A RISKY FLIGHT.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20730, 15 December 1932, Page 8

A RISKY FLIGHT.

PROPELLER AND FABRIC DAMAGED. PRIVATE OWNER'S DILEMMA. 4 [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, December 14. A flight from Matamata to Tauranga, a distance of about 25 miles by air, with a b'roken propeller and a holo in the fabric of one wing of his machine, was made by a private owner, Mr 11. L. D. West, of Whakatane. Mr West owps the only Comper-Swift machine in tho Dominion, a tiny singleseater high wing monoplane. Immediately he took off from Matamata Mr West noticed that his machine was not climbing at its usual rate, 'and was at a loss to account for its indifferent performance. He experienced difficulty in gaining altitude, and managed to clear the KJaimai hills only by a small margin. In spite of the poor performance of the Comper, the pilot deeidod to continue his flight, but received a rude shock when, while crossing the Kaimai hills, he noticed a gaping hole in tho fabric of one wing. As a landing on the Kaimais was quite out of the question, Mr West was obliged to carry on in spite of the fact that the hole in the wing fabric was growing in size at an alarming rate. Under tho circumstances there was nothing he could do but hope for the best, and after a nerve-racking trip, he made a safe landing at Tauranga. On making an inspection of his machine Mr West was astounded to find that the tip of each propeller blade "was missing, and that one blade was split almost to tlfe boss. It was then apparent that in taking off from a comparatively rough field at Matamata* the propeller had struek the ground, snapping the tips from the blades and splitting the air-scrow. The hole in the fabric was evidently due to a piece of the broken propeller striking the wing. Tho Comper is fitted with tho "doughnut" type of landing wheels, and on an uneven field there would be little clearance between the tips of the propeller blades and the ground when the machine was in flying position.