KINGSFORD SMITH'S TRIUMPH

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19413, 12 September 1928, Page 13

KINGSFORD SMITH'S TRIUMPH

t Hazardous Venture D RECEPTION AT AERODROME r Aviation history was made yesterday morning when tSie huge aeroplane Southern Cross arrived at the Sockburn Aerodrome from the Richmond Aerodrome, New South Wales, after a flight of a little less than 14J hours She had on hoard Squadron-Leader 0. E. Kingsford 3mith f M.C., A.F.0., Flight-Lieutenant 0. T. P, uim, A.F.G., Mr H. A. Litchfield,, navigator, and Mr T. H. MoWUliam, radio operator, the last-named heing a New gealander, ~

Ira that the 8on«h UJltoalia about J no, it wan Antics OTivs at SQefcbwu as whp had wire, get the tofonn* iffl the lo««l radiq a WM QTer Wel< 40 a.m. Cause. > neeeaaary tranae time to get to tbe landing, oon« Id not have beep re wan » rather by a beautiful W&4 there was a of white clouds Mcb the Southern ViaibWty was lew of the far-off taxable,- and a . wm blowing, ere wai a ateady approaching the pofJbeCJHyaad rvariom rorttw, >awied on ,tbe ~ the cojonre of or the occasion, eongeajlpn. }fay 0 wd 8 *. m . that it beoame traveraing the warativeiy alow m parfced some lr«se itself, the i«j»*Yefl <o* the who had paaaes lejllfr'adjoining up in their ejy the' special I Timaru, owing the 'plane, did Aerodrome in to see the landighted at SockBction of the IrrifaL hail a apeeial ted: at the Aeroirem messagea it and Bpeechee i&faie, wlmitag t the J?ap«ua » diatriet the > J. £, Archar, Sir D. a, S«Wir. of Chris* Wwdes, nm* <rf;New ZSe*" 1,, all.of whom w 91 the Qivftr f pleawro at

Tet a third ttma it caroled tfcfl landing place, taking a wider sweep, fjlaokpnisg speed at the fju* end of the {jrpwd, Smith brought the head of the t»iane into tho light easterly, and thu Sonthem Cross glided slowly to earth at 9.22 a,m, The Taqman had been crossed in « little more than 14 hours.

tfea City in clouds .of blinding dust, and mi»or mishaps and traffic blocfeaged were the order. Navigator Slightly Hfurt. ( The warmth of the reception accord? Ed tho airmen was responsible for Mr Litchfield being rendered temporarily pxhauated, Hewas lifted shoulder high by his admirers, and was "patted" oj> the back by scores of would-be friends but soon the navigator had • reason to remember the expression "Save me from my friends,' * so that when he at last managed to get as far as thegate leading to the Aerodrome, he was glad to avail himself of an offer of a lift iu a furniture van. Out of consideration for the airman, the driver took a round' abgut way to the Square, where the yehicje was held up by a traffic inspec* tor. To the great w*p?ise of the offi? cial Mr Litchfield stepped out and was carried shoulder high up the hotel steps to. makeap appearance a few minutes later on the balcony, to acknowledge the sheers of the gathering below, ;

Barriers Broke®.

As soon as the machine had made its , perfect landing it taxied vary slowly towards the northern side of the hangars. The rope barriers were i broken down and the crowds surged ' out on the heels of the b»ttpry of camera men. sho first "oJose-up" of the fiyers was ' seen when the giant uwsoplaue was on' theground and one of the cabin windows was opened, Through the opening many adventurous people, tatog no heed of the warning of the pilot, who waved ifcs right arm in a vain endeavour to keep thgip back, managed to shake hands with the members of the crew in the cabin., The machine travelled about 200 yards at a. mailing pace with the crowds following it up, and surging round on either side. As .soon as it came to a standstill, and the.engines were stopped, all regulations were forgotten and all barriers brofcen down. . Cheering frantically, people came ruuuiug. frpju all pwtg of %» ground, aud mounted men had to cl?ar a space round -the: aeroplane. , •One of the first to speak to the flyers was Major-General ft. Young. ' To Mr T. H. McWilliam,■ the radio operator, he said, 7fPow did you get on!" McWilliam "Sony, I ean't flew yon, I'm, de#£/ as a post. from >.4fto eeginoH.^-%r,--^-'' -- . «■ The mounted,,teen' were still busy keeping the crowd-, back 'one of the officers fromth? aerodrome moved the propellers into a > horizontal position, placing opt of the reach of »/««> Standing on the ground, Cap- . tarn flvmy, accqjppauied ha Mr P, S. Cjiwie, Wtoa the flyers to tho ground- , Oigawttes were peered immediately, 1 and the flyers' first action on reaching' 1 wo earth after their great flight was /.P^S ar .ott^B, r T#o erowd Bane 4 9?W are Jolly Good Fellows.'' S?r! i 5 ? e en. n took off tKeir helmets, ! Eingsford Smith bowing and replying "The,same to you." ™W«W

