PLANES START ON CENTENARY RACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 232, 30 September 1936, Page 7

PLANES START ON CENTENARY RACE.

TO JOHANNESBURG. Some Competitors Drop Out In Early Stages. , NO SERIOUS MISHAPS. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, September 29. The nine aeroplanes entered for the air race to Johannesburg took off early this morning from the Portsmouth aerodrome. The weather was clear and a big harvest moon was shining. There was an almost complete absence of wind. A large crowd of spectators had <rathered overnight and had spent their time in dancing and singing. More than 500 motor cars were parked at the aerodrome. The handicaps, with, the machines being used by the respective competitors, are as follow : — Mr. K. Alington and Lieutenant P. Booth, in a B.A. Eagle, 21h 58m. Flying Officer D. Llewellyn, in a Percival Vega Gull, 13h 27m. Messrs. C. W. A. Scott and Giles Guthrie, in a Percival Vega Gull, 13h 14m. Mr. Victor Smith, in a Miles Sparrow Hawk, lOh 34m. Flying Officer A. E. Clouston, formerly of Westport, New Zealand, in a Miles Hawk VI., 6h 25m. Flight-Lieutenant Max Findlay and °Mr. Ken Waller, in an Airspeed Envoy, 3h 13m. Flight-Lieutenant T. Rose and Mr. Jack ° Bagshaw, in a 8.A.4 Dougle Eagle, 3h 6m. Major A. W. Miller, in a Percival Mew Gull, lm 12s. Captain S. S. Halse, in a Percival Mew Gull, scratch. Scenes at Early Morning Take-off. Findlay and Waller took off at 6.30 a.m., and the others left at minute intervals in the following order:— Halse, Alington and Booth, Rose and Bagshaw, Clouston, Llewellyn, Miller, Scott and Guthrie, and Smith. Each pilot carried letters from the Lord Mayors of London and Portsmouth to the Mayor of Johannesburg. Dawn was just breaking when Findlay and Waller left in the most powerful machine. It is numbered 13 and carries a wireless operator and a passenger. Fellow officers played a joke on Mr. Clouston. They affixed a large ,r L" —to signify learner —beneath the fuselage, which was not seen until he was aloft. Scott should have been the last to leave but unlucky Victor Smith lived up to his reputation. His engine was slow to start so Scott was flagged aw&y first. However, Smith soon overtook him. Rose and Bagshaw arrived at Linz, Austria, at 11.6 a.m., owing to shortage of petrol, but resumed the flight at 11.27. Machines at First Reporting 'Drome. Belgrade reports state that Halse arrived there at 12.8 p.m. He was first at the compulsory station. Smith arrived at 12.42, Clouston 12.42, Waller 12.50, Alington 2.4, Scott 2.8, and Lllewellyn 2.23. Rose circled the field and signalled that he was not landing but later returned for a weather report and dgparted at 2.37. Miller arrived at 4.33. He said he fc'as retiring from the race, having landed at Ruma, 25 miles from Belgrade, owing to lack of petrol which took him 4J hours to obtain. Smith also announced that he had abandoned the race after a forced landing at Scoplje, Yugoslavia, owing to oil trouble. Halse averaged 202 miles an hour. He and Waller complained of intense cold oyer the Alps. Clouston was only 13 minutes at Belgrade before resuming. Fifteen minutes sufficed for m#st of the competitors to refuel. All the competitors continuing in the race left Belgrade. Some had made a stop at Vienna prior to arriving at Belgrade. Rose, Scott Llewellyn later arrived at Salonika in that order. Rose and Llewellyn departed again for Athens and Scott direct for Cairo. A Berlin message says Alington and Booth are out of the race. They made a forced landing at Regensburg, South Germany, owing to running short of petrol. The occupants were uninjured, but the undercarriage of the 'plane was damaged. _The race, held in conjunction with the Empire Exhibition in . Johannesburg organised to mark that city's centenary celebrations, is over a distance of 6500 niiles. It started at Portsmouth, and will finish at the Rand airport, Johannesburg. Only British pilots and aircraft were permitted entry, and all chief pilots must nave 100 hours of solo flying to their credit. The nine entries represented a high ' Percentage of speedy 'planes. Of the £10,000 in prize money donated by a wealthy South African industrialist, Mr. I. W. Schlesinger, the biggest prize (£4000) goes to the completing the course in the shortest time. Four prizes will be awarded on a formula handicap which is weighted in of Machines carrying large useful loads. This is intended to encourage the economical commercial aeroplane of high performance. The first of these prizes will be £3000, the second £1500, the third £1000, and the fourth £500. Competitors must land and check in at Cairo, where geographical differences in times will be adjusted. They must also be seen turning over the Zimun aerodrome, Belgrade, but these are the only control points in the race. PRESUMED LOST. 'PLANE SEARCH ABANDONED. LONDON, September 29. The search for the Imperial Airways machine Boadicea, which was announced °n September 26 as long overdue, has been abandoned. The Boadicea was bound for Paris from Croydon, carrying a pilot, wireless o'fficer, mails and freight, some of it bound for Australia. It is feared that she crashed into the Channel.