TRANS-TASMAN VETERAN

Evening Star, Issue 21619, 15 January 1934, Page 6

TRANS-TASMAN VETERAN

“SMITHY’S” FIFTH CROSSING HEAD WINDS AND BAD VISIBILITY NEVERTHELESS GOOD LANDFALL MADE FLYING CLOSE TO OCEAN [Per United Press Association.] NEW PLYMOUTH, January 14. With practically no benzine to spare the monoplane Southern 'Cross completed its fifth flight across the Tasman Sea at the New Plymouth airport on Saturday evening after being in the air for 15h 25min. Strong winds increased the fuel consumption, and had it not been for the skilful piloting of Six Charles Kingsford Smith and Mr T. Pethybridge, together with the superla-

tive navigation of Captain P.-G. Taylor under the most trying conditions, the flight might not have ended at the scheduled point. As it was, the course was kept so accurately that the first landfall was Cape Egmont. When the Southern Cross left Richmond at 2.7 a.m. (Sydney time) she carried sufficient benzine for a flight of 18 hours, calculated at the normal consumption of 30 gallons per hour, but strong south-easterly and southerly winds were encountered, and these retarded the machine until, in the later stages, the wind veered to the southwest. The result was that the consumption was increased to 35 gallons per hour, a fact that made a considerable difference at the end of the day. Faultless navigation, however, enabled the monoplane to make a timely landing at 7.32 p.m. (New Zealand time).

OBSERVATION DIFFICULTIES. Owing to the rare intermittent appearances of thq sun, particularly about midday, it was necessary for Sir Charles to fly a fair distance at a height of only 10ft above the water to facilitate observation by Captain Taylor. In fact, 75 per cent, of the journey is stated to have been traversed at an altitude pf less than 400 ft. The time taken, 15h 25min, was 65min longer than that of Mr Ulm for the same journey in the Faith in Australia on December 4, and 79imin longer than the time of the Southern Cross when it inado its first landing at New Plymouth from Sydney on January 11, 1933.

Sir Charles paid a tribute to Mr Pethybridge, his co-pilot and engineer, who had done most of the flying, and to Mr J. S. W. Stannage, radio operator, the other member of the crew. In describing the flight as a step nearer his ambition of a transtasman service, which he predicted will arrive in five years, Sir Charles said that New Plymouth was* obviously the landing ground for such an enterprise. • The weather at .New Plymouth was wet and cloudy for the greater part of the day, but about 4.30 p.m. it broke, and Mount Egmont appeared in brilliant sunshine. It is estimated that between 7,000 and 8,000 persons welcomed the aviators at the airport. Six hundred cars were drawn up within the parking area at Bell Block,' besides which there were probably another 100 on other parts of the ground and several hundreds on the roads in the vicinity. • “ I feel as good as gold,” said Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. My flights have borne out the fact that the Tasman has no fears for anyone who knows the type of machine required for this particular crossing and route. " The ‘ old bus ’ was the least of my anxieties. The preparations were more trying than the trip.” One would have been excused for assuming that Sir Charles was referring to a trip across the street. He had the same innate modesty in telling his story as he had when lie spoke to excited thousands on that first occasion in 1928 when the Southern Cross winged its way on Its hrst. Tasman crossing, landing at Christchurch. He had a special word to say for his crew, for the plane itself, the airport, and the. people of New Plymouth, but his own vital part Sir Charles left very much in the background. It was left to Mr Wilfrid Kingsford Smith t'6, mention that Sir Charles had started; the-great flight with only two hours’ sleep behind him on the day prior to departure. EGMONT AS LANDMARK. Sir Charles said it was not nearly as. good a crossing as the previous one. There had been head winds most of the way, but tlie Southern Cross had functioned perfectly. Captain Taylor had been a perfect navigator, and Mr Stannage had done all that could be asked of a wireless operator on such a flight. Atmospheric conditions had worried Mr Stannage more than usual. Again, Sir Charles said, Mount Egmont had been an excellent landmark. He had previously found that when most other parts of the coast were cloudy the mountain was clear. It was a great natural beacon, and New Plymouth was the obvious landing ground for regular Tasman crossings. It gave him pleasure to hear that the New Plymouth Borough Council had made a grant enabling the purchase of extra land at Bell Block. Bell Block compared favourably with any aerodrome in Australia. The taking off ground for the return trip was then discussed with Sir Charles. He said he was prepared to fly back to Australia from the New Plymouth airport if the ground improvements

were finished. The. suggested taking off ground near Waitara he had not seen, but he was prepared to inspect it. Taking off would to a great extent be foverned by meteorological conditions, he northern route from Ninety-mile Beach usually provided on the average in March better weather for th© return flight. Mention was made of a message broadcast from New Plymouth as coming from the Southern Cross, but Sir Charles said he could not understand this. The plan© received the O.K. from the New Zealand Broadcasting Board for twelve messages received^ Sir Charles said it was difficult to talk of a regular service when there were very few machines capable of doing such a job satisfactorily. Weather conditions could be overcome by a radio beacon and th© use of large multiengined planes. Radio beacons would require a good deal of outlay. _ Mr T. Pethybridge, the co-pilot and mechanic, looked little the worse for his tiring day. “ People seem to have the idea that w© had an awful trip across,” he said. “We did strike some pretty rough weather, and even bad rain, thunder, and lightning, but it was not really a bad trip.” visibility was not too good, he said, and it had been very different from his previous crossing of the Tasman. MET BY WIFE. Lady Kingsford Smith arrived at New Plymouth by aeroplane from Auckland on Saturday after a had weather flight lasting an hour and 35 minutes. Lady Kingsford Smith disembarked from th© Monterey from Sydney in the morning and flew.to New Plymouth to welcome Sir Charles. Sir Charles stepped from the Southern Cross amidst cheers, and with him came Lady Kingsford Smith, who, as soon as the plane stopped, had hastened into the cockpit to welcome her husband. ’The members of the crew followed, each being greeted with a rousing salute. Among the official party of welcome were Mr S. E. Nielson (passenger, secretary of the New Zealand Aero Club), Mr A. F. Sahdford (president of the New Plymouth Aero Club), Mr S. S. Smith, M.P., and Mr E. Gilmour (mayor of New Plymouth). Lady Kingsford Smith is uncertain how long she will remain in New Zealand. Sir Charles will go to Sydney on the Wanganella on February 2, and she may accompany him. BAD RADIO CO'NDITIO'nS.