Accidents Aorodrojjw. There wore one. or two minor accid< outs at the Aerodrome when the orowd wps at its densest, A youug wopjan Sprained her anlJe, axid had to be eat sistod to a;* hangar where her injury was attended to, Tho accident occurred when phe ,was attempting to get through a fence, A.second accident occurred \ when boy named Sen Throp, living at Southampton street, had * foot trampled or by a horse, necessitating his admission to hospital. In a third instance 'a woman ,was rather painfully crushed between two cars, besides wbieh there were a few' fainting cases. The great difference between steamer and ?eroplano. transport was exemplified ia the arrival $ the Southern Cross. The steamer Makiwa loft, Sydney for- Wei-: Jington on Thursday, arriving jat the latter port on Monday, her passengers for (Jhristohureb Tuesday by the ferry boat, A Wdy P&sseuger was Wigram Aerodrome when the 'plane .made itslanding, and was; heard to observe: Just fancy, X loft Sydney on Thursday to get to ChristChurph and the .'plane -left last night, and yet it is how as j soop ai I am. :

Very Fip.e Show.

Official Welcome, ' The'm. Sir ft Beaton *he- first official spseeh of welcome. to thd fkyetff. • ,'I dQ ROfc Wish ,tg sCOsp yflp fey joy T V'g"" -j^v'»«ml' "tK p eientigg the Zealand Govern* ff• ?f. T GQvernmftnt's ; behall •» W l very ©Jessed to ■W Wu hero, I congratulate ypu most he*?tuy on yow great auqegps and your M added, shaking hands with, the flyers. ;; " , Tfe® Mayor,Mr J, K, Archer, v?as unRWe to get through the crowd to wel- : come the airmen, the mounted police «»yy»o difiwlty in hooping; the excHod WOf) away'while the speeches were wade, | TheDeputy-Mayor, Mr D, G, Sullivan, tt'F'i met with wore being nearer the 'plane when it came to rest. "I wish: to' add my hearty congratulations,'' h* ♦♦ on behalf' of the City and a&o the Opposition. I can onlyeay how very proud we ara of the wonderful venture>yea havo so successfully undertaken, and ' express our very great pleasure at your safe, landing," ' . Both Kinggford Smith and TTlm were wearing mascots, in the shape of< silver ferns, fastened by ribbons to their flying gear.

The 'members of the ofllctel partf ex* ; pressed keen pleasure at the supcesij of the, flight, atating that it had been a "very fine taow" from mff poi»t of View, -■< 1 ■■ • Major T. M, Wilkes, Director of Air Forces in New Zealand, stated thafr the' : flight been a magnifleent achieve' went, It had linked the last two of the British Dominions, and wonljl flo a great deal for the oause of aviation; Ho ww very pleased thftt thi? men who ; had apcompiisned the feat were British, 1 and parttcularly that one member of the , crew waff ,ft New ?ealander. It , meant the greatest credit to all four men, and was a very fine conclusion t,o their splendid flight from America,, : v. worner?" The Mayor (Mr if. K, Areher) and Mrs Archer, visited, the flyers at the United Service Hotel later in the. day, the Mnyor expressing his delight at their safe arrival in Ghristchurch. suppose you think I'm a frightful wowser f" he said, "No, not at all," replied SquadronJjeacler Kingsfprd Smith, "but, after all, we did nos come on Sunday!" Official party's Appreciation. Captain Findlay said that the Ending was an excellent one, and he was great' ly pleased- at the manner in which the crowd had conducted itself. The airmen had unfortunately 'pulled up at the [ wrong, hangars, but that was merely a detail, He was glad that the crowd on the. fence opposite the spot where the machine landed did not rush the groqnd; otherwise the consequences would probably have been serious. The landing had passed off Splendidly, and this view was shared by the aviators. Mr P. R. CJimie, secretary of the Committee of Welcome, expressed the view that the. arrangements were excellent. The crowd had behaved itself very well and if it had broken away this ww oue to tbpse in ths official en- j closure and to the flyers making a i slight mistake in brining their 'plane i to the side of the hangars. He paid a tribute to the manner in,which those j associated with him had carried out < their duties. c

