WORLD’S GREAT AIRMAN

Evening Star, Issue 22209, 11 December 1935, Page 7

WORLD’S GREAT AIRMAN

SIR CHARLES KINCSFCRD SMITH j LIFE CRAMMED WITH ADVENTURE Born at Brisbane on February 9, 1897, Kingsford Smith was the youngest of seven children. Before he was a year old his parents went to live in Sydney,r and, when the baby of the family was six years old, the family moved to Canada and lived at Vancouver for several years After his return to Australia from Canada he was apprenticed to the Colonial Sugar Refining Company in the electrical engineering department, and at the same time studied mechanical engineering at a technical college. It was in that field that Kingsford Smith, then 17-i years of age, was engaged when war broke out, and he immediately expressed his intention of enlisting, but his parents refused iintil he reached the age of 18. Smith saw three months’ service as a despatch rider on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and was on the Somaliland when the ship was torpedoed near Mudros in 1915. He was also present at the historic evacuation of Gallipoli. A few mouths later, in France, whence he had gone with the Fourth Division Signalling Company, there was a call for Australian volunteers for the Air Force-) Out of 200 who offered 20 were chosen, and young Kingsford Smith was one of them. That was his introduction to aviation. WAR-TIME DARING. By 1916, Kingsford Smith was through his training, and was in France again with his pilot’s certificate. He soon became known as a clever and daring airman, and many a Gemrn aviator fell victim to his mastery of the air. Then, one day, over Belgium, far beyond the Allied line, Kingsford Smith became mixed up in a “ dog-fight ” (as the airmen call it) with four German machines. He was giving a good account of himself when, from behind a cloud, there came two other enemy machines. The Australian, before he could dodge, was the target of a shower of bullets. A foot was smashed, and he lost consciousness and fell. When he recovered he was still falling. He instinctively regained command of his machine when it was within a few yards of the ground. When the Germans saw him flying again they came after him, but somehow he escaped them and got back behind the Allied lines. He went to a hospital, and as he described it in a letter home, “ they cut off two toes and a bit cl meat.” Out of his machine they picked 82 bullets. Captain Kingsford Smith came out of it with a limp and a Military Cross, awarded for “ exceptional bravery when engaged with enemy aviators.” After the adventure for which he gained the Military Cross he was invalided ' to Australia on six months’ furlough, and was not accepted again for active service, but in 1918 he was hack in England, training flying officers at Eastbourne. POST-WAR STRUGGLE. After the war came his struggle, firstly, for a living, and secondly, for the means to do the things he wanted to do in the realms of civil aviation. He tried to organise a flight to Australia, but was unsuccessful. He went to America, where for two years he earned a precarious livelihood as an aviator. Then he went down with scarlet fever, and presently arrived in San Francisco, where his sister was living. Returning to Australia, for ' three years Captain Kingsford Smith was senior pilot for Westralian Airways, in the Perth to Broome service, and then he went into the carrying business there, with a line of motor trucks. In Sydney in 1927 he arranged for a flight around Australia with C. T. P. Ulm, and thus a famous partnership began. That flight was accomplished in the record time of 10 days for a distance of slightly over 7,100 miles. Then came his efforts, to raise £IO,OOO to finance a Pacific flight, but being unable to accomplish it in Australia he and Lieutenant Ulm went to the United States, where they secured the goodwill of a Californian millionaire, Mr G. Allen Hancock, which enabled them to purchase the Fokker monoplane, christened Southern Cross. This machine laid the foundation of their success. /THE MOST FAMOUS FLIGHT. The story of their transpacific flight, in the same year that the crew of the Junkers Bremen made the first conquest of the Atlantic from the eastern side, is known to all. Flying along a radio beam from Grissey .Field beacon, San Francisco, the Southern Cross left California on May 31, 1928, on the first stage of their 2,100-mile journey to Honolulu. Embraced by women before the take-off, to his immense confusion, and weighted with good-luck charms. Smith waved “ Cheerio!” and the great plane droned away on the flight which gained it world fame and which had entailed nearly a year’s preparation. Mr C. T. P. Ulm, assistant pilot; Mr Lyons, son of Rear-admiral Lyons, of the United States navy, navigator; and Mr Warner, described as one of the most efficient radio operators in the American navy, accompanied Smith. Over the Pacific the wireless sparked out its message to the world, and the Southern Cross reached the Wheeler Field, Honolulu, in 27h 27min. Soon after 5 a.m. on June 3, they left again, reaching Suva after 341- hours in the air. The Australian Government detailed the destroyer Huon to patrol the final stretch between Suva and Sydney, but the precaution was needless. Leaving Fiji on the final hop on June 8 just before 3 p.m., the plane made a perfect landing at Brisbane 21 hours later. The distance covered had been 7,100 miles, and the flying time was 83h 4min. FIRST TASMAN CROSSING. Their reception was tumultuous, and interest in the Dominion was even more intense when it was announced immediately on their arrival that they intended to fly to New Zealand. The plane was overhauled, and the flyers were overwhelmed with gifts. _ They visited various parts of Australia, and at the end of August, having completed their preparations, waited for favourable weather for their conquest of the Tasman. Storms held them back, but on September 10 they left Richmond, and early next morning the drone of giant engines was heard above Wellington. Circling about the city, the plane headed south for Christchurch, where Ulm told a story of a plane coated with ice which had battled her way through fierce storms. The triumphal tour of the aviators through New Zealand was a continuation of their previous experiences. The Government voted them £2,000, and everywhere they were lionised. In the crew, Mr T. H. M'Williams (wireless operator) and Mr H. A. Litchfield (navigator), an Australian, had replaced the two Americans, who had gone home. The presence of Mr M’Williams was due to an interesting circumstance,. Mi: Alfred Hill, the New