Arrangements foi , the reception of messages from the Southern Cross failed to function satisfactorily. Messages were received from the aeroplane timed at intervals during the flight, but they were not transmitted at .those times. As an example of what occurred it may be stated that at 7.30 p.m., when the Wellington station was called over to New Plymouth to describe the landing,; a message was received from the Southern Cross stating that they had 690 miles to go, that consternation prevailed, and that they were seriously considering making for Auckland. This message was timed at noon on the Southern Cross and reached the Broadcasting Board at 7.30 p.m. with other delayed messages. Messages from the Southern Cross during the flight stated that flares were dropped to enable drift readings to be made, but all were “duds.” Dawn broke with heavy storm clouds ahead and the wind, increasing from the southeast. When they were 350 miles out to sea visibility was good and the sea smooth. The first sextant sight was taken by Taylor at 6.10 a.m., and the machine was 10ft from the .water for about an hour while the sight was being taken. It was impossible to get the radio aerial out. The crew breakfasted, “ but' the milk in the coffee had gone sour, and there were heavy clouds, with only peeps of the sun.” - When 430 miles out they were right on their course, Mr Pethybridge piloting and “ Smithy ” 'pf raping. At 0 a.m. the Southern Cross to run into bad weather. It was raining heavily, and they-were only a few feet above the ocean, which looked angry and uninviting. They sighted a steamer, a Canadian ship, it was thought, 10 miles to the south, bound for Wellington. Again they went lower to “ shooC.,the sun,” getting a great thrill out of scudding along _ the wave tops, which gave the impression of tremendous speed. The next message was timed noon on the Southern ■ Cross, and said ' the weather was getting worse. Consternation prevailed, as they had 690 miles to go and were only making 70 miles per hour, with only eight hours’ gas. “ Must get indication of weather ahead if possible,” the message continued, “as we may have to make for Auckland if this strong westerly ‘ continues. Radio conditions are bad.” The succeeding message, timed midday Sydney time, said: “ The noon sextant sight was taken when the Southern Cross was flying at 200 ft under threatening clouds, and cruising at 75 miles/per hour.” ■ , At 1.15 p.m. the Southern Cross had been holding 115 miles per hour for half an hour. Mr Taylor was right on the course, and there were 380 miles to go.' The altitude was I,oooft, and the seas were moderate. The final message received long after the. landing stated; “Strong head winds have held us back. Radio conditions are the worst ever.” CENTENARY AIR RACE. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith says that he has finally decided to be a competitor in/the Melbourne centenary air race from England to Australia. _ It was his desire to fly a British machine, if that was at all practicable, but he had no machine yet. The present British machine did not have the speed or range necessary for the race, and in the event of his being unable to obtain a suitable Empire plane it would be no shame to go outside the Empire. The trip, added Sir Charles, should take three or four days with reasonable luck mechanically and meteorologically. This would mean travelling “ flat out all the time to cover the necessary 3,500 or 4,000 miles a day.

BELATED NEWS DIFFICULTIES OF RECEPTION EXPLANATION BY RADIO OFFICIAL The belated and confusing nature of the news of the progress of the Southern Cross flight broadcast by the YA stations on Saturday provoked satirical and caustic comment from many a listeners- The comment was particularly severe when a noon message from the monoplane was put over the air as the machine was nearing New Plymouth. The official explanation is that owing to the bad radio conditions—described by “ Smithy ” himself as the “ worst ever » —many of the earlier messages were not received in New Zealand. In some centres, receiving conditions were atrocious, but conditions were better in other districts. Tb give a continuous account of the flight of the monoplane, the wireless operator on the Southern Cross repeated the messages late in the afternoon, and they were then broadcast by the Radio Board. The messages were repeated in the, order of original despatch, and. naturally further

slight delays were in volved.-, between their reception and transmission over the air in New Zealand*

AMATEURS RECEIVED REPORTS ASSISTANCE DECLINED BY BOARD [Pee United Press Association.] GISBORNE, January 15.-. Surprise is expressed locally at the reported difficulty of the Broadcasting Boards in securing messages from the Southern' Cross during Saturday’e flight, since the plane’s radio 1 was received with the greatest clarity in the late afternoon. _ Haying heard the Southern Cross intimate before 7 p.m. ; that land had been sighted, listener* , were amazed later to hear the broadcasting stations read tlmtext of a message sent at noon, stating that ther* was consternation aboard the plane. ” It is stated that, when “ Smithy •« made his flight last year,, radio amateurs voluntarily organised a service with a view to. assisting the; authorities, but, when reports' were transmitted, they were informed that no assistance was required. In view of this experience, no special action was taken v this year,, although detailed messages from the' plane would have been available had the board desired-