SOME FLYING HISTORY

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 85, 9 January 1928, Page 10

SOME FLYING HISTORY

FARMAN TO LINDBERGH POST-WAR DEVELOPMENTS NEW ZEALAND BACKWARD New Zealand may be described as the “missing link” in the Empire Imperial aerial chain. 7he Dominion is one of the most backward countries in the civilised world in regard to aviation. The aeroplane. is still unknown to many parts of the country, and probably half the people of the Dominion have never seen an aeroplane in flight. Aeroplanes are more or less commonplace in the neighbourhood of Christchurch, where the Government maintains an aerodrome with a number of military machines; and seaplanes are well known to the people of Auckland. Elsewhere in New Zealand the aeroplane is non-existent, and air travel still belongs to the future. Trans-Tasman Flight. A flight across the Tasman Sea has been talked of ever since the first Atlantic crossing was first made in 1919. This stretch of ocean is the last link in the Empire chain yet to be forged by the airman, and if the flight of Hood and Moncrief? is successful—and there are good reasons for believing that it will be made this week—it will undoubtedly stimulate interest m aviation in New Zealand and arouse the people to a fuller realisation of its civil and military possibilities. Twenty Years’ Progress..

It is now just over nineteen years since the first cross-country aeroplane flight ever accomplished was made by Henry Farman, who flew 17 miles on October 30, 1908. Nine months later—July 25, 1909—the world was astonished by the news that Louis Bleriot had flown .across the English Channel from Calais to Dover. His ■ machine had a 25 horsepower engine, and when he reached England he had- to find a gap in the cliffs through which lie could enter, since he lacked the power to climb above them. Five years later the cruel spur of war needs gave the world air mas- . tery and forced the development of the aeroplane with astonishing speed. The First Transatlantic Flights. The lessons learned during the war gave a marvellous impetus to civilian aviation and six ■ months after the Armistice two flights were made across the Atlantic. On May 17, 1919, three United States Naval Air Service flying boats started from Trepassey, Newfoundland, but only one completed the flight. This machine, N.C.4., flew to the Azores, about 1400 miles, in 15 hours 18 minutes, and thence to Lisbon and Plymouth, covering the 3131 miles in 38 hours .29 minutes flying time. On May 19 Mr. Harry Hawker and Lieutenant-Commander Mackenzie-Grieve. started from St. John, Newfoundland, to fly to Ireland, but were forced by engine trouble to descend after 14-J hours. They were nicked up by a Danish steamer and landed in Scotland a week later. The first non-stop flight across the Atlantic was made a month later by two Englishmen, Captain J. Alcock and Lieutenant A. TV. Brown, in a VickersRolls Royce (two engines). Lem .hg St. John on June 14, they covered 1940 miles in 1G hours 12 minutes, landing early .next morning at Clifden in Galway, Ireland. On July 2 the British airship R 34 left England for New York, and made the flight of 3134) sea miles in 108 hours. Three days later she started for Home, and she landed in Norfolk after a flight of 75 hours 3 minutes. Other great flights of 1919 were England to India in stages; France to Algeria, 800 miles non-stop; ■ Toulouse to Casablanca, 1180 miles, in 11 hours; a Handley-Page machine with eight persons, 836 miles in 11 hours; Paris to Morocco, 1500 miles, in 11 hours 50 minutes: a flight over the'Andes in Sooth America; non-stop Txmdon to Madrid; Madrid to Rome, 990 miles: Paris, to Morocco. 1250 miles, with eight passengers, in 171 hours; a Roval Air Force seaplane from England to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 2450 sea miles, in 40 hours 40 minutes; London to Copenhagen, with seven passengers. The London-Paris passenger and mail air service, was inaugurated on August 25. First Flight to Australia. The crowning achievement of the year 1919 was the successful completion of the' first flight from England to Australia by the brothers Ross and Keith Smith with two. mechanics. They left London on November 12, and arrived at Port Darwin, on December 10, having covered 11.294 miles in just under 28 days, thus winning the Australian Government’s prize of .<£lo,ooo. On August 2, 1920, the second flight to Australia was completed in a decrepit machine by Lieuts. Parer and Macintosh, who were about ten months on tae journey. Flights from London to Cape Town, via • Cairo and Central Africa, by two South Africans, and from Rome to Tokio, Japan, by an Italian airman, were outstanding events of 1920. Sir John Alcock, pilot of the first non-stop transatlantic flight, was killed on December 20, 1919, and Harry Hawker met his j death while flying on July 12, 1921. Airship and Aeroplane Crashes. There were other regrettable smashes during 1921, the airship R 34, of transatlantic fame, being lost on January 28, and the H3B, which had been sold to America, breaking in two, and falling in flames on August 24, with the loss . of "44 lives. Thera were, numerous aero-

