TASMAN FLIGHT

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21330, 24 November 1934, Page 14

TASMAN FLIGHT

Airmen Land on North Auckland Beach !AN UNEVENTFUL CROSSING MACHINE WELL OFF ITS COURSE [THE FBESB Bpeelil Berries.] AUCKLAND, November 23. Fears for the safety of the two young airmen who left Gerringong beach, 73 miles south of Sydney, at 3.55 a.m. (New Zealand time) on Thursday for New Plymouth, and who had not been heard of for 24 hours, were allayed when they arrived unexpectedly at the Mangere aerodrome at 7.10 a.m. to-day. The airmen—R. G. Whitehead, aged 24, of Wellington, and E. R. Nicholl, aged 2G, of Manly—landed at East Beach, south of Flouhora Heads, North Auckland, at 6.35 p.m. on Thursday, and remained there for the night. The flight was made in a four-year-old Puss Moth machine, the certificate of airworthiness of which had been cancelled. The crossing was without incident, and occupied 14 hours 40 minutes. The aviators landed at the beach with sufficient > petrol for a further three and ahalf or four hours' flying. On their arrival at the Mangere aerodrome, where a small crowd quickly assembled, they were exhausted but cheerful. They were greatly concerned when they were informed that other pilots had been searching for them since the early morning. The most elementary forms of navigational instruments' were carried, and the machine was without wireless equipment. The , tanks of the Faith in New Zealand carried 117 gallons of petrol, sufficient for 20 hours' flying. Description of Flight A full description of the flight across the Tasman Sea was given by the flyers after their landing at Mangere. "After having been delayed by bad weather for a week, we left the Mascot aerodrome late on Wednesday afternoon and landed at Gerx-ingong beach without incident. after an hour's flight," said Whitehead. "We had intended to take off for New Zealand early on Wednesday morning; but the tides did not suit, so we postponed our departure for 24 hours. "Last-minute preparations were completed in the early hours of Thursday morning. There was quite a crowd at the beach, all total strangers to us; but they were cheerful and wished us all good luck. To while away the time, some of the brighter spirits tried to organise community singing; but this was not altogether a success, and soon gave place to a general discussion of our chances..

"Shortly before 2 o'clock Sydney time, the motor was warmed, and everything was made ready for a take-off. There was a bright moon casting grotesque shadows of the machine and the people on the beach. The Puss Moth was turned into the wind, and the throttle opened, and we both waited anxiously to see how the little machine would fare with an overload of some 600 pounds. The tail came up almost immediately, and our craft lifted easily after a run of about 350 yards. It was then 3.55 a.m. New Zealand time.

"Delighted With Performance" "We were both delighted with this performance; but we had an ■ anxious moment when the wheels ; just tipped a wave. Once safely in \ the air, we did not attempt to turn ; suddenly, as this might have meant i a crash and the dashing of all our hopes. "It had been decided that I should i take the first spell at the controls," said Whitehead, "and I eased the I machine gently round until we were ; on our course eastward. Although '. the crowd had thought that once j in the air it would be difficult j for me to control the heavily-laden I machine, on account of my having i to sit on an improvised seat bej tween my partner's knees, I exper- • ienced no trouble. "We had arranged beforehand | that the man sitting in the front , should do the actual flying, while the other pumped petrol from the main supply' into the wing tanks and added engine oil when necessary, by means of our home-made but extremely effective filling system. "Fifteen miles put from the coast we passed directly over a convoy of five warships accompanying the Duke of Gloucester to Sydney. The vessels were steaming in line and were a mass of lights. From our aerial grandstand, a bare 100 feet above the water, they presented a magnificent sight. Up to this stage we had made no attempt to climb, on account of our load of petrol. Before dawn we ran into the first of the series of small localised storms that we were to encounter. The machine behaved splendidly. Thick Fumes in Cabin "Although I had taken no hand in flying up to this stage, I was earning my passage by keeping the wing tanks full, which meant hard work with a hand-pump, and feeding a quart of oil to our motor each hour," said Nicholl. "It was after the second replenishment of oil had been made that we both noticed the fumes becoming unpleasantly thick in the cabin. An inspection showed that there was a leak past the cotton waste with which I had plugged the top of the hose pipe leading to the oil tank. "Unless we were to be half suffocated the escape of fumes had to be stopped immediately. A battery from one of our two small torches, wrapped in insulating tape, was found to make an excellent plug, and our troubles from this source were at an end. It was no

longer necessary to fly with the cabin windows open, and the cold air pouring in.

