WHY ULM FAILED

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 December 1934, Page 7

WHY ULM FAILED

EQUIPMENT FAULTY HONOLULU PRESS CANDOUR [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.'j HONOLULU, .December 9. The Honolulu Advertiser referring to Ulm’s fate, says: As humanitarians and as Americans, we of Hawaii are glad that; the Navy, Army and Coast Guard have carried, the Ulm hunt beyonds the bounds of hope. Candour compels the belief that a. groat aviator, endeared to Hawaii by his association with Kingsford Smith in the epochal 1928 flight, has thrown three lives away. His safety margin, in terms of gasoline, was far too scant. His navigation becomes more deplorable as facts transpire. His radio did not permit direction-bearings, to be taken, this because of the weak signal; and it did not pick up the beacon, which could have guided him to safety. Finally, to stress the element that became all important when he was forced down, he had a land craft. These facts should be recorded in the interest of’ trans-Pacific ‘aviation, which is soon to come. People should not be swayed by this tragedy to decry a California-Hawaii air line. That line will have everything that Captain Ulm lacked. Here we may iterate an observation made by The Advertiser immediately after the Star of Australia was forced down; the failure was human, not mechanical. Craft and motors are astonishingly good; so is radio. But all must be chosen with an eye to their duties.

WALLER’S RETURN. LEOPOLDVILLE, December 26. Waller has left here for Brussels. NIAMEY, December 27. Waller has arrived here, averaging 195 miles an hour from Leopoldville, despite slight trouble with the port engine, which has been righted. He has resumed his journey. ORAN, December 27. Waller arrived after 9.] hours’ flight, averaging nearly 160 miles’ -an hour. SPEED RECORD CLAIMED. PARIS, December 26. An examination of his instruments, after his flight on Christmas Day, has revealed that Raymond Delmotte, during his test flight in a Caudron monoplane, attained a speed of 314.0 miles an hour for three miles, thus gating James Weddel’s world record of a 06.35 for a land ’plane. dutch plane tragedy. STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. THE HAGUE, December 27. A medical examination has revealed that the occupants of the Dutch KL M plane were all killed by li.->m-ning. This is the first time m the history of aeroplanes that lightning has killed people in the air, although airship disasters have been attributed to lightning. , „ The inquiry shows that the flying hotel crashed out of control, indicating that the pilots were killed instantaneously in the air. LONDON, December 27. The Hague correspondent of “The Times” says that .the Commissions preliminary report from Baghdad on the K.L.M. plane disaster states the plane was found in a flying condition. The retractable landing gear was withdrawn and the landing wings were ui flying position. The engines were on the normal gas ignition, and the landing lights were not switched on. Tne wireless aerial had been taken in, which is normal when flying in a thunderstorm, but at the spot where the small fixed aerial touched the baggage hold, the fuselage was severely burnt. Thus the lightning apparently had struck this aerial. The K.L.M. Commission states that the pilots were not blamable for flying at night, as the weather reports were not unfavourable when they left Cairo, except for indication of a small local thunderstorm in the Syrian desert

ALBURY’S OFFER. (Recd. December 28, 11 a.m.) SYDNEY, December 28. Albury people, who were generously treated by the Dutch people for their efforts to save the Dutch airliner from destruction during the Centenary air race, have started a fund for the families of the victims killed when the air liner crashed in the Syrian desert. It is thought probable that financial help will not be needed in most cases, but in any event Albury’s action will be accepted as evidence of appreciation of the Dutch magnanimity towards Albury. NO ELLSWORTH FLIGHT NEW YORK. December 26. The “New York Times” denies the Wellington report that Mr Ellsworth has crossed the Antarctic by air. Admiral Byrd is expecting a message from Mr Ellsworth. He believes that the flight has been halted, owing to heavy weather. PLANES FOR SPAIN. RUGBY. December 27.

Twelve De Haviland Moth aeroplanes bought by the Spanish Government for use as training machines for the Spanish air service, to-day are flying across France en route to Spain.