THE FLIGHT TO ENGLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 152, 30 June 1938, Page 6

THE FLIGHT TO ENGLAND

ANOTHER RECORD BROKEN

Miss' Batten, on her last trip to Australia and New Zealand, broke the records for the journey each way. In this chapter, which will be completed tomorrow, she describes her journey to England, accomplished in 5 days 18J hours from Darwin—l 4 hours under the previous fastest time.

CHAPTER' 20, Dawn was just breaking as I took off from Darwin on October 18 at 9.30 p.m., G.M.T., and set a course across the Timor Sea for Kupang. The aeroplane rose easily in spite of its heavy load of petrol, and I left the coast feeling glad that I had waited for reasonable weather. Rambang, on Lombok Island, 1100 miles away, was to be my first stop, and after refuelling I intended to leave immediately for Batavia.

Although this was my fourth flight £ across the Timor Sea I felt just as < lonely as on other occasions. There was a slight following wind, and I sighted land just three hours fifteen minutes after leaving Australia. After # passing Kupang I went on another 150 ' miles over the sea to Flores Island. The weather was good although I encountered some violent bumps as I flew along the islands of the Dutch East ® Indies before landing for fuel at Ram- < bang. I found the Administrator of 8 Lombok there to welcome! me. After a 1 cool drink and some biscuits I said s good-bye to the kind Dutchmen, who 1 insisted oh giving me some sandwiches, _ oranges, and a bunch of bananas which nearly filled the cockpit. The refuelling had not taken long, and I was in the air again only thirtyfive minutes after landing. As I new 'over Bali I met more terrific bumps, and low clouds made visibility poor. Nearing Batavia I ran into a violent thunderstorm, but was soon through lit, and on arriving at the aerodrome found a large crowd waiting for me. Everything had gone to schedule, ana although the day's run had been nearly ,1800 miles I did not feel the slightest 'bit tired. Everyone was most hospit- [ able, and I was invited to stay at the home of a director of the Shell Company and'his charming wife. FLYING BLIND IN A STORM. My next landing- was to be at Alor Star, 1000 miles from Batavia, and I intended flying on another 900 miles to Rangoon the same day. When I.left Batavia it was a clear, moonlight night. Flying over the brightly lighted city I left Java and steered for Muntok Island, oil the coast of Sumatra. Although the night seemed so clear,. I was not at all, happy about the weather ahead. On this section I would make my fifth flight across the equator, and on all previous occasions violent rainstorms had tossed the machine about. To increase my uneasiness I had that , day received a, letter and meteorological report from the pilot of the mail plane bound from Singapore jo Darwin. He had left the message at Rambang so that I should receive it and know what weather lay ahead. Part of, the letter read:' "I should think you will encounter monsoon conditions livith S.W.-N.W. winds, low clojidsj arid' rain between Batavia and Singapore over the last 300 miles judging by our experience, today,, .as; we had to w 1 it for nearly tfir^. r btars,, flper dent, instrument flying." ' One hour out from Batavia clouds began banking up, and I climbed., to 9000 feet to fry to keep above them. Whispy clouds drifted across the moon, which i was . soon completely obscured. The two layer? of'cloud between, which the machine was flying gradually closed together, and I decided _to go down to a lower Altitude and fly beneath them. Throttling back the engine I glided down, gradually losing height, until at 2000 feet the blackness outside was still just as dense. Giving the engine a little throttle, I groped cautiously down through the cloud,, trying to find the -base. At 1000 feet a flash of lightning illuminated the cabin, and I saw sheets of rain sweeping over the machine. I watched the needle on the dial of the altimeter drop lower lower, and at 500 feet I glanced at my air log and saw that I was two hours out from Batavia, and must be nearing Muntok Island. Giving the engine full throttle, I climbed upwards again. There was no alternative but to climb to a safe height and settle down to instrument flying until dawn, when I could see where I was going. It was too risky to fly low at this stage, for some of the peaks on Muntok were over 2000 feet, and only 140 miles further on lay Linnga Island, with its 4000-feet.cone,:invisible in the rain and darkness. The air was very turbulent, arid heavy rain beat against the windows as the Gull rocked about in the darkness. It was extremely difficult at times to control the machine, and blind flying under these conditions was a terrible strain. A DEPRESSING PROSPECT. After an eternity the darkness outside faded and dawn broke. • The machine was flying between two layers of cloud. Above were dark, ominous clouds that threatened at any moment to descend in torrents on the Gull. There were only scattered clouds beneath. It was imperative that I should check up my position on some landmark, so I glided down through a gap. A thick mist covered the sea, but above it rose the peaks of hundreds of tiny islands which lie just south of Singapore. Identifying one of the islands by my chart I flew on and passed over Singapore as heavy rain commenced to fall. I saw the magnificent new civil aerodrome, and felt tempted to land and have breakfast. There had evidently been a tremendous amount of rain, for as I flew on again over Malay I noticed that nearly all the cleared patches were under water. The head wind increased, until my ground speed was only 110 m.p.h., and over Lower Malay the wind reached gale force. More rain-storms swept across my path, and my spirits sank lower as I neared Alor Star and thought of the long flight ahead to Rangoon. From above, the aerodrome at Alor Star looked as if it was under water, so I was obliged to land cross-wind on the long runway. The sun came out and shone down fiercely, and I learned from the white residents who had assembled to greet me that on the previous day even the runway had been under water. The British Administrator who welcomed me to Malay insisted on my accompanying. him to the rest-house, ' where I enjoyed a light meal. KINGSFORD SMITH'S FATE. The weather improved after I left Alor Star, and apart from 'the head wind the flight to the Burmese capital . was a pleasant one. I felt very sad I flying over this section, because it was ' somewhere along this lonely Burmese ! coast that Sir Charles Kingsford Smith ' lost his life. It is doubtful if anyone ; will ever know exactly what happened i at that zero hour when the accident

occurred. After the sea had jealously guarded its secret for over a year [wreckage definitely identified as part [of Kingsford Smith's aeroplane was

JEAN BATTEN ADDS TO HER LAURELS

(By Jean Batten: Copyright.)

found near the island of Aye, just south of Moulmein. A relative of Kingsford Smith had written asking me to ascertain whether the island was marked on my map of this territory—a map similar to the one used by Sir Charles. A new theory was that in the darkness his machine struck this island, which rises sheer from the sea to a height of some hundreds of feet. The maps of this part of the world are on a very small scale and not very detailed. The island of Aye is not marked on either the 40-miles-to-the-inch-scale map of this territory or the larger 15.75-miles-to-the-inch-scale map. I discount this new theory of the accident (unless there was some mechanical or structural failure at this point) because of Kingsford Smith's superb knowledge of the England-to-Australia air route, which was impressed on me during the many talks we had together. AHEAD OF SCHEDUt-E. When I arrived at Rangoon it was raining heavily, and, from the' air, the aerodrome appeared to be partially under water. 1 flew round to select a dry patch on which to alight. On landing, however. I found the red gravel surface excellent and quite firm. As I taxied towards the hangers I saw a group of English and Burmese people waiting to greet me, and recognised several friends whom I had met on previous flights to Rangoon. The Gull

was refuelled and wheeled into the hangar while I cleared Customs and arranged for flares for the take-off. On the drive into Rangoon X entered up my log-books, and saw that I was already well ahead of the record. It was just one day twelve hours forty minutes since I had left Darwin, 3700 miles away. . By arriving in Rangoon in this time I was many hours ahead of the record. To maintain this lead over the rest of the route I should have to fly night and day, and probably through weather which would ordinarily keep an aeroplane on the ground. On the following day I planned to make the longest day's journey of the flight. This was to be from Rangoon right across Burma and Bengal, to refuel at Allahabad, 1200 miles from the Burmese capital, then fly on nearly another thousand miles to Karachi. The distance was 2150 miles, and as the weather forecast predicted head winds it would probably mean a night landing at Karachi. There were many people at the aerodrome to watch the take-oft from Rangoon, and just as I was climbing into the cockpit a woman hurried forward and thrust a package into my band, saying that she hoped I would accept it, as she and her friends all prayed for my safety and success. On opening the package' I felt deeply moved to find a beautiful rosary. MORE HEAD WINDS. The flares were lit, and the Gull lifted easily, eager to be' on the wirig again. Climbing to 10,000 ft, I crossed the jungle-clad Arakan Yoma Mountains in bright moonlight. As dawn broke a strong north-westerly Wind sprang up, and as I altered my course at Chittagong to cross the Bay of Bengal it swung round to westerly, retarding my progress to ; the extent of 30 m.p.h. Nearing Calcutta I encountered thick mist, and had to waste time climbing above it, where the wind was even stronger. At last Allahabad appeared ahead, and I landed, having taken almost nine hours thirty-five minutes to complete the 1200 miles from Rangoon. This was fairly slow progress for the Gull,

and I learned from the weather report that the head winds were even stronger farther on, and, between Jodhpur and Karachi, were over 40 m.p.h. It was impossible to arrive at Karachi before dark, so I telegraphed my E.TA. (estimated time of arrival), and also a request for the floodlights. After only thirty minutes on the ground to refuel, I . took off and continued my flight across India. The sun burned down fiercely, and at times the heat was almost unbearable. The air coming into the cockpit through the ventilators was like the blast from a furnace, and the crepe soles of my shoes melted and stuck to the rudder-bars. It would have been cooler at a higher altitude, but I flew very low, sometimes only 500 ft above the ground, in an effort to minimise the effect of the head wind. Strong vertical currents rose from the hot, parched earth, and at times the machine would be carried up several hundreds of feet, only to drop suddenly immediately afterwards. Some of the bumps were particularly fierce, and my shoulder ached righting the machine after them. MUCH TOO HOT. As time wore on I grew increasingly tired, and not far from Jodhpur a terrible desire for sleep nearly overcame me. All day I had been flying into the sun, and the terrific glare was very trying. The sun, beating down on to the huge steel auxiliary tank in the cabin, made it so hot that it was impossible to touch, and the Burn the confined space of the cockpit was pervaded with the odour of petrol fumes. There, had been little opportunity for rest since I had, left Australia, find my eyes, swollen from the glare, felt like red-hot coals. AH these' factors wore conducive to sleep, and it was only sheer will-power and the fact that I was so superbly fit that kept me awake. At Jodhpur I felt tempted to land while it was still light, for I was in no mood to risk a night landing at Karachi, and in any case I doubted if I could keep my eyes open much longer. Taking out a bottle of eau de

Cologne, I soaked my handkerchief and bathed by burning head, and, cupping by hand just outside the cabin, window, managed to direct some fresh air on to my face. After an orange and some black coffee, I felt considerably better, and decided *to continue to Karachi and draw , even,: farther ahead of the record. The heat across the Sind Desert was scorching, and I was relieved when the sun finally set and the air became Cooler. The stars came out and the wind dropped a little as I neared the edge of the desert, but by this time I was so sleepy that I leaned my head against the side of the cockpit, and held one eye open at a time. This terrible longing for sleep might not have been accentuated if it had been possible to communicate with the outside world, for a" radio would have kept my interest-*up. I felt so completely shut off, aind would often long to hear the sound of a human voite or see some sign of life on the territory over which 1 I ' wr4 passing. A co-pilot would'have been a tremendous help, and I-often thought how wonderful • it would be to have someone to take .over the controls occasionally and share the responsibility of the navigating. . RANGOON TO KARACHI IN ONE DAY. . At last the lights of Karachi appeared ahead; the air beacon was 'a'welcome sight. On landing I was: greeted by a group of enthusiastic people, who congratulated me on the flight from Burma, 'and I learned that this was the first time the Rangoon-Karachi flight had been accomplished during one day by. a solo pilot. Everyone was most helpful, the machine was refuelled, formalities speedily completed, and the precious bill of health supplied;within a short space of time. When arrangements had been made for an' engine schedule and lights for the take-off X decided there would be time for about four hours' sleep before flying on. Once again I was the guest of Commander and Mrs. Watt and surprised everyone that evening by falling,asleep at dinner. , - .