Dawn found us flying steadily east at about 100 miles an hour, less than 1000 feet above the sea. There was; a _ thick bank of clouds at about 1500 feet, with a clear space above and cumulus clouds at 3500 feet. We preferred to fly low, as we knew that the Faith in New Zealand, with its heavy load, would bump badly if we skimmed along immediately below the clouds. Small Steamer Passed "A tiny speck on the surface of the ocean directly ahead rapidly assumed the proportions of a small steamer, apparently bound for New Zealand. We thought of circling round her, but decided that those on board could not miss seeing us, so we continued straight ahead. This was the only vessel we sighted." "Six hours out," resumed Whitehead, "I found the machine much lighter on the controls. Part of our big petrol load had been consumed, and the monoplane was mora like her usual self. A change over was decided, so Rex stood up as nearly as he could, and I slid back through his legs and into his seat, while he moved forward and took over the controls. Although a few contortions were required for this change, we had adjusted the controls so that for a minute the machine would fly itself. "We had brought only meagre supplies of food and drink. There was no room for more. We had a thermos of coffee, a few sandwiches, a bottle of malted milk tablets, and also some cafl'ein tablets to keep us awake. We had no fixed time for our meals, each having a sandwich and some coffee as the idea occurred to him. Patches of Bad Weather "The monotony of a typical long ocean flight was broken occasionally when we sighted patches of bad weather. Some we managed to fly round; but it was necessary to plough through the centre of others." "Long before we could possibly have expected to see land," said Nicholl, "we were both straining our eyes for the first glimpse of New Zealand. We were greatly cheered when we sighted driftwood and seabirds, sure signs that land was not far off. After we had been in the air 13 hours we sighted iand in two direct/ons simultaneously. We had not the slightest idea of where we were, although Ray thought he recognised the north end of the South Island. A little later I handed over the controls for him to land the machine." "To the south visibility was very poor, so we decided to turn northward, where the conditions were clearer," said Whitehead. "Furthermore, I thought we were bound to be south rather than north of our course. This had been the case with other flyers, and both Captain P. G. Taylor and Mr G. U. Allen had told us that the Taranaki ironsands had a tendency to affect the compass. , Three Kings Sighted "As we approached the land became clearer, and we noticed a i?roup of islands on the port bow. To determine our position we made for the islands; but we suddenly realised that they must be the Three Kings, and that we were many hundreds of miles north of our course. Not knowing that the lighthouse on the Three Kings is unattended, we circled round in the hope of attracting the attention of the keeper, and then made south down the east coast, seeking a suitable place to land. "From a low altitude we inspected several beaches; but each was corrugated, and we continued southward until we saw a fine stretch of sand. I brought the machine down gently, and we touched the ground at 6.35, New Zealand time, after 14 hours 40 minutes in the air. Never have I seen more lonely-looking country. It was growing dark, and although elated at having reached New Zealand safely, we were anxious to find some residents and telephone so that we could make known the news of our arrival. We were cramped after sitting for so long in the little space available in the cabin, but we set out to look for a homestead. First we walked southward for a little distance, but we saw no signs of any kind of habitation. We then turned back past our machine and tramped wearily for what seemed like hours. A light in the distance cheered us both; but on getting nearer to it we found our way blocked by a river. We were both too tired to attempt a swim, and so returned to the monoplane. Fire Lighted on Beach "In the darkness we lit a fire to keep ourselves warm and also in the hope that we would attract attention. All the driftwood was wet; but we found a box, and with the aid of a little oil we soon had a cheery blaze. Sleep was out of the question. We ate the few remaining sandwiches, and there was enough coffee left to fill the cap of the flask for each of us. Yarning passed the night away; but when dawn came we were glad to start up the motor for the flight to civilisation. We found we had enough petrol left for three and a half or four hours' flying. There was no [ difficulty in getting off the beach again, and as soon as we were in the air we flew to the west coast, which we followed down as far as the entrance to the Manukau Harbour. Then we turned inland, as we knew that the Mangere Aerodrome was near the head of the Manukau." "We had some little difficulty in finding the aerodrome, as neither of us had ever been there before," Nicholl confessed. "We sighted it eventually, however, and were pleased to put our machine down. We were so tired, having gone sleepless for the last three days, that we made frequent changes on the way down to Mangere from the north." "FEARED THE WORST" PARENTS' ANXIOUS NIGHT (PRESS ASSOCIATION TET.F.OB.'tM.) WELLINGTON, November 23. Mrs A. P. Whitehead, mother of the young airman, spent an anxious night. The frst news of her son's safety was a telegram, "Arrived safely.—Ray," which he sent from Mangere at 7.45 a.m., and which the Postmaster at Lower Hutt telephoned to their residence at Stokes Valley. "We had both really given him up." said Mrs Whitehead. "We endured it until we knew he was safe, then we broke down." The chief pilot's sister, Miss Joyce [Whitehead, also confessed that on Thursday evening, when the Faith in New Zealand did not appear, they had feared the worst.