Th aide of the ground 10 'planes in fligh northerly director dc of white olou.dß nKndlay entered oster Grebe, whicl 9&d[ "looping t'h< j&ltruck Bp, when • "There gWtylt a thin bank fcm the northfive PA the vest. Soon Wfiibletoall, and jpg the silhouette ■ snatches**^! w east of north* Ifwrtfdetonr °to •fnoarer the City. pf ihe escorting and the , a historic IpblWr andaireiis |§jpsm<?h of the <.: '■■•■ ; • tfce over the the people. vUh Mter jatete^a jSWfv'

Ji " Thou the photographers asked the 1 flyersto Hoe up for a moment and the 0 public joined in "while cameras clicked. 1 Shoulder High. g , Th e airmen frerethen taken into one r of the hangars out of the way of the » crowd, but wo people followed, cheering jlll the time, an<3 pey were; shouldered J above the pressing mass of humanity, , and carried, shoulder-high nearly as fa* as the roadway, **X<et a man down," " wid Swith, witk, a weary , smile. nerve-strained and ex* I eeediagly tired after their gre#t«dve»L tore the airman were taken .to the r United Service Hotel, and a few minutes later they made their appearance i at 3YA Radio Broadcasting station, i where they spoke briefly. . The flyers were then conveyed pack to their hotel, Mere they are the meets of Mr and Mrs Ernest Boulton, and entered the building through . a fflroat cTowd conjjregstflcl out-Squadron-fceader Kingtford Smith and W»UWgne» tlici ® mad « an »ppearr Engird Smith when someone in the crowd suggested that %S »t Tm*£" Lieutenant Utaf, amidst roam of laugh•"fcttftSfirto their room* f«? . wry VScome bath antf a sleep. Se cwwds continued to eongregafe JfaO&a hotel and there were scenes of activity there for the *■* e< the d< mie haw monoplane h *s teen housed j w! R hangar and a guard is being mooted aver> while it'remains at the approaching 80,000, who. The MOW«» unding, Were loathto witnessed th' o airmen had gone they «a machine which had iHiss ss s |M» -S5S* .ws™" ■ • ~ '

"Wonderful Behaviour," . The Christohureh policespoke jh very favourable terms of th 6 behaviour of the vftst Crowd at the aerodrome. '/There was no bother, and from the point of view of regulation of the crowd the whole thing was very satisfactory. They behaved wonderfully well," mid the Superintendent of Police, Mr E/Eales, ' yesterday afternoon. "The Territorials and Cadets assisted immensely in keep* iag fee crowd in order." . . Mr P. B, Ofinie, secretary of the Committee of Reception, left tat night for Wellington owiiig to the death of his father. Daring his absence the duties concerning the entertainment of the distinguished visitors will be carried out-by the Town Clerk (Mr J. S. Neville) and his assistant; Five Chrysler ears have bee# placed at the disposal of the flyers during their stay in Christcfynrch. Antograpfte<irto«a' . < Flags autographed by Sqnadron&eader - Kingaford Smith and FUghtWeutenant mm wer* hung in the machine' during the ; voyage. It is un--dersteod that they are to be aaottoned tut ehadteM* peipoee*

,; r *t the cqh» eame ■lK|^; mm:s