AIRMAN FINED

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 August 1935, Page 5

AIRMAN FINED

FLYING WITHOUT A LICENSE “VICTIMISATION” ALLEGED [FEB PBESS ASSOCIATION.]

WANGANUI, August 12,

Maurice King, the Wanganui aviator, was fined £1 each on charges of flying an aeroplane to Wellington from Wanganui and back without a license, and with also not being the holder of a pilot’s license. Mr. P. Dickson for the defendant, said he believed it was the first case of the kind in New Zealand, but the Magistrate, Mr. Salmon, said he recently had two cases at Otaki. King had held licenses for two previous years, and on those occasions, the Defence authorities had sent out notices to pilots and forms of applications. This year, it did not do so. King underwent his medical examination, and when he made application for a license subsequent to the Wellington flight, was told that the license would not be issued until the case had been heard. •'

Counsel remarked, that it almost savoured to some, extent of victimisation on the part of the authorities, and pilots were perturbed about the matter. Had the notices been sent, all local pilots would have made application in the proper time. The Magistrate said there was nothing in the regulations requiring notices to be sent, and the onus was on the pilots to renew. .

TASMAN SERVICE

SYDNEY, August 11.

Mr. Forbes discussed air mail matters with Mr. A. Parkhill, who afterwards stated that both agreed that decisions must be postponed until information was forthcoming from the British authorities.

DEAD MAN’S DIARY

LONDON, August 10.

The “Daily Telegraph’s” Amsterdam correspondent says: A unique diary in the history of aviation has just been published. It describes the approach of death, as seen by the Dutch journalist, Vanlanglen, who was a victim of the disaster on July 20. It discloses that there was incessant rain in the early and it records the plane climbing to escape the storm clouds, and the seeing of blue sky at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet. The rain, however, recurred at fifteen thousand feet. The diary adds: “My watch says 12.30 a.m. An explosion! Rain! Rain! We are descending rapidly. The rain changes to snow. I can see nothing. Our height is now nine thousand feet. More snow! How we are dropping! Lightning shows the mountain peaks. We are just above them! Lightning again! We are now 6,300.” It was at that height that the plane struck the hillside. The notes were begun in clear handwriting. This developed into a scrawl, and ended with a faint pencil mark, made at the moment of death. PACIFIC RECORD HONOLULU, August 10. The Pan-Ameridan Clipper Plane alighted here at 8.8 a.m. on Saturday after making a record flight from Alameda, in seventeen hours and nine minutes. She made the record even though she deviated from her chartered course several times in order to make special, surveys’ of the air conditions.

The plane will hop off for Midway Island, probably on Tuesday. Thence she goes to Wake Island. The plane will not proceed to Guam.

BLACK’S RECORD. RUGBY, August 10. Campbell Black covered , the first stage of the journey to the Cape in record time. He flew 2240 miles between Hatfield and Cairo in 11 hours and 10 minutes. FAR EAST TRAFFIC RUGBY, August 9. Thp Imperial Airways has decided to duplicate after September 24, the airmail service between Calcutta and Singapore following the duplication last January of the service between Loudon and Calcutta, in response to the increase in traffic. After that date, both services which leave England each week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, will continue through to Singapore. RADIO IN CARS RUGBY, August 9. It is understood that Mr. More Belisha proposes to prohibit the use of radio-sets in motor cars, in built-up areas, owing to complaints of the annoyance caused- to residents.