FLIGHT TO ENGLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 32, 6 August 1936, Page 9

FLIGHT TO ENGLAND

MR. C. D. MORPETH

THOUSAND MILES A DAY

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

LONDON, July 8.

A thousand miles a day was the average speed at which Mr. C. D. Mprpeth (Wellington) travelled to England from Australia. He was a passenger in six different aeroplanes, and, except for a journey across Italy by train, he used the air route throughout. Had it not been that Signor Mussolini forbids foreigners to fly across his country, Mr.. Morpeth would have flown the entire distance.

Mr. Morpeth is making his first trip to England whichy with Scotland, he proposes to "roam around" before, proceeding by the. Queen Mary to America. There he will be reunited with his daughter,. Mrs. F. H. Canaday, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, and attend the "tercentenary celebrations of Harvard University at Boston. .' He expects to return to New Zealand during the middle of January.

| / Mr. Morpeth thoroughly enjoy ed the experience of flying to England. He is the third New Zealander to use that route. The first stage of his journey was from Sydney to Brisbane, which was completed in half a day. The next lap was on,to Cloncurry, with a fleeting visit to Charleville for lunch. The subsequent stages: were Darwin, Koepang, Singapore, Karachi, Alexandria, Brindisi, Paris, and Croydori. With the exception of a rainstorm at Delhi, good weather was experienced throughout the journey.., Shortly before reaching Delhi the pilot received word that a storm was approaching and landed only, five minutes' before tropical rain poured down in torrents. A fairly severe, air-pocket caused the machine to bump badly over the Persian Gulf. Its effect, said Mr. Morpeth, was/that everything in the aeroplane,, including all the passengers, seemed to be lifted up and then There was another minor, ibump, as ~th'e'b machineipassed, the Equator. The pilot, knowing that Mr. Morpeth had .not "crossed" before, dropped .the machine a few feet to "mark the spot." ..',' I

One of the chief impressions retained 'by the New Zealander was the intense cultivation of most of: the countries over which: he passed. He was also surprised by the concentrated cultivation in Italy* where, he said, crops were sown right up to the railway line. .'. The beauty of Italy, he admitted quite frankly, enthralled him, and he had no regrets, at being unable to flyover. He was also particularly interested to see .Jerusalem and the Dead Sea from the air while on the way from Bagdad to Gaza, en route for Alexandria. At Gaza the aeroplane landed for a brief interval. > During that time, however, two .Jews were killed by the Arabs; although, said Mr. Morpeth, the place seemed to t>9 quiet enough,: and there were no signs of any disturbance. ' •

Before leaving Wellington, Mr. Morpeth was asked.by several of his friends to bear in mind that he would be expected to give an account of his trip upon his return. With his promise in mind, Mr. Morpeth is keeping a wellinformed diary which does not overlook such details as those concerning a hotel keeper at Cloncurry who almost went to sleep standing up, sketches of the .rest house at Darwin, which is built on metal stilts as a protection against white ants, and the plate layer on the Bangkok railway who keeps three wives on lid per day.

•He has also made sketches of the irrigation system at Java, seen from the air, and many other points that have attracted : his interest. By the time Mr. TVtorpeth returns to Wellington he should be the possessor of a wealth of information, for he intends to see as much of England and Scotland as he can before a short visit to France. He has a full itinerary in America, where he proposes to do some more flying, and.to call in at Prince Edward Island, the birthplace of his father. . - i