Zealand musician, cabled to the Dominion suggesting that a. New Zealander should be included in the crew. This cable was published in the ‘ Evening Post,’ with the result that Mr M‘Williams .was invited to join the party. Twenty-three hours in the air, with buffeting winds, squalls of rain, and Ulm stricken with sickness, the airmen shot back to Richmond on October 13 in yet another conquest of the turbulent Tasman sea. LOST FOR TEN DAYS. In Australia Smith returned to the task of floating National Airways Ltd., and in January, 1929, it was announced that he had in view an attempt on the record between Australia and England. On March 30 they started out, with the same crew, but were forced down 200 miles short of their objective, Wyndhanu Their fate was a mystery and it was only after intensive searching for 10 days that they were found, weak and foodless, in the midst of barren country. The plane Canberra located the plane near a bend in the Glenelg River, but with the tidings came the news that Keith Anderson and Hitchcock, his mechanic, were mjssing, and later they were found dead beside the Kookaburra, their machine. The Southern Cross, suffering mishap for the first time in her career, returned to Richmond and was enthusiastically welcomed. There was an inquiry into the circumstances of the landing, and the finding was that there was an error of judgment on the part of the aviators in not carrying tools, ■such as a hammer and a saw, but that the plane had l been in-first-class order. On June 25 the plane left Richmond again, bound for Derby, and flew on through Singapore, Rangoon, and Karachi. There was engine trouble on the trip, and the aviators had to amend their plans. They were at Basra by July 7 and reached Rome two days later. July 10 saw them land at Croydon, after a record flight of 12 days 21 hours, during which they had suffered 1 “lots of minor troubles, but had a good flight.” GREAT CIRCLE COMPLETED. The next great flight was from Ireland to New York on June 23, 1930, which completed l a round-the-world journey without parallel in the annals of flying. On his return to New York Kingsford Smith flew across the American Continent to San Francisco, where the original backar, Mr Hancock, made a gift of the Southern Cross to her great ■pilot. Returning to England, Kingsford Smith purchased a light aeroplane, in which he flew from England to Australia in 10i days, reducing the then standing record of 15J days established some time before by Hinkler. Immediately afterward he married Miss Mary Powell, of Melbourne. As. a joint managing director of Australian National Airways, Kingsford Smith resumed his association with commercial aviation in Australia. In 1932 he attempted another record flight to .England, but after a successful beginning, in which, despite illness, he maintained a recordbreaking schedule, he made a forced landing in Turkey. Charles Kingsford Smith was awarded many trophies. These included the Britannia challenge trophy cf the Royal Aero Club, the Segrame memorial trophy, and ■ the Oswald M‘lntyre gold plaque. Among the list of those awarded honours on the King’s Birthday in 1932 appeared the name of Air Commodore Charles Kingsford Smith, M.C., A.F.C., who received the title of Knight Bachelor in recognition of his services to aviation. More great flights followed, but “ Smithy’s ” next narrow escape from death came in 1932 when he was attempting a record solo flight from Australia to England. The first stages were covered in splendid time, but he was an ill man, and during the “ hop ” across Turkey he fainted. The plane fell out of control, hut he recovered in time to regain stability and make a forced landing. ' DIVED FOR 6,000 FEET, Several thrills awaited him and Captain Taylor when they set out on their record-breaking flight across the Pacific in the Lockhead Altair in October last year. The first “ hop ” from Brisbane to Suva was uneventful and preparations were made for the next takeoff from Naselax beach. When racing down the beach for the take-off, the tail of the plane was caught by the wind and swung around. The machine made a wild dash into the tide, spray flying high over the engine from which arose a cloud of steam; hut the aviators escaped without injury and the plane was undamaged. The greatest thrill came in the second section of the flight, from Suva ■ to Honolulu. " Shortly after leaving Naselai beach on October 28 they ran into blinding rain And lightning. At midnight they flew into a rainstorm of such intensity at 12,000 ft that visibility was almost nil and in an effort to improve it a little, “ Smithy ” leaned forward to switch the cabin light on. He accidentally bumped the switch releasing the retractable landing gear. The shock threw the plane into a violent spin, and they plunged 6,000 ft towards the sea before full control was regained. . . When he landed at Wheeler Field, Honolulu, he said that he had 21 hours’ petrol left, but the engine ran for only 25 minutes. He then admitted that on the flight from Suva he could not have remained in the air for 30 minutes longer. At Honolulu a leak was found in the 011 system, and this completed, preparations were made for the take oft on the final stage. When the was lifted from one wing during the preparations a leak was found in the main fuel tank. This was of only minor importance, but just before the take-off a major leak was found, a bolt having worn through the metal of the tank. Had they started “ Smithy ” and his companion would certainly never have reached their objective. “ Smithy ” enjoyed a spell from fn’ghts until the alarming adventure of his last Tasman flight. 'PROPELLER SMASHED. The faithful Southern Cross left Richmond, 30 miles inland from Sydney, at 1.50 a.m., for New Plymouth, and made good time for 450 miles, over a third of the distance. Then followed the most nerve-wracking and exhausting experience which has ever befallen “Smithy.”- A small piece of the cowling of the starboard engine flew off, shattering one blade of the propeller. For a time the engine was kept running, but the fierce vibration caused by the loss of balance in the propeller almost shook the engine from the wing. The engine was stopped and “the old bus” was turned for home like a lame duck making for shelter in a storm. Making all the speed possible wi|h the centre and port engines, the New South Wales coast seemed to come no nearer, and a descent on the Tasman Sea seemed certain when the port motor commenced spluttering through shortage of oil owing to the strain which was being placed upon it. Then one of the most brilliantly daring achievements of air history was accomplished by the man who was afterwards acclaimed the saviour of the crew, Cap-

