HITCH ON FLIGHT PLANS

Evening Post, Issue 12, 14 July 1936, Page 10

HITCH ON FLIGHT PLANS

Advice has been received from Mr., F. C. Chichester, writing from Narrabri, New South Wales, that the route of the flight which he and Mr. P. P. Herrick, of Hawke's Bay, proposed to make to England must be radically altered owing to the refusal of the Soviet Government to grant them permission to fly over Soviet territory. In his letter Mr. Chichester refers to the refusal of the permit as a "knockout blow," for after they had received permission to pass through Manchukuo they did not anticipate difficulty as to the Russian section of the flight. "In. the first instance we never expected to get through the Manchuli-Bla-goveschensk war zone." he wrote. "But we had expected to be blocked by Manchukuo. not by Russia. As a matter ot fact, entry to Russia by the Gobi Desert has all along been our objective. We thought that if Manchukuo refused to let us across the border at Blagoveschensk the Soviet was sure to be sympathetic, and do all they could to smooth our path into Siberia." Mr. Chichester states that they propose now to follow their original plans to Peking, China, where, they expect to arrive next month, and will see what can be arranged from there.