A LUCKY ESCAPE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 136, 5 December 1929, Page 21

A LUCKY ESCAPE

AIRMEN CHEAT DEATH

100 MILES AN HOUR CRASH

PILOT'S GRAPHIC STORY

When the 2uOO miles Transcontinental air race from Sydney to Perth was in its final and most exciting stages, C. Trait and James Guthrie, who had already won four sectional prizes of £50 iv the race, and were well iv the running for the big prize, crashed into a tree near Kellerberrin, and were severely injured.

It was the only serious mishap in the race, and Pratt, who is now quite recovered, wrote for the Adelaide "Observer" his own story of the last stages of their brilliant flight and the accident which, put them out of the race.

"It was a most exciting contest from first to last—too long and too tiring, not to say dangerous, most of us thiuk. Still, all the competitors were sportsmen, and thought more of the contest and the honour of winning the first big air race in Australia than of the totally inadequate prize money awarded.* It was a dingdong go from the start. We were all straining every nerve to win, and as the weather was bad, and the course a very long and trying one, we all got more and more highly strung and exhausted, as we kept on reeling oft' 500 miles a day—sometimes over mountain tops—sometimes over timbered country; sometimes over plains and deserts. One day it would be freezing, the next boiling hot. Generally it was blowing a gale, usually against us. On 4th October we were off to schedule time to Forrest, and no navigation was necessary, as we followed the Transcontinental line across the Nullabor Plain. Many d throttle was bent trying to get more speed out of the engine, and we were hugging the bare, thirsty, featureless limestone country. A HAIR-RAISING PERFORMANCE. It was on this lap that Heath, in his big D.H. 50, with two passengers on board, bumped the ground heavily, and left both tires behind him, but nevertheless carried on, and landed on bare wheels at Forrest. Both wheels collapsed, which caused the machine to break the propeller, and "shake up" his passengers. It was a hair-raising marvellous performance by a man who knows no fear.

Now, we felt it was neck or nothing in our race with Miller for the big prize, so we opened her right out, and kept low across a dreary waterless plain to Rawlinna for lunch—there was still no necessity for compass—in an all-out rush, skimming the railway line, and we continued to average 100 miles an hour, air speed, which was more thiiu our little br.s was designed or expected to do.. On these stages the more powerful machines flown by de Haviland, Miller, and Heath usually overtook us towards the end of the run, but on handicap we were forging ahead of Miller and all of them.

There was no reason for being behind schedule time in ' leaving Rawlinna, the next lap was to Kalgoorlie, over heavy, tall timbered country. The air was hotter than-usual, the wind swung round to a head wind, and it was a bumpy difficult section. We steered a compass course, and actually landed at Kalgoorlie ahead of Miller. We had gained ten minutes, or (fay) 20 miles, on our most dangerous competitor.

Leaving Kalgoorlie, we steered a compass course over very heavily timbered and dangerous country, which gradually opened out as we approached Southern Cross. Hero we crossed the railway, and followed it. We were still going well, passing all but the most powerful machines, and as Miller had not passed us, we knew we were still well ahead of the field on handicap. The -weather developed into squalls—a terrible mixture, rain one minute, red dust and willy-willies the next. We were all flying low, and, taking advantage of the open patches of country to enable us to keep our high speed, despite strong head winds. THE CRASH. We were all out and making splendid progress, and looking forward to landing at Tammin in a few minutes. Our engine was running faultlessly, and we were doing fully 100 miles an hour. I say a big fallow paddock ahead. We were still ahead of Miller, and we were. passing a machine a mile away on our left. We flew right over the top of a farm house. Like all the other good people of the I townships and farms, they were waving ; and cheering us on. We were about 100 ' feet above the farmhouse of Mr. Gigney, which a few minutes later was to be our temporary resting place, when a sudden willy-willy blew fiercely, and there was a tearing crash. It was an awful experience, and for a time we did not know too much about cause and effect, and we did not care much, either. The farmer had cleared every ac^p of his country, but one dead tree which had been left iv a one-chain road dividing two paddocks and in a whirl of dust—a "willy-willy"—that tree was totally obscured, and we hit a projecting limb 25 feet from the ground. It is a million to one we would never hit that tree again. It would be fairly hard to hit that thiui tough limb if one tried to. However, we broke the tree, and the tree broke us. Now the tree has been chopped out, and Guthrie and I have not even lost a limb. The left wing of our little bus carried away—she turned over on her back and crashed into the ground 50 yards past the tree at 100 miles an hour. Guthrie was in the front cockpit, right up against an extra oil tank and the engine, so he got the worst of it. He only got a smashed eye (since restored), a split nose, a broken collarbone, and bad internal injuries, so far as I know. I was badly crushed and unconscious, so I did not suffer as much as Guthrie, who was conscious most of the time. ODDS ON GUTHRIE. I remember being dragged into a motorcar, and it felt as if I was being dragged in half, then I don't remember too much until I was in Kellerberrin Hospital, 18 miles away. Guthrie was conscious most of the time, but what he growled about was not the pain, but the fact that the lads who were sitting round the motor truck to steady her over the bumps kept sticking pins in him to see if he was alive. He could feel, but not kick or speak, and he wanted to take the odds of 6 to 1, which one fellow was laying, that he would be dead before we reached the hospital. Then an extra bump made him swoon, and when he became conscious again they were laying 10 to Ihe was dead. He told us, when he could speak some days later, that he did not like the odds drifting. The lads did not- mean any harm, and the people of West Australia were wonderful to us.

, So was young Penny, one of our competitors in the race. He saw the wreckage on the ground, gave up the race, made a dangerously quick landing, saw we were badly smashed, that he could do nothing, and flew on to Kellerberrin, took all the risks of landing in a small, unsuitable field, ran into the township, and sent out a doctor. fIOWNHLARTED AT FIRST. Then the famous surgeon, Colonel Had- j ley, when summoned, hopped into a little 'plane, and in a.howling tempest of wind and rain, flew out 160 miles in an hour and a quarter, and at 6 o'clock performed a brilliant major operation on Guthrie, I and though the odds were 100 to 1 against him, he has been saved.