SOLO TO NEW ZEALAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1938, Page 25

SOLO TO NEW ZEALAND

•ltii f Miss. Batten >, continues-" her" description : of her flight from England to New Zealand, dealing with the trip, from Singapore to Sydney, and preparation for the Tasman crossing, recognised als 'one of the most dangerous ' parts of the journey. CHAPTER 17..;•;■;■;; , A large crowd of people-had assembled to see the take-off.that night, and the Gull, with a maximum load of petrol, speeded past the long line of flares, and was soon;'circling,the; aero'drome to gain height. The night was pitch blacjcfaut; clear, and I passed over many lights marking the many islands which' dot the sea just south of Singapore. Two hours after the take-off a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and If had soon plunged into a fierce tropical storm. Outside the cabin was a "black void, and an occasional .Hash' ',61 lightoing showed the rain beating against the cabin windows. Would it be possible •to:rise>above.the storm? I wondered, and'igiyihg tyie engine '.full; throttle put the- Gull' into Jslinibing angle; I had not slept since leaving Akyab, and was in no mood to cope with such weather, and my eyes were growing tired of •taring at the luminous dials of the instrument panel in front of me. . The Gull roared upward through the night** and-at, 9000- feet I almost despaired of ever penetrating .the blackness which enveloped the machine. Suddenly I saw a star like a guiding light, and another, as .the Gull rose above the storm to fly in the security of a calm, clear sky. I sank back in the cockpit, feeling exhausted by the strain and thanking the Almighty- ior my salvation. . :. ■ : - Two hours later I Elided down through a gap in the clouds to,'se¥thf lighthouse, at the entrance of Batavia Harbour straight ahead. The city was a blaze of light, and I altered course for Sourabaya, at the eastern end of the island of Java. A steady head wind retarded my speed, and became even atjpnger as I left "Java and flew over JJali to Lombok Island, where I landed fa refuel at Eambang. afternoon, on the way to Kupang, I think I might have dropped jcSS to sleep had it hot;been for the Yiplent bumps which shook the Gull as On arrival at 'Kupang I climbed stiffly from the cockpit to supervise the refuelling immediately. The fuel agent provided an amusing interlude when he wanted to take photographs. Desirous of having some local cblour. he mustered all the native children to .iorm,» group. I. was busy checking ;lUi|e ;afid, hearing a lot of laughter and chattering, went round to the other side of the Gull, to find about two dozen small boys being arranged for the photograph. ~,;. A JAAITCB OF PROPRIETY.

"Ah, -there you are," said the fuel •gent "Please stand in the centre." "No, I shall not," I replied, "unless they are suitably clothed." .-was-translated by. the fuel kgent's wife, who spoke English,, and ,' •mid' much giggling and tittering the little native -women proidutfed scarfs and sarongs. There was ' * great deal of laughter, and then the photos were eventually taken. About twelve natives began to push the Gull quickly over the rough ground to the picketing, area, forasyet there was no hangair-'afc the ■ I "Don't fpusia i& backward," t cried, when I Realised y?hat they were doing. My warning cain'e too late, however; and thereiwas a as ; the taifcwheel caught on some sharp stones and the rubber tyre burst. I had no spare inner tube in my equipment, and suddenly felt terribly tired and disheartened as I threw myself down on the grass to inspect the damage. Surely the record would not be snatched from jiny, grasp now,: when I was only 630 miles from ; Australia! The fuel agent had' a brilliant idea. 1 "You leave it td trie," he cried, "and I will fix It We can fill the tyre with rubber sponges, and although heavy it will serve you for the take-off." This seemed a brilliant idea, and we quickly drove into the village and bought up all the rubber sponges available. I accompanied the agent's wife to the rest-house, while her husband returned to the aerodrome with the tailwheel.

Next morning, I bade my kind Dutch friends good-bye and took off for Australia., Apart from a slight head wind, fine weather prevailed, and the Timor Sea crossing took only three hours fifty-five minutes. I landed at Darwin at 1.20 ajn., G.M.T., on October 11, just five days twenty-one hours out. from. England, . having lowered by twenty-four hours the solo record previously held by Mr. H. F. Broadbent.

DARWIN: 3700 MILES TO GO. There was a large crowd to welcome me back to Australia. This record was, however, incidental to .the flight, for I had by no means reached my goal, Which.was Auckland, 3700 miles further on. There was still the overland flight of 2200 miles across the continent of Australia, and then the final section of 1330 miles across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, and another 150 miles on to Auckland. There were many congratulatory telegrams and cables waiting for me, and on the flight southward next morning I read them to pass away the time.

Very, strong head winds persisted the following day, as I continued my flight across the vast, lonely stretches of the Northern Territory and Central Queensland to Lbngreach, 1200 miles from Darwin. On the flight to Sydney the, weather was so rough and boisterous that the Gull was flung about violently, and I had. the utmost difficulty in keeping the machine level when crossing the Blue Mountains." It was very clear, however, and I could see Sydney fifty- miles before I flew over it. As I circled the city I saw the great harbour bridge and all the roof-tops black with waving people. I landed: at Mascot . Aerodrome escorted by aeroplanes of the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales, having established a record of eight days for the flight from England. I shall never forget the full-throated roar of welcome that greeted me from thousands of people as I taxied up to the reception dais. There was an even bigger crowd than on my first flight to Sydney, and at the official reception, where there were many speeches by Government officials afed. aviation representatives: After the reception I drove through streets lined.with cheering"people to the Hotel Australia. After, landirig, the Gull had been taken to the' De Havilland ■ Aircraft Companyfs Works, where a schedule was to be carried out on the engine, as there was no time for an overhaul. "The flight is not finished yet," I told the enthusiastic people who showered me with congratulations. HAZARDS OF THB TASMAN. A great, number of receptions were rlanned when it became known that Intended waiting a* day or two for londitions to improve over the Tas-

MISS BATTEN'S JOURNEY

SINGAPORE TO SYDM

(By Jean Batten: Copyright.]!

man Sea. I was very reluctantly obliged to decline all invitations, as I felt in need of some relaxation after the strenuous,, flight to Australia. Instead, howeveir, I spent long hours making final preparations for the next section,' and considerable time at the observatory studying weather charts and conferring with Mf. Mares, the Government meteorplogist. There was a'i considerable amount of opposition tojrny plan to continue the flight to New Zealand. This was not to be wondejed:; at, however, for the sudden violent storms of the Tasman were well known by all Australians and New Zeakihders. No one, however, realised-!more deeply than I the hazards of this seldom flown sea, for had I.not studied detailed hydrographic charts 'of: the South Pacific and learned of the high gale frequency and the abnormal number of cyclonic disturbances-throughout each year? Severaltiines I had crossed the Tasman by" 'steamer, and had vivid memories of storms when I had awakened in the night and listened almost fascinated to the pounding thuds as tremendous waves shook the ship from stem to stern. Great foaming sheets of spray hurled themselves across the decks, sometimes greedily taking hatches and twisting derricks in their diabolical frenzy. TURNING DOWN A FORTUNE. My fast flight to Australia had been acclaimed ; with, enthusiasm by the Press, and hundreds <)f telegrams and cables of congratulations were arriving each hour. "Why not rest on your laurels and stay in Sydney?'! a friend had suggested when I received an offer of several thousands of pounds to tour Australia right away instead of frying on. This represented a vast fortune for me, and I spent a long time trying to decide for the best. "It's all very well for you to talk of Unking England and New Zealand and all that sort of thing, but what's your reward?" asked one of the men at a discussion about the offer. "You can fly the Tasman and risk your life. Then what," he added, "are you going to, benefit, and what will you gain?v "The honour of completing the first solo flight from England to New Zealand and linking those two countries in the fastest time in history," I replied quietly.. - . ~ . , i As ffipse- present looked pityingly at me for throwing away such an -opportunity, I thought very deeply about it. Staying in Sydney meant security and happiness. Challenging the Tasman meant what? . ... . Only the next few days- could decide, v Hundreds of letters and messages were coming in from all parts of the country, and some trying to dissuade me from attempting the Tasman. Some were strong, vital messages assuring me of the sender's faith in my ability to succeed on the last stage of my flight. Others again ,expressed -premonitions of disaster,.and many contained only the fears: arid doubts of the faint-hearted; I realised only too well, as was pointed out, that I was fairly tired and that the machine had already flown over 12,700 miles from England, but thought that if I stayed even one week-in Sydney resting the' continuity of the flight-would be broken and the main object lost sight of. I had always thought of this as one flight, and did not consider the Tasman Sea as an additional flight after the England-to-Australia one.

THE ATO SERVICE IDEAL. -" It had occurred,to me many times during the discussions of a:proposed Tasman service that if ,a small subsidiary line were run to. link up with 'the Kngland-to-Australia air' serviceNew Zealand would be merely served by a feeder line—an after-thought, which if unprofitable could be discontinued without disorganising the other schedule. I foresaw the Tasman service as the last link in Empire air communications. A through service operated by one powerful company ■combining the interests of England, Australia, and New Zealand would make New Zealand not merely a terminus, but an important South Pacific junction where eventually air lines from Vancouver and San Francisco would connect up with the England-to-New Zealand service. After two days in Sydney I received a weather report that decided' me to ..take off on the following, morning. The engine had been carefully tested by the De Havilland mechanics, and the compass checked for magnetic deviation on all cardinal points, by the veteran flyer, Captain P: G. Taylor, who had' accompanied ■ Sir Charles Kingston! Smith arid Charles Ulm on several of their big flights.. Permission had been granted for me to use the large Air Force aerodrome at Richmond, where the Gull would have sufficient room for the full-load take-off. Everyone was most helpful, and before I took off for Richmond I received word that it had "been arranged for me to be accommodated at the officers' mess overnight. There, was very little shipping on the Tasman, and it was therefore rather difficult for an accurate weather report to be compiled. During a telephone conversation with Mr. Mares I learned that indications pointed to reasonably favourable weather over the first part of the «ea. I intended to steer from Sydney to New Plymouth, where lovely, snow-capped Mount Egmont, a solitary mountain, reared its peak from above the surrounding pasture land. In fine weather this should be a good landmark, and when I had arrived over New Plymouth my intention was to fly to Auckland, 154 miles further on. There was a wedge of low pressure that might prevent my, flying right through to Auckland, but Mr., Mares thought my chances of flying to New Plymouth in reasonably good weather were fairly good;' My decision to take off from Richmond added 40 miles on to the distance, and, as it was 1330 to. New Plymouth from Sydney and another 154 miles on to; Auckland, the total distance would be 1524 miles.