SOLO TO NEW ZEALAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 146, 23 June 1938, Page 24

SOLO TO NEW ZEALAND

In this section of her autobiography . liss Batten describes the first section 1 f her solo flight to New Zealand' and : er unexpected arrival at an aero- . rome so isolated that it had nc name ; -only a map reference. CHAPTER 16. On the morning, of my departure, on )ctober 5, 1936, I arrived at the aero[rome at 3.30 a.m. to find quite a rowd of reporters and photographers Iready there, and although it was uch an early hour the keen cameranan placed the powerful arc lights in losition to film the take-off. "Would you say a, few words, please, tfiss Batten?" one of the cameramen isked. I was not at all in the mood for ipeeches at such an early hour. How>ver, to oblige him, I stood beside the !Jull staring into the blinding lights while being filmed making a speech. \t last it was over, and I climbed into ihe cockpit. The engine sprang to life with a roar as I turned the switches) 3 n "Contact," and pressed the selfstarter. Looking out the cabin window, I saw the cameraman, with a Look of consternation on his face, waving frantically. Leaving the engine wanning up I climbed from the cockpit to say good-bye to my friends. As I left the machine the cameraman grasped my arm, and with a very white face said, "Please, Miss Batten, would you repeat that speech .for us?" "No, there is no time," I replied, as I shook hands with my friends and started to climb back into the cockpit. "Please!" he persisted. "If you don't I'll lose my job. I forgot to switch on j the sound." Leaning into the cockpit I switched off the engine. "Very well," I said

"but make sure about it this time. I want to leave England today, you know." 1 was about to remark that it was a good, thing I never forgot my various switches, but thought the moment hardly appropriate lor an object-lesson, so stood patiently beside my aeroplane, trying to be as tolerant as. possible, and made another speech. OFF BEFORE DAWN. It was 4.20 a.m. when I finally roared along the path of the floodlight and took off on that memorable morning It was not until I had circled the aero drome and set off into the misty dark ness over the Channel that I suddenlj realised the immensity of the task ! had set myself in electing to make th< longest flight in the Empire. True, ] had already flown to Australia anc back, but on this occasion I planned t( fly on /from Sydney to New Zealand, i distance of 1330 miles over the Tasmai Sea, lying far south in the latitude , known to mariners as the "Roarinj Forties." The sudden violent storm and icy gales from the Antarctic ha< earned it the title of "the most treach erous sea in the world." My musings were cut short as I en countered a bank of cloud. Climbini above it I flew at 3000' feet, and whej by my stop-watch I estimated m; position was over Gris Nez I alterei course for Paris. Through the mis which lay like a veil over North Franc I could see the blurred gleam of th air route beacons, and almost as sooi

as I distinguished the glow of the myriad lights of the capital I picked up the beacon at Le Bourget. Dawn was breaking as I crossed the Seine near Fontainebleau. and when it was light enough to distinguish the ground beneath I found the countryside wreathed in mist: Even when I arrived over Lyons there was thick fog in the Rhone Valley, although this dispersed near Valence. After flying above cloud most of the route I arrived at Marignane Airport, Marseilles, a little over four hours after leaving England. OVEE THE MEDITERRANEAN. Only forty minutes after landing I was on my way again, and the Gull climbed, swiftly over the mountains to Cap Camarat, where I left the French coast and flew over the Mediterranean on a direct course for Rome. There was a slight following wind, and I made good time, and, speeding over Corsica, reached the Italian coast in glorious sunshine. By this time I was beginning to enjoy the flight, although, according to the report from Marseilles, bad weather lay ahead over the Adriatic, I had been advised not to attempt to make Athens that afternoon, but to land at Brindisi instead. The sky had clouded over when I sighted Naples, and I was pbliged to climb through great banks of clouds to cross the Apennines. As I neared Brindisi the air became very turbulent, and the Gull was tossed about as I approached the storm ayea. The weather looked threatening out to sea, and banks of ominous cloud darkened the sky. At the Customs aerodrome at Brindisi I heard that the storm over Greece had not abated. Heavy rain was reported, at Athens, and the moun- '' tains round Tatoi were covered with low cloud. There was still sufficient daylight left to proceed to Athens, but I decided to play safe and stay, the night at Brindisi, and fly straight through to Cyprus early next morning. SHORT OF MONEY. Before leaving London I had learned that petrol was six shillings per gallon in Italy, and it was necessary to pay .cash for any supplies taken at Brindisi If I were to make up lost time by

refuelling here and going on to Cyprus without stopping in Greece v payment for the petrol would constitute a serious problem. I had with me the camet issued to me against a deposit, which meant that I could refuel at the towns on 'my schedule without paying for the petrol in local currency. The thirsty Gull would require about sixtyeight gallons, on the thousand-mile flight to Cyprus in still air, and with a safety margin against head winds or having to turn back for any reason would need refuelling to approximately eighty-five gallons. This meant producing twenty-eight pounds, which would leave me about two pounds for total expenses during the rest of the flight. Just as I was puzzling out the best plan of action two men approached and saved the situation. One of them was the chief representative in Italy of the Shell Company, and by quite a coincidence he happened to be in Brindisi. As if by magic he was„able to arrange for me to take fuel aboard without paying sterling. Although I had logged 1330 miles that day I was not the slightest bit tired, and on arrival at the hotel ate a hearty dinner of macaroni, which 1 declared excellent, to the great delighl of my two Italian friends. When we arrived at the airport early next morning I realised that the take off in the darkness a,t this aerodome which was not then equipped witr. lights, was going to be very difficult

MISS BATTEN SETS OUT

AN UNEXPECTED LANDING By Jean Batten: Copyright.

A runway' was being constructed on |Hj the landing area, leaving me with very jOj restricted space. The fuel agent walked M ahead with a torch as I.taxied the Gull jttj slowly into the wind. My kind Italian W friends then drove the car to the far M corner of the aerodrome, and I took tfjj off towards the headlights. M Once off the ground I climbed the M machine up through the misty nimbus K)j clouds and over a great bank of cumu- M lus, and crossed the Adriatic Sea at [/Jj an altitude of 10,000 feet. At this JUJ height the air outside was icy, but in M the cabin it was warm and comfort- jOj able. There was no sign of a break M in the clouds when, one hour forty- jrtj five minutes after Brindisi, I altered JQj course for Corinth. I wanted to check M up my position, but it was inadvisable M to attempt to descend through the WJ clouds at, this stage on account of the M high, mountainous nature of the jQj country. Jql SUNRISE OVER GREECE. |6j The rising sun painted the sky crim- {Kj son with its rays and tinted the cloud jOj banks a delicate pink. Snow-covered M peaks reared themselves above the M clouds, which lay like a mantle over KX Greece. Identifying some of the highest M peaks I was able to approximate my jQj position, and as I flew on glimpsed the M blue waters of the Gulf of Corinth far K below through a gap on the white (O cloud carpet beneath. Over the Gulf M of Corinth I glided down to 3000 feet jrtj and flew out over the Aegean Sea jQ towards the island of Paros, where I jM intended altering course for Rhodes. K) Visibility improved, and as I passed M over the numerous islands that dot M the Aegean Sea, and passing Rhodes JQj neared the Anatolian coast of Turkey, jWj . the sun shone down from a clear sky [ttj ! to reveal the Mediterranean at its best, juj 1 As on previous occasions, the Gull was [Kj • tossed about by down-draughts from k>i t the high ' mountains on the rugged JVC coast even though I was flying forty M miles out from the coast, and I was JOj relieved when the island of Cyprus [K 1 came into view. K> I landed at Nicosia to refuel. This »U ' was done very quickly, but I had to JH

wait nearly an hour for a weather K> report for the route to, Bagdad. On jwj earlier flights over this route I had pj experienced the fury of sand storms, jQj and had too much respect for the freak M weather in this part of the world to jOj set off without a weather report. It was jHJ not very detailed when it did arrive, w and I took off knowing that with the M head winds predicted it would* not be |HJ possible to make up the time lost at SOj Cyprus. Some of the residents had jW very kindly given me large bunches of [K grapes and some juicy oranges, and £> these helped to while away the time as |W I crossed the 150-mile stretch, of sea M to Beirut. KJ The down-draughts from the Leba- [H ■■ non Mountains had little effect on the K) powerful Gull, which climbed rapidly jH through the clouds to speed across the jM i great range at 10,000 feet. Over the K) i descent a yellow dust-haze hung like a W i pall, and as I flew on this became jq i thicker, the wind wafting great clouds jO : of sand into, the sky. Two and a half W i hours after leaving Cyprus visibility JO I became practically nil, and flying very, Jw ■ low, I had gerat difficulty in keeping ffi the ground in view. The sun was al- & ■ most blotted out, and resembled a [r ! black sphere as it sank rapidly, Would [C i the dust be worse further on, I asked w r myself, and decided not to risk flying £ I on to Bagdad under such conditions. K, t The nearest aerodrome was 60 miles [r 3 further on, and bore the bare title of K i H.3—L.G. (Landing Ground) on my |> i map of the region. k

AN ISOLATED STOPPING PLACE, t; It was now a race against darkness [■ and the clouds of dust which swept Y' r past the Gull as I flew on. At last, just S as the sun sank below the horizon, I ft sighted a solitary light ahead, and K within a few.minutes the wheels of the / Gull came to rest on the sandy sur- >; face of the landing, ground. A visitor tf was not expected at the tiny outpost y' of H. 3 a pumping station on the K Asiatic Petroleum Company's pipeline, { along which millions of gallons of, oil \ flow from the Iraq oilfields at Mosul tf to the ports of Beirut and Haifa, on 0 the Syrian coast. I was behind my jj schedule, and realised that I would n have to hurry if I were to lower the 2 England-to-Australia solo record as I J planned to do,on the way through to 2 New Zealand. I therefore decided to f omit a landing at Bagdad and refuel £ at Basra instead, from where I could y fly nori-stop to Karachi in an effort to J ! make up time. j The manager of H. 3 was most host ; pitable, and arranged for a supply of I petrol and a guard for the Gull. The , desert track would not be visible in i the darkness, and it would be neces- ] >sary to steer a compass course over the desert to Ramadi, where I would alter [ course for Basra. The position of H. 3 > was not accurately marked on my map. ) so I asked the wireless operator to get 1 the line course for Rutbah Wells. He - was able'to do this, and it was a simple s matter to mark out the magnetic J course from that point by which It could ~ fly direct to Ramadi. i The small band of engineers stationt ed at H. 3 showed great interest in my r flight at dinner that night, as they had 1 heard on the radio of my progress. i- There were only two or three buildings ii and a radio,station on this desert outt post, and the only woman was the wife t of the manager. I was impressed by e the general ajr of comfort and cleanli- | ■t ness of the quarters, where, in addi- ?• tion to the large living-room, there was also ia billiard-room. I promised to , send a photo of the Gull and crew for the mess-room wall.' JJ H. 3 was some feet above sea-level, 5 and it was extremely cold in the desert *: that night. The Gull, picketed out in ■L the open, was exposed to the icy wind, ' t so I let the engine warm up for some V_ time before taking off. Ie (To be Continued.)