CRITICISM OF FLYERS NEW ZEALAND AERO CLUB'S VIEW CONTRAVENTION OF THE LAW CONDEMNED FLIGHT DISCOUNTENANCED (PRESS ASSOCIATIOX TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, November 23. "We applaud their courage, but we do not applaud their foolhardiness under the conditions that operated," said Mr H. L. Patterson (Otago) at ihe annual meeting of the New Zealand Aero Club to-day, referring to :he Tasman flight of Messrs Whitehead and Nicholl. A tragedy would have meant that the flight would have been a discouragement to the clubs and to flying in New Zealand, and would have clouded the public mind as to the safety of flying, he said. It would have created a feeling that pilots were hare-brained or light-headed and that the Government was not keeping an adequate control on flying.

Mr P. R. Climie (Christchurch) said he had been criticised for his views on Tasman flying; but he had never had anything in his mind so ill-conceived and foolish as the flight which had just taken place. Mr W. L. Free (Wairarapa) remarked that it was customary for clubs to fete Tasman fliers or aviators of note; but in this case the airmen had left without a certificate of airworthiness. He suggested that the clubs .hould not give any reception to them. Mr G. M. Spence, president ul' the New Zealand Aero Club, agreed, and said the clubs should not take any steps at all to recognise the flight. "When I heard of this flight this afternoon I was amazed," he said. "I was shocked that these two men should risk their lives and be so callous to all the anxiety they caused." Mr T. E. O'Dov.d (Hawke's Bay) thought they were "going a bit far" in naming the two pilots. Mr Guy Menzies had also flown the Tasman Sea in a single-engined machine.

A voice: He had a cerlilicate of airworthiness.

Mr Spence: These men have broken the law. On the motion of Mr Free, seconded by Sir Bruce Stewart (Canterbury) it was decided: "That this club discountenances recognition of any 'Tights made in contravention of the law."

FOOLHARDINESS DENIED STATEMENT liV PILOTS IPUKSS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM., AUCKLAND, November 23. Any suggestion that their flight was foolhardy was repudiated by the Tasman flyers. Both pilots said their machine was of a type in which they had confidence, other Puss Moths having accomplished long and notable flights in many parts of the world. They had prepared it carefully for the journey, and were carrying ample fuel to get them across safely, they said. They did not carry wireless because they felt that such equipment would be of little value in the case of a forced landing at sea. Their machine had been granted a certificate of airworthiness, but they had received a telegram from the civil aviation authorities in Australia about a week ago, cancelling the certificate. This was no doubt because they were about to attempt a long ocean flight in a singleengined craft, and also because of the heavy load of petrol they were carrying.

To comply with the regulations governing load and seating accommodation, however, would have meant reducing the petrol supply to such an extent that they would not have had enough fuel to make the crossing. They preferred to have less space and more petrol in order to be safe. Actually the authorities did not know they were taking off. REGULATIONS BROKEN AIRMEN LIABLE TO FINE OH IMPRISONMENT MELBOURNE, November 23. It is not known whether legal action will be taken against Whitehead and Nicholl for having takenoff in an uncertificated machine. The penalty for such a breach of the regulations is a fine of not more than £2OO or not more than six months' imprisonment or both. Captain E. Johnson, Comptroller of Civil Aviation, said that action will depend on whether the flyers return to Australia. POSSIBLE ACTION AGAINST AIRMEN (PRB3B ASSOCUTIOM TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, November 23. Enquiries by a reporter this afternoon indicated the possibility of some action being taken in New Zealand against the two Tasman flyers. The matter is one for the Controller of Civil Aviation (Squadron Leader T. M. Wilkes), but he is out of town, and it is stated that whether anything is to be done v/ill not be decided until his return. Other enquiries suggest that if the extra tank is removed and the machine restored to its standard condition, there is nothing to prevent a certificate of airworthiness from being granted in New Zealand.

