ACROSS THE TASMAN

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11831, 12 January 1933, Page 5

ACROSS THE TASMAN

SOUTHERN BEHAVES SPLENDIDLY.

i&EA LIKE MILLPOND!

FROM N.S.W. COAST TO NEW PLYMOUTH.

Trip Takes 14 Hours, 5| Minutes.

- Air-Commodore Sir 0. Kingsford Smith repeated his epic flight- ox tour years ago across the Tasman when he covered the distance yesterday in 14 hours, 5 minutes, 30 seconds. With the exception of a slight head wind in the initial stages the journey was °an ideal ohe, the sea all the way across being like a millpond, The huge monoplane, _ termed by the aviator his ‘‘old bus,” behaved , splendidly from "start to finish. On arrival at Ijew Plymouth at 7 p.m., the Southern Gross was met by a number of New Zealand planes and escorted, in to the Bell Block aerodrome, where an enthusiastic. . reception was accorded the we’ll-known' aviator and his- comipaniahs, G'aptain Taylor, co-pilot: Mr. Stamiage, wireless operator Mr.. Neilson,. of. New Plymouth: and Mr. Percival, a Sydney journalist!

DEPARTURE FROM GEEPJNGONG

sightseers sleep ox beach

Southern cross taxes off j INTO SPACE

(U.P.A. by Elec. Tel. Copyright.) " SYDNEY, Jan. 11.

A Gerringong message . states that the Southern Cross left'for New- Zealand at 2.50 a.m. to-day . after a beautiful take-off. The weather was mild, with a light north-east breeze. ,The'beach was slightly bumpy, and the. plane ran nearly a mile before leaving, making altitude slowly owing to the heavy load, which .includes 660 gallons of petrol and 30 gallons of oil. The. Southern Cross carries no'boat. When asked what he. would do in an emergency, - Sir-■ Charles Kingsfora Smith laughed and said he anticipated no-difficulty in taking the old bus across in one piece.

Many of the sightseers spent the waiting hours sleeping on the sandy beach, which was dotted with figures wrapped in rugs, while the more fortunate ones secured brief naps in cars Under a cloudless sky and with the moon sinking behind the sandhills the Southern Cross taxied . away across the beach and into space out of the sight of the cheering multitude 1 , at--2.50 a.m. Five minutes later the familiar .drone .of,.the old bus’s three motors was heard overhead, telling all below that the take-off had been accomplished successfully. INTO THE DARKNESS

Nearly eight tons dead weight had been lifted from Mother Earth and Suddenly transformed- - hundreds of feet high into the murky darkne-ss. The whole performance was both a weird and marvellous .triumph of or-

gamsat-ion. Above was the spectra] figure of the giant historic-monoplane, with its five, occupants, rapidly heading east.w/|rd over the broad expanse of moonlit ocean, soon to be in the Sister Dominion 1200 miles off, while- helow. the scene was one from fairyland pith the myriad flashing and dancing cat lights, photographers’ flashlights, rockets, and illuminations as the intermittent -shooting of pictures advertised that the Southern Cross or the revellers on the sand were bein._, snapped ” filmed. ■ Sir Charles' and his companions ■matched a couple Qf hours sleep in the radio shed and the whole party looked jaded, though fib enough, , as they Sled out to enter the plane. MODEST PILOT Never was there a naore modest pilot • than Sir -.as -! n . civilian clothes, he led the way tnl° the cabin, chatting quietly with the mechanics and ground staff. Twenty minutes_ later*- Sir ..C ar ® 3 had climbed "into ' the , cqckpit, . ancl, without any ‘ ostentation, yhc v out era Cross iwas in the air commencmg its big job. The fifteen hundred spectators were nonplussed,,..so. neatly and . 3 1 was the .take-off escfftecL, people actually saw the rnac ype owing to the 'darkness, and the Precautions of. tho police,; who kept the curious ones-. 1 ! ; A milder* or more promismg mgM could rot. hove -been; U;'W : - d weather reports wore all excellcn , and evervqne of- the flying argonaut, was in. the highest spirits. N.Z. PASSENGER’S MESSAGE v The New ■.Zealander,* Mj, fold’the 'Press';-Association ff^epr eatativo:' :‘M? °P& ea : T . ls T g siblij monotony, of the trip. I 3 , •, glad to get : home again, as thej and flies here arc more stand.. Anyhow, send- oU| g -■ New Zealand, and-tclluthe that Lwiltbe homo>o, tea,’, stepped off :to tho*-plane and cmba ed upon the great. nclypntu.re., RADIO DOG MESSAGES- PliOivi SOt ; TO^N ; 1 "CROSS

STRONG WIN DRETARDS cef&s is stages

(Press' Association.! Wellington; Jam u* 5.45 aim.—The'Southern Cross took off' at 5.45 a.m.- making' a splondv get-away. Many thousands. of P C °P .-.- were there.' The'; weather reports- are favorable: , ‘Smithy , ; , ,'is-tr3Png ;fpr the ■ height > possible 'to get in., , westeriic3.vup 1 'at 6000 ft. forward bo the ''cockpit tq get ;Our. hnd >;Snuthy” sits re .^ vlt “ -agam-a, ■ sorb. .- satisfied grin 'On. iff Once more. t-. ® • bus' does - Heir- stuff ■•and. haute ea , load-.'ihtQith9 air! Everything is daric

PROGRESS

IIiGSFORD SMITHS S|COND FLIGHT.

outside us, the big moon being temporarily obscured. I just poked my head through the roof where Bill tak-o-s his sight and saw r the very reassuring blue steady flame-from the two outboard motors, whose exhausts have been led over the' wings. Stan and Jock are busy writing. 5.56 a.m. ; The position of the Southern Cross at 4.40 a.m. (Sydney time) is latitude' 5.10 south and longitude 152.25 east.

8 a.m.—We are not making very good time now, owing to the strong north-east wind. •8.43 ia.m.—-Altitude CSOQft.; .sunshine ; hazy weather. 6.05 a.m. (Sydney Time) : Latitude 35.35 south; longitude 154.40 east. The speed is now about- x)0 miles per hour.

. 9.20 a.m. ; .We are moving splendidly at 6700 feat at SO m.p.h. ground speed. We have just had breakfast, a huge sandwich each. Our passage is smooth. Through breaks in the clouds iwe can see a fairly heavy north-west sea. We are still in two-way commun-ication-with Sydney, and are hoping to make contact, with the Maunganui soon. Please ask Wellington Radio to tell him, “Chins from all to AVilf and Beau at New Plymouth.” MAKING GOOD SPEED 9.30 a.m.: We are out of a had drift now and are making good time. Wo have just taken the -sextant- observation and will give you our position shortly.

10.10 a.m. (N.Z. time) : Clouds all cleared away. Perfect- day, with bright blue sea. We are making good speed. 10.50 a.m.: At 8.10 a.m. Sydney time the longitude was 160 degrees east and the latitude 36.30 south, approximately. The clouds have all cleared, and in is now a perfect clay above and bright blue sea. We are making good speed. “Smithy” has a pain in the tummy through eaiing too many sandwiches 1 last night, and so is taking a noggin of port. 11.57 a.m. : The position at 8.50 standard time, Sydney, was latitude 36.50 south ; longitude 161 east-.

CANNOT PICK UP IN ITT AT, SLOW

12.17 p.m.: I am afraid the initial slow progress will cause ' our total time for the trip .to be well over the estimate. It will probably be 15 hours If iwe return by air' I' mtend to reduce the head resistance by fitting the- old exhausts and dispensing with the landing light. The present speed is too much reduced by these extra fittings. All are well aboard and we are thankful for good weather. In contrast- to my last Tasman crossing to New Zealand, this one is very pleasant-,—Kingsford Smith. 1.10 p.m. (New Zealand time). Captain Taylor is now taking noon observations. “Smithy” is at, the controls, and the wind is helping us slightly•' There are clouds between us and the sea. It is still a glorious day. We will very soon be able to give some idea of our arrival time. e hope to get a weather report Dorn the Maunganui within the next houi. “FEEL GRAND” 1.57 p.m. (11.45 a.m. Sydney time).. Noon position: 163.20 east south. Everything perfect. We h v just-lunched off-bread, and cheese, ions, canned-meat, and chocolate, and feel grand. Our ob vatioh puts us too far south. Much Te-checking is going on ; SEA JUST LTKE MILL-POND. ' 4 'ii p.m. (N.Z. ffmo).— -Rave made <nA Wr^).--Evorybo<ly. very*busy- . Smithy ,8 ** Tnvlor is busy checking up his last smht. His sight puts us, not la , ahead of the Maunganui, so wc hone *o see her so. that; wo can get ip dpfinite course to .New- Plymou th. AY,hat a marvellous sight toe sea Pjw--I’ve crossed this one. many times, never soon it like this-jußt a, millpond, not a cloud to be -scen pu the . ort side, or the starboard, Bide,..-but a great bank away on the horizon to tho souto. - The machine i, fl ? W. faultlessly.

LAND SIGHTED. 57 p m .__AVe have sighted land wtiich we presume is Cape Eareu;el, a long way off. As we.expected to bo off our course, we presume, m s is correct. We have sot a course for Mt. Egrnont and expect to arrive at 4.30 Sydney time. I: will .confirm this inter. ’ , . < , EG MONT DEAD AHEAD. ’ ’ 5 p.m. (N.Z. time).—Mt. Egmont looks dead - ahead now. There is a blue sky and it is. perfect y clear, 1

perfect landing

SOUTHERN CROSS ESCORTED BY LOCAL MACHINES.

HUGE MACHINE CIRCLES OVER

TOWN

SMITH 7 A) 1 AVES CHEER FULLY

TO. CROWD

• Press Association.i

NEW PLYMOUTH, Jan. II

Making a characteristically perfect landing, . Sir C. Ivingsford Smith brought the Southern . Cross along-, side the dais erected in Bell Block aerodromo exactly at 7 o'clock tonight, and waved cheerfully to the applauding ton thousand people assembled in. the grounds. The last radio message received from the machine, at 6.45, intimated that the aviators expected to land in about five minutes, and the escorting planes thereupon left the grounds to meet the monoplane. It was not for-some time, however, that they . picked up the Southern Cross, and the first of several false alarms was raised as the formation flew hack over the- ground prior to making, n second sweep t-o the westward, in search of tho monoplane.

Eventually, the long graceful linos of the Southern Cross were discerned high above the rays of the setting sun and, a few moments afterwards the .escorting formation, flying at. a considerably lower altitude, came into view.

The Southern Cross circled widely above New Plymouth, and then circled again upon reaching fcbo aerodrome. Meantime, all but one of the escorting pianos had landed. A great cheer arose (Tom t'no crowd as the monoplane landed immediately behind the last of the escorting group.

“DAMN TIRED.”

SMITHY SUMS UP FLIGHT.

WEATHER CONDITIONS TREAT

BTC AERIAL ESCORT

(Press Association ■>

NEW PLYMOUTH, Jan. 11

Mr. .T. T. Pethvbridge, chief engineer; Mr. H. Affleck, aircraftsman, and Mr. IT. Purvis, mechanic, who constitute the. ground staff attached in the Southern Cross, had arrived at New Plymouth the previous evening and. as the outcome of the flight depended so much upon the work they had performed on the other side of the Tasman. Hio.v were among the most exhil in rated witnesses of the landing.

'Mr. Pethvbridge leapt on to the wing, of the plane and ‘‘Smithy”, leaning out from the cockpit, warmly grasped the hand of the engineer and extended his to other members of tho ground staff, who exchanged eon granulations with the airman, uho then turned to greet Air. ALAI ill ia ms (the radio operator oi the iormer New Zealand flight), who had clhnhed into the fuselage io offer his felicitations.

“Damn tired” was “SmithyV reply to Air. McWilliams'.- inquiry, as to how ho felt. Air. Xoilson. was first ol the the trans-Tasman party to step from rlie plane and he was followed by “Smithy". Stannago. Taylor and Percival.

In company with his brother (Mr. Wilfred Kingsford Smith), Sir Ohnrles ascended, the steps of a dais, and the cheering of the crowd swelled into- a mighty roar.

The' weather conditions rhoughont the flight were ideal, and Lie party landed on New Zealand soil at the close of a perfect day. There was practically no wind and the sky was cloudless. Mount Egrnont fairly s c in filiated in Lie brilliant sunshine. Countless motor vehicles wore parked in the ground and the gaily-dress-ed crowd spent a happy day listening to the broadcast reports of the machine’s progress.

Nearly thirty aeroplanes of various types, and from all parts of the Dominion arrived at the aerodrome from time ip time and some excellent exhibitions of stunt flying were provided.

The official escort, for the Southern Cross consisted of machines piloted by the following flying-officers: —I Keith, Western Federated Flying Club and instructor to the Now Plymouth Aero Club; E. .1! Loucher. president of the Auckland Aero Club'; Ar, Archibald, Wellington Aero Club; Squadron-Leader White, Timaru Aero Club and Captain Alercor. Canterbury Aero Club.

Flying-officer Keith led the formation. and also led the Southern Cross in landing. Among other machines on Iho ground was the plane in which Oscar Garden made his famous flight. It is now privately owned.by a Hamilton airman.

HOW SYDNEY RECEIVED NEWS

LADY KINGSFORD SMITH DELIGHTED.

(U.P.A. by Elec. Tel. CopyDgnU

(Roc. Jan. 11, 1T.40 p.m.) SYDNEY, Jan 11

News of the Southern Cross’s safearrival- in Now Zealand after - her fourtoon hours’ flight'.wap published by the “Sun” this afternoon in time 'to excite, the interest, of- home-going ihusiiiessspooplc, who . treated it , as c,hearing Pcwr and Expressed the high est admiration for the noteworthy achievement by “Smithy” and, his colleagues.

A chatty story of the. flight is featured from Air. Percival,

' The radio signals ftom tho Southern Cross'were very weak for the first few hoorß, but improved and interesting .reports arrived, at, intervals, stating that" she. was making good progress at about 9.Q.; milqs .per hour; and later, expressing the fear that the plane might have, to land in tho dpric • owing .' ; ’,,.to...:.heii)g. blown eoutheriy, off her,; course, r p., *, • Lady Kingsford Smith was delight ed on the receipt of. the good news.

A “WALK-OVER

LOOSE

SHORT

(Press Association.)

ONLY TWO ANXIOUS MOMENTS.

EXHAUST MANIFOLD APPEARED

OIL SEEMED TO BE RUNNING

NEW PLYAIOUTH, Jan. H

‘Tf you could guarantee conditions such as those under which we made the crossing to-day, I would gladly fly the Tasman every day”, said Sir Charles Ivingsford Smith in an interview to-night. “To-day’s trip was” he said, “a ‘walk-over’. It was. the first time the Southern Cross has crossed an -ocean without encountering had weather and it was. certainly a contrast from the .trip four years ago. W» had about 15 minutes’ blind living shortly after taking off but, as soon ns dawn broke, the visibility became perfect. Wo did not have the help wo had expected from the westerly winds, and consequently, the flight took a little longer than we had anticipated. We flew most of the way at between 5000 and 7000 feet to obtain the assistance. of the • northwesterly and to avoid the surface wind, which was a north-easterly”.

Sir Charles paid a warm tribute to tho behaviour of the engines during the crossing. He said that there wore only two occasions on which bo had moments of anxiety. On one of those an exhaust manifold appear ed to he coming loose and it was not until after tlio landing that he bad learned that it had boon constructed in such a way ns to give that impression. On the other occasion, an oil gauge commenced to fluctuate, displaying the same symptoms as it would if the machine were running short of oil. However, it must simply have been some temporary blockage, because there uoro still tons of oil in Hie machine when it landed. Apart from these few minutes of apprehension, he had an absolutely untroubled trip.

Sir Charles remarked that I heir deviation to the south was early indicated by the sextant readings, but, he had preferred not to alter his course, as ho considered it hotter to strike New Zealand midway than, to risk flying beyond the northern extremity of the country. This risk would undoubtedly have existed 1,1 the event of his altering his course on possibly wrong sextant readings. VISIBILITY AMAZING. FIRST ST HOT OF LAND. When he first sighted land, