SUPREME HINKLER

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 112, 4 February 1933, Page 8

SUPREME HINKLER

Great Flyer’s Achievements THEORY AS TO FATE Mr. F. C. Chichester's Views TRIBUTE TO BRAVE MAN 'Die following tribute to Squad-ron-Leader H. J. L. Hinkler is contributed to “The Dominion” by the New Zealand airman, Mr. Francis C. Chichester, who. also discusses the probable fate of the famous long-distance flyer.

There could be no greater blow to the world of aviation than the death of Mr. Hinkler, and now. it seems almost hopeless that he should bo alive. There arc many ways in which he could have met his death, but the odds are against such an accomplished pilot being lost iu the British Channel or Adriatic without trace. It is more probable that he came to grief in flying over the Alps, during such a bad time of the year for weather.

. Long-distance pilots know only too well the great danger of ice forming on the machine over mountains; Per- ! haps he was flying blind through cloud—he may have been flying at 12;000 to 15,000 feet altitude, and thinking he had plenty of height to spare--when he flew into a cloud of moisture. Could Collect Ton of Ice. If this formed a thick coating of ice ou the leading edge of his wings, on the struts, and on the undercarriage, .it would take no time for him to collect a quarter of a ton of ice. This tremendous weight, in consideration of the already overloaded state of the machine, and combined with the Joss of- efficiency due to the air foil of the wings being changed, would force him to lose height steadily, and without chance of remedy. Not knowing whether he was over the summit or not, it would be as equally, fruitless to attempt return as to go forward, and with clouds lying on the mountain tops, he could hit a solid wall of rock at 70 miles per hour before he even saw it. Another, possibility is that he struck a shower of hail, and that his carburettor intake became choked with it, as has been known to happen before. “Ilinlder was Supreme.” Among long-distance pilots, most of his fellow airmen will consider Hinkler’ was supreme. His flight to Australia in February, .1.928, was, in my opinion, the finest long-distance flight that had been made up to that date, although I know that the flight of Lindbergh across the Atlantic is generally thought

But consider Hinkler’s performance. He was flying the first Avian light co->i PlalJe made - Its "eight was onljOJolb. His engine was a poor affair compared to the aero engine of to-day. Its horse-power only 36 to 80. Yet, sketch y equipment, Hinkler flew 1100 miles non-stop in .13 hours on h! S fi r _s t d3y Australia-wards. , L. ve - ry W)11 know the strain of a lay s fiuch as tkis in a light machine, and over the mountains in wli'i-’h p, ? obabl / > aet . his death. Yet, for H d , ay A following, Hinkler battled fo'vaids Australia, and on the sixteenth trlp ’ J 1(! mndc a final of 1000 miles across) the sea. after trying ?.‘n bt hofore in a native’hur £ On I’eltmg on the roof, and mosJU m? s swar mmg round him. bn f US ’i after (iays of gruelling flight, he laced a water jump half the width of the Atlantic (which is 1950 miles from ant *•<? Ireland), in an insignififlnwn "’ hicll had already tention nailes without serious atln my opinion, this flight ranks au Perior to a single crossing of llio (Atlantic, which is all over in 30 hours at the outside. To show how he tried his machine to the utmost, I was told in Darwin that he was unable to free the piston rings on one piston with a chisel ou arrival. h ith machines improviDg in perform* apes almost monthly, no one was able to make a stole flight to Australia in better time for years, although many pilots made the attempt before finally’ Kin -s--ford Smith beat Hinkler’s record. . . ? . Until then, it seems to me that Hinkler stood supreme among long-distance pilots. After that, one began to forget him with tlie fresh and outstanding performances being put. up by other pilots, notably those of Kingsford Smith. But again Hinkler came to the foreffont anti proved how superior his Australian flight had been to a single ocean crossing, by himself flying the South Atlantic solo in a Puss Sloth, and demonstrating Ins master touch by navigating lus machine so .accurately over the 1900 miles ot ocean, that, ho struck laud in Africa within 10 miles of the Cape he aimed for. One other point should be remembered about Hinkler, and that is. that, his flight to Australia in a light machine demonstratea trie possibilities of the type, and undoubtedly fostered the rapid promotion of hundreds of light aeroplane clubs t hroughout the British pi re.