LAST LONG FLIGHT

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 243, 14 October 1935, Page 7

LAST LONG FLIGHT

"SMITHY" DELAYED. Hitch Over Airworthiness of 'Plane. EXTRA PETROL TANKS. United Press Association. —Copyright. LONDON, October 13. The Sun-Herald news service says there is only a remote chance of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith beginning his flight to Australia on Tuesday, a3 it is most unlikely that the Air Ministry will grant a certificate for the machine unless Sir Charles submits it to airworthiness tests or cuts down the petrol load.

The Air Ministry informed Sir Charles before he left the United States that he must obtain from the American authorities a special certificate covering the machine in the racing category, in addition to a normal airworthiness certificate. The special certificate was withheld, upon which the Air Ministry cabled to the American authorities, who replied that tliey were not prepared to guarantee the airworthiness of the machine owing to the inclusion of extra petrol tanks.

The airman had planned to leave for Australia on Tuesday, reaching Wyndham in two days and Sydney in two and a half. Ho intended to fly non-stop to Bagdad, and then to Allahabad, which he hoped to*reacli in 24 hours from London, and after that to halt only at Singapore, thus reaching Australia in four hops.

Sir Charles told the "Sunday Graphic": "This is my last long-distance flight. I am tired, and shan't attack the England-to-Australia record. I am anxious to get home and start on the Tasman job."