tain P. G. Taylor, co-pilot and navigator. With a vacuum flask which hadcontained coffee, and an attach© case which had carried sandwiches he climbed through the small cockpit window, scrambled desperately out to the starboard engine along the supporting struts, and baled the oil from the “ dead ” engine into the attache case. Accomplishing the perilous return to the cockpit, ‘he climbed out to the other side and went through the same amazing evolutions with nerveless daring, and poured the salvaged oil into the “sick engine,” then returning again to the cockpit. This amazing and desperate x-emedy was resorted to repeatedly, and the fact that the Southern Cross successfully completed its return is attributed almost solely to Captain Taylor. Air mail' and freight were dumped and throughout the terrible ordeal the wireless operator, Mr J. S. W. Stannage, flashed out messages which made those few hours the most dramatic in the history of aviation. Two countries listened to four men going to their death and returning. And now the last chapter has been written into the life of Australia’s “ knight of the air.” The Southex-n Cross had given him good service, and after that flight it was purchased by the Commonwealth Government and placed in the National Museum at Canberra. Sir Charles then turned his attention to the faster machine, the Lockheed Affair, in which he had intended to fly in the Centenary Air Race. RECORD OF FLIGHTS 1927 (June). —Round Australia. 1928- (June). —Oakland to Brisbane. 1928 (August). Sydney-Perth-Syd-ney. 1928 (September).—Australia to New Zealand. 1928 _ (October). —New Zealand to Australia. * 1929 (June).—Sydney to London. 1930 (June). —London to San Francisco. 1930 (October). —London to Sydney. 1931 (April).—Sydney-Koepang-Syd-ney. 1931 (May) .—Sydney-Akyab-Sydney. ■1931 (September).—Sydney to London. 1931 (September).—London to Sydney. 1931 (December). —Sydney to London. 1932 (January) .—London to Melbourne. 1933 (January).—Sydney to New Plymouth. 1933 (March). —New Zealand to Sydney. 1934 (January).—Sydney to New ‘Plymouth. 1934 (May).—New' Zealand to Sydney. .1934 (November). —Sydney to Oak : ' land. 1935 (May).—Sydney to New Zealand (forced to return).