NOT UN-BRITISH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1935, Page 9

NOT UN-BRITISH.

"SMITHY'S" AIR PLAN.

American 'Planes for Tasntan Service. IMPERIAL SCHEME OUTLINED. (United P.A.— Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Received 9.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, this day. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, commenting 011 the London cablegrams about thd Tasman air service, said it would be very "wrong to take as an anti-Empire gesture his recommendation for American aircraft for the service. Through 110 fault on Britain's part, Americans had produced a type of aircraft eminently suitable for operation within and between the two Dominions, and it was obvious that hoth Australia and New Zealand would become far more valuable units of the Empire when they were connected with an eflicient and regular air mail and passenger service. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith intends to leave Sydney shortly for the United States and England to study recent developments in aviation on behalf of the Tasman Air Service Development Company. lie also hopes to obtain a I certificate of airworthiness for the Lockheed Altair monoplane which ho left in the United States and to fly it from England to Australia. lie expects to make this flight in I October, and later proposes to fly to Japan on a good will tour. A message from Brisbane states that Mr. A. E. Rudder, Australian representative of Imperial Airways, who has arrived there from London by air, gave details of extensive plans for the development of the Empire air services. He said his company was quite prepared to duplicate the Singapore-Australia service, while if flying boats were adopted for the through service, in all probability the existing Australian service would be extended to New Zealand. A definite plan was that the services must not be sectional, but must stretch to all the Dominions and colonies. The Commonwealth Minister of Defence, Mr. K. A. Parkhilt, stated that it was not the intention of the Commonwealth to use American flying boats 011 tho Tasman air service because of the existing embargo 011 American machines in Australia.