CAREFUL SURVEY

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 98, 19 January 1933, Page 7

CAREFUL SURVEY

Search for Hinkler Over Swiss Mountains INTERFERENCE BY SNOW official Wireless. Rugby, Jan. 17. Captain Lawrence Hope continued his search by air for the missing airman, Squadron-Leader Hinkler, over the Swiss peaks and valleys to-day. He has now made Lausanne his base, and will carefully survey the Simplon area, but suow is interfering with the search. A Basle message states that Captain Hope proposes to fly for five hours daily, searching a different sector each time, flying as close to the mountains as possible. He says that the task is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but he is hopeful and will continue the search for Mr. Hinkler fQt at least a W< Snow and sleet prevented him from searching to-day. He has transferred his headquarters to Lausanne, which is handier to the Simplon. Those familiar with the Alps ate apprehensive that snow will obliterate all traces of the missing aeroplane, A new report is that a machine was seen on January 7 over Lake Geneva and also another that it was going from the Rhone Valley toward the Simplon, which is an unsual route. CLUES RECEIVED Three Persons Sight Machine (Received Jan. 10, 0-55 a.in.) London, Jan. 18. A Lausanne message states that Captain Hope received two clues during his search for Mr. Hinkler. Two students who were ski-ing near the Diab lerest on Saturday say they sighted a machine, probably Mr. Hinkler s, while a gendarme at Montana also saw a machine the identification marks of which correspond with Mr.• I^ kle £,®’ The weather improved to-daj. UP tain Hope is searching the Simplon district. HOME RANSACKED Plans of Mystery Aeroplane POSSIBILITY OF THEFT (Received Jan. 8, 7.15 p.m.) London, Jan. 18. Burglars ransacked every room in Squadron-Leader Hinkler’s Southampton home. A postman, calling for letters saw the diningroom window smashed. The police found the house in wild disorder. It is impossble ycllo say what was stolen, but Mr. Hinkle kept many valuable gifts and trophies th The "Chronicle” says that the thieves may have stolen the secret plans; of Mr. Hinkler’s mystery monoplane with which he hoped to make a fortune and bring aviation within the reach of the family man. The plans would be of the greatest value if the thieves weie able to place them in the right quarters. It is believed that the raiders thoroughly examined the monoplane m a shed. It is also feared that there were blue prints in the house, but Mrs. Hinkler’s absence prevents certainty. a cablegram seeking information is being dispatched to her, also inquiring what valuables were in the house. MRS. HINKLER’S FEARS Plans of Model Machine By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Jan. 18. Interviewed regarding the London cablegram reporting a burglary at her residence, Mrs. Hinkler said to-nigh that she had not yet received news of the burglary. The news was most disturbing. The plans referred to most probablv would be-those of the new light amphibian monoplane on whic n her husband had been working for some time and perfection of which constituted one of his greatest ambitions. At their home was a hangar housing , his model of the machine, which he called the Ibis Amphibian monoplane. If he did not deposit the plans in the bank before leaving England they would most certainly be stored in a safe place in the house together with other articles they both valued. Her husband had been working on the machine at least five years. A model constructed at Southampton had been flown. She had had flights in it herself with her husband. His aim was to construct a light amphibian monoplane of considerable cruising range and easily handled by one man. FRENCH INVESTIGATION No Repoi-t of Hinkler Paris, Jan. 17, The French authorities exhaustively inquired about the missing airman, Squadron-Leader Hinkler, at the request of the British Air Ministry. They report that there is no evidence of any unknown airman crossing France. Aerial control is so close that It is impossible for an aeroplane to cross France unseen. It was unlikely that Mr. Hinkler had gone so far out of his course as the Alps, especially in winter time. They fear that he met disaster in the Channel. BLOWN OFF COURSE Missing Girl Flyers Found Official Wireless. Rugby, Jan. 17. The two English girl flyers, Misses Joan Page and Audrey Sale Barker, who crashed in the African bush during a heavy storm on the way from the Cape to England, have now been brought to Nairobi. They were located yesterday after an air search, having been missing since Saturday. Miss Page has a broken leg and her companion slight head injuries. Both are now in hospital and reported to be comfortable and cheerful. They state that they were blown out of their course by a storm, and in making a forced landing when the petrol was exhausted the machine turned over.

The death is announced from Sydney of Mr. H. E. C. Robinson, official map publisher, whose maps are used in most Government institutions and schools in Australia, aged 76.