine.

Mr. White, genial and youthful, said he had been taking the journey leisurely and was not out to break records. He experienced several misfortunes. At Jodhpur his engine gave trouble, and at Palembang ho had malaria, which delayed him for some Jays. The airman carries a spare propeller strapped to the centre section of the struts. FOR WAR AND PEACE. Latest Aeroplanes Ordered in Britain. GUN-FIRING TURRETS. LONDON, October 28. The Air Ministry has ordered 12 Overstrand twin-engined, long-range day bombers, with movable gun turrets. The gunner sits on a stool in a small eggshaped structure socketed in the nose of the machine and can fire in any direction, the turret turning quickly enough to follow the fastest enemy aeroplane. It is stated that firing at 200 miles an hour is as easy and as accurate as from the ground. The "Daily Mail" says imperial Airways, Ltd., has called for tenders for faster and larger machines to replace its present fleet, which is three years old. It hopes to fly some of the new machines in 18 months. A FALSE START. FITZMAURICE PUTS BACK. (Received 11 a.m.) LONDON, October 28. Colonel Fitzmauricc and Mr. 11. Boner, in the aeroplane Irish Swoop, left Lympne at 0.30 a.m. on the attempted record flight to Australia, but returned owing to brake trouble. Repairs are likely.

INCREASING TRAFFIC. IMPERIAL AIRWAYS RETURNS. (Received 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, October 28. Imperial Airways report announces that 2,354,176 miles were flown in the year ended March 31, compared with 2,030,993 for the previous 12 months. The route mileage was 14,158, compared with 11,306. ~ =^mammmmm LADY FLYER. PROGRESS TO AUSTRALIA. (Received 10.30 a.m.) JODHPUR, October 28. Miss Freda Thompson, the Australian aviatrix, who left Lympne for Australia on September 28 and was held up by a crash near Athens, arrived here to-day and left later for Allahabad. SPEED RECORDS. CLYDE PANGBORN'S AIMS. LONDON, October 24. Clyde Pangborn, who, with Colonel Roscoe Turner, flew a Boeing Transport 'plane in the Centenary air race, hopes to attack the world's speed record of 304 miles an hour for land aeroplanes after the race. He is negotiating for the purchase of the Vickers Supermarine, which won the Schneider Trophy for Britain in 1931. Mr. Pangborn said the conversion of the Schneider Trophy 'plane to attempt the record would'be undertaken largely to demonstrate the efficiency of the English "in line" engine, which must; replace the American radial engines before American speed records could be' increased. His project would not be undertaken before next summer, when he also hoped to make a non-stop round-the-world flight in 104 hours, round the Northern Hemisphere. He would start from New York and would refuel in the air at Moscow and Chita, Siberia. In this attempt he would tise a Burnelli 'plane with a range of 8200 miles and a cruising speed of 230 m.p.h. ;