plane crashes with loss of life. Ou July 9, the British Air .Minister flew from Cairo to Bagdad in 12 hours, ami on September 29 at Daylou, Ohio, an American airman broke the height record at an altitude of 40,800 feet. Progress and Losses. Steady progress in aviation marked the year 1922, despite several unfortunat mishaps. Sir Ross Smith and Lieut. Bennett (who was a mechanic ou the flight to Australia) were Killed ou April 13, while testing 11 machine in which they proposed to fly round the world. Two aeroplanes ou the Loudon-Paris service collided in Franco, six persons being killed, while a similar accident in Italy was responsible for the death of four Italian airmen. Three English officers set out on May 24 on -a flight round the world, which was abandoned when their machine capsized in the sea off the coast of Burma. Two Portuguese airmen arrived at Pernambuco, Brazil, on June 5, after a Hight from Portugal. The year was also remarkable for the development of the glider or engineless aeroplane. A German student kept the air on a glider for 3 hours 10 minutes, and a Frenchman won . a "Daily Mail” prize of ’ <£looo by ‘‘gliding” for 3 hours 22 minutes in a contest in England. Three months later the. same man kept the air for 8 hours 3 minutes. On October 22, Mr. (now Sir Alan) Cobham arrived at Croydon. London, after flying to Constantinople and the Dardanelles and back. The development of the "light” aeroplane was a remargable feature of 1923. when several contests for this type of craft took place. A Frenchman flew across the Channel and back in a tiny machine fitted w{th a 15 horse-power engine. In May two American officers made a non-stop flight across the United States, about 2000 miles in 2G hours. The first International Air Congress was held in London. 17 nations being represented. During the twelve months ended September 30, 1923. 17,542 passengers were carried by air between London and the Continent in British machines without a single accident. Flight Round the World. The first aeroplane flight round the world was made in 1924. Four American machines left Seattle, Washington, on April 6, ono being lost in Alaska and the other three crossing the North Pacific by way of the Aleutian Islands and the south coast of Kamschatka. Japan was crossed and Hong-Kong reached on June 8, the journey being continued by. way of Saigon, Bangkok and Rangoon, and across India to Karachi, where they arrived on July 4. The journey to Constantinople and across Europe was uneventful, and the airmen reached London on July 16. Proceeding via the Orkney Islands and a second machine being wrecked en route, the.airnien flew to Greenland. Labrador, Nova Scotia, Boston, New York, and Chicago, and thence back to Seattle, where they arrived on September 29, having covered a total distance of 27,500 miles at an average speed of 76 miles per hour. An Englishman, Major MacLaren, who attempted a round the world flight eastward from England, got halfway between Kamsehatka and the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific and then had to come down in a heavy sea and abandon hij flight. On June 9, a Frenchman, Lieutenant D’Oisy. arrived at Tokio. completing his 12,000 miles flight from France. A few weeks previously two Australians completed a flight of 8500 miles round Australia in 90 flying hours, An American officer flew from New York to San Francisco in 21? hours and two Frenchmen set up a new duration record, remaining in the air for <37 hours 1 minute. Mare Wonderful Flights. The outstanding event of 1925 was the great world flight of the Italian airman, the Marchese de Pinedo, who flow from Rome to Melbourne, thence to Tokio, Japan, and ' back to Rome, where he arrived on November 7. after covering 37.000 .miles. A. few days later Alan Cobham, left London for Cape Town via Paris, Athens, Cairo and. Pretoria, arriving safely on February 17, after a journey of 8000 miles. . Ho left, Cape Town on February 26. and arrived back in London on March 13. A few weeks previously two Spanish airmen flow from Madrid via the Azores and Pernambuco Brazil) to Buenos Aires. Two North Pole Flights. On May 9, 1926, Commander Byrd, of the United States Nary, flew from Spitzbergen to the North Pole and back, covering 1300 miles in a non-stop flight in just under 1G hours. On May IG, the Italian airship Norge, in charge of Captain Amundsen, arrived at Teller. Alaska, after flying over the North Pole from Spitzbergen. Cobham’s Australian Flight. On June 21, Alan Cobham left Rochester Tn a seaplane for Australia and reached Naples in the evening. Proceeding via Athens, Bagdad, Basra, India, Singapore and Java, he arrived at Port Darwin on August 5, Sydney August 11 and Melbourne August 15.. He left Melbourne on August 29 on his return to England, and alighted on the Thames at Westminster on October 1. He was knighted in recognition of his vreat achievement. A month later two Frenchmen set up a' non-stop record in flying from Paris' to the Persian Gulf. 3250 miles in 32 hours. Great Achievements Last Year. Last year was a remarkable one in aviation, the most spectacular achievements being several trans-Atlantic flights. In January, do Pinedo left Rome and flew to South America via the West Coast of Africa. From Brazil lie flew to Havana and New Orleans. His machine was burned on Roosevelt Lake. Arizona- He obtained a new plane and flew from New .York via New Orleans to California, and thence across Canada to Newfoundland. Thence he flew to the Azores, his machine being damaged on - route, and reached Roma safely m time. The fifth British flight by four machines from xCairo to Cape Town in April was overshadowed by tho disaster to two Frenchmen,. Nungesser and _Coh, who were lost without trace while attempting the flight fro mFrance io America. Even this mishap was forgotten when Charles Lindbergh, flying alone, arrived at Paris on May 22 from New York,

