CENTENARY AIR RACE

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 September 1934, Page 7

CENTENARY AIR RACE

J NEW ZEALANDERS’ PLANS Ll — e ’ A TEST FLIGHT 3 1 [BY CABLE—PEBSS ASSN.—COPYBIGHT.] " LONDON, September 6. The delivery of the New Zealanders’ i Dragon for the’ Centenary air race, is - due before the end of September, meanwhile Kay and Hewitt have been familiarising themselves with new de- > signs and instruments. The New Zea- ' landers begin next week with full load ■ tests with an older type machine, similar in design. INDIAN WITHDRAWS. ' CALCUTTA, September 6. s India will not be represented in the air race, the only Indian entrant, W. L. Chaudi has abandoned the idea of competing because his pilot, A. Murad is unable to secure leave. WILEY POST’S TEST. CHICAGO, September 5. Wiley Post, enveloped by an anode rubber uniform and a cylindrical helmet that gave him the appearance of a deep sea diver, took his plane, the Winnie Mae, over 40,000 feet into the air as the prelude to an attempt to establish a new altitude record for heavier-than-air machines. He spent two hours testing the machine and the apparatus. To-morrow he hopes to reach 50,000 feet in the stratosphere. KINGSFORD SMITH. AUCKLAND, September 7. Fresh troubles are being encountered by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, in his preparations for the air race, according to a cablegram received by his father-in-law, Mr A. Powell, on arrival at Auckland by the Mariposa, to-day., The message read: “Owingto the tightening of the regulations controlling the air race, I will not be allowed to carry full petrol tanks, thereby necesitating intermediate landings, and greatly minimising the chances of winning, unless all the other competitors are similarly handicapped, which is improbable.” Mr Powell, who helped to finance the purchase of the Lady Southern Cross, said that Smithy’s intention had been merely to record his arrival at some of the intermediate landing stations, and to go on without wasting time in filling the tanks. He (Mr Powell) was at a loss to understand why all these obstacles were being put in Smithy’s way. Smithy, in a cablegram, said that the certificates of his plane’s airworthiness would probably not be granted for two weeks, but he expected that it would be granted before his departure for England. TURKEY’S ASSENT. ’ CONSTANTINOPLE, September 7. Shukri Bey, Vice-President of the Aeronautical League, states that if Kingsford Smith and the Mollisons apply through the Embassy, the Turkish Government is certain to give them , permission to fly over Turkey in the ] Centenary race. (

CRASH AT NAPLES. (Recd. September 7, 11 a.m.) NAPLES, September 7. Two aeroplanes collided* over the city, and one crashed on the roof of the Royal Palace, killing the pilot. The other machine’s pilot escaped by means of a parachute. The plane crashed on a church dome which collapsed.