LORD BLEDISLOES PRAISE LATEST TASMAN FLIGHT NEW ZEALANDERS' FEATS IN AVIATION (PRES3 ASSOCIATIOH TELEGBAM.) WELLINGTON, November 23. "Of Mr Whitehead and Mr Nicholl, of whose success in their daring although possibly over-rash adventure in the Puss Moth we have just heard, all patriotic New Zealanders must entertain profound admiration," declared the GovernorGeneral (Lord Bledisloe), speaking at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Aero Club. Coupling them with Miss Jean Batten, Mr M. C. McGregor, and Mr H. C. Walker, and Messrs J. D. Hewett and C. E. Kay, his Excellency said: "Their revelation of the possibilities of aviation in this part of the Empire should stimulate the imagination and zeal of many youthful New Zealanders to emulate their skill." ARRIVAL OVER NORTH AUCKLAND MACHINE irEEN BY SEVERAL PERSONS (PRESg IBSOCIATIOM TELEOBAM.) AUCKLAND, November 23. The Faith in New Zealand was seen by several persons in North Auckland late on Thursday afternoon, but was not recognised because of the close resemblance it bears to the Auckland Aero Club's Puss Moth, which was in the same neighbourhood. Reports received from the north indicate that the residents were confused by the fact that a silver Puss Moth from Auckland had been flying in the vicinity of Kaitaia most of the day. Although nobody saw the machine on the ground in North Auckland, it lias been established that it landed at East Beach, a little south of llouhora Heads, on the East Coast. People at Pukenui, some 20 miles north of Awanui, reported yesterday that they saw a machine, but paid little attention. One party that watched the monoplane included the local postmaster, Mr A. V. Wagener, but. he, like Miss Kinane, the postmistress at llouhora, mistook the Faith in Now Zealand for the Auckland machine. The house which the flyers attempted to reach after landing is the home of Mr John Smith, just north of tin; Motutangi river. Mr Smith sheltered some of the survivors wlien the Elingamite was wrecked on the Tree Kings on November 0, 1002. SEARCH FOR FLYERS three auckland aeroplanes en(;a<;ed .i'it.w A.isocuii'iN rr.;.r.r,w\v..> AUCKLAND, November 23.

A search for the trans-Tasman flyers, who were bcJicvcd to be lost until they arrived unexpectedly at Mangere, was carried out by pilots in three Auckland aeroplanes, two from the Auckland Aero Club's headquarters and one from the Hobsonville air oase.

Two of the club machines, which had been to Kailaia for a pageant on Thursday, were flown over various parts of North Auckland this morning by Mr A. S. Allan and " "r G. M. Firth. A third machine with Flight Lieutenant R. S. Wallingi'ord at the controls was flown to New Plymouth and back. None of the searchers saw any signs of the visitors, although the club machines could not have been far away when the Faith in New Zealand flew down from the north in the early morning. Messrs Allan and Firth were surprised on returning to Mangere to find that the Puss Moth had landed there little more than an hour before. "Are you the chaps I've been looking for all over the country?" was the jocular greeting of Mr Allan. "We are sorry we caused concern to anyone. We tried hard to make contact with civilisation, but failed, and had to p..'. in the night on the beach," was the reply. The Puss Moth monoplane is believed by the airmen to be one of the first of its type constructed when the model was introduced by the manufacturers in 1930. Within an hour of the monoplane's arrival, there was a crowd of about 100 gathered round the machine, inspecting its equipment and the somewhat crude but ingenious fittings. In the cabin, space for the two flyers was incredibly small, after the clearing of the seating accommodation and the installation of a petrol tank. THE NEWS IN SYDNEY MRS NICHOLL'S ANXIETY (fKITED rKKSS ASSOCIATION—BT KLECT»IC TELEOBAI'U—COFTBIOHT.) (Received November 23,. 10 p.m.) SYDNEY, November 23. The safe arrival of Whitehead and Nicholl was featured in the afternoon papers in Australia, and created great interest. Mrs Nicholl spoke to her son by wireless to-day from Manly. She was overjoyed to h.ear her son's voice. Nicholl's brother, a Sydney solicitor, stated to-day that his mother kept up well till midnight. When she opened her newspaper this morning she lost all hope. "If you want a real thrill," he added, "just have a brother who is an airmail. Phew!"