AFTER THE FLIGHT

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 45, 17 November 1936, Page 10

AFTER THE FLIGHT

Air. Clark Shows No , Sign of Strain SYDNEY THE WORST PART Flying - From England a Costly Business By Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, November 16. Looking as fit as a fiddle, Mr. Ernie Clark reclined at his ease in the sun this mornnig and discussed some of the more picturesque aspects of his flight from England. The aviator who had flown from England with as little fuss and publicity as possible, showed no signs of the strain that he had undergone during the last hop across the Tasman yesterday. Asked whether he had any bad moments during the journey out, Mr. Clark said there had been one or two, but by far the worst was the take-off from "Richmond Aerodrome, Sydney. "The first hour and a half after taking off was the worst part of the flight,” said Mr. Clark. “I had to fly blind, and as I had only done about an hour’s blind flying in England before setting out. I had some quite good experience.” Discussing blind flying, Mr. Clark explained that the airman had to rely implicitly on his instruments. He had to resist any temptation to act in accordance with his instincts. At times he felt sure that the machine was turning, and was about to go into a spin, but his instruments told him that all was well and he had to trust them. Mr. Clark added that he had some bad minutes before he arrived in Sydney when crossing the Blue Mountains. Bush fires had reduced visibility and he was forced to fly blind. Home-Made Maps. Among the most costly essentials on the trip were the maps. He had made his own maps—a long and difficult task —and had then constructed a roller for use on the flight. For this he used an old chocolate box, and his homemade maps had worked splendidly. One of the most discussed aspects of private flying at present is cost. Mr. Clark admitted that it was a costly business to fly from England, and, pressed for an approximate estimate of his running expenses, he said he thought that they were about £2OO. That did not include the price of the. machine or depreciation, but covered petrol and oil and incidentals. When he arrived at Wigram last night Mr. Clark could not see the ground, in spite of the flares and motor-car lights. “I had to feel my way down,” he said. “I flew down the line of flares once to see that all was clear, and then made my landing. I could not see the crowd until it was suddenly there. I was very surprised.” On his way out Mr. Clark found the natives at the various out-of-the-way places where he landed very consider■ate. Soon after his machine came to rest there would "be a Dig crowd in a wide circle round the aeroplane, but no one ever attempted to touch it. Last night his machine suffered a certain amount of damage from the crowd. "People know that when a motor-car is damaged it costs only a pound or two to repair it, but they do not realise that when there is damage to an aeroplane it costs at least ten times as much,” he added. Now for tho Shearing. Asked what he was going to do with his machine now, Mr. Clarke eaid he was not sure. He thought he would hare to do something about a private aerodrome on his farm, but he had not decided as yet. He thought there was a field where he could land at present. Throughout the trip from England his machine had behaved splendidly. Although he had not attempted to break aqy records, he had not wasted any time. He would land at sunset, spend two or three hours attending to various matters, including the machine, and would then snatch about three hours’ sleep. He would take off again before dawn for the next stage of the journey. On these occasions it was usually clear with a bright moonlight, or at least a certain amount of luminosity, but at Richmond yesterday there was no light at all. Only by reading his instruments could he tell whether he was upside down or right side up. As he was leaving the reporter remarked that after all the publicity about shearing Mr. Clark would really have to go and do some. “ Ithink I will.” came the smiling reply. PILES OF LETTERS Congratulatory Messages By Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, November 16. Unprepared for the fame which has descended upon him after his transTasman flight, Mr. Ernie Clark found himself surrounded to-day by formidable piles of correspondence consisting chiefly of congratulatory letters and telegrams. So great was the task of dealing with the messages received that Mr. Clark was obliged to abandon his earlier plan to fly home to Waikari today. He new proposes to deal with further correspondence to-morrow morning and to fly to his farm tomorrow afternoon. Mr. Clark said he had made no plans for the immediate future. He did not intend to lose touch with flying, but he was not contemplating anything in the nature of a tour of the Dominion. During his visit to Britain he had interested himself in the commercial side of aviation, and it was possible he would make business visits to the chief centres of the Dominion during I lie corning month. Referring to a statement cabled from Sydney that he carried on his flight a fomaha wk and hacksaw for cutting away the engine if he should be forced down at sea, Mr. Clark said he doubted his ability to perform this task. His main idea in carrying tools was to cut a hole in the fuselage if this should be necessary if he was forced down He also intended to cut the petrol line above the tap. Without petrol r.he aeroplane ought to have floated for a long time on a calm sea. Mr. Clark also carried flares, emergency rations •and a quantity of fresh water