coverin? GOOD kilometres in 33J hours, The Atlantic was again crossed on June fi by two Americans, Clarence Chamberlin and Charles Levine, who landed at Paderborn, in Germany, after a record non-stop flight of 3906 miles. After repairing their machine thQy completed their flight at Berlin. On June 30, Commanded Byrd the hero of the North Polo flight, landed on the coast of France from New York after being lost for several hours in a storm. During the crossing of the Atlantic Byrd nnd his companions saw neither sky nor sea. Pacific Flights. On Juno 29 two American officers Maitland and Hagenberg, made a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Honolulu in 25 hours 51 minutes. About a fortnight later two other officers. Smith and Bronte, made a similar successful flightThe record of trans-ocean .flights dur-, ing 1927 was marred by rhe disasters in tho Dole flying raco from San Francisco to Hopohiju Throe pilots were killed before' tlm start, and throe aeroplanes, the Golden Eagle. Miss Doran and Dallas Snirit were lost at sea. Two American nfrnien, Brock and Sclilee, made the fourth trans-Atlantic flight, from Newfoundland to London, on August. 28. but disaster overlook Contain Hamilton, Colonel Murchin nnd the Princess Loweiistcin-lVerthcim. who attempted to flv westward from England to Canada, aiid tw* other aeroplanes which started from Maine and Newfoundland. All hands were lost and the wreckage of only one plane was found. In October Oil'l another mishap occurred, tho plane American Girl, piloted by Miss Elder, being lost on the flight from New York To Paris. Fortunately, Miss Elder and Tier companion were rescued. by a .steamer just before their machine was burned. , In October two Frenchmen completed a flight from Paris to Buenos Ayres after making a non-stop crossing of the ■South Atlantic. In tho same month four Boval Air Force boats left Plymouth on a twelve months’ cruise to Sin«fipore and Australia. The Australian airman, Kingsford Smith, who arrived in San Francisco in October, is still held up on his proposed flight across the Pacific. Sir Alan Cobham left England in November on a seaplane fliriit of 20,000 miles round Africa. The year closed with the loss of Mrs. Grayson’s aeroplane, which left New York for Newfoundland to start a transAtlantic flight; and the great non-stop "•'ght of Lindbergh from Washington to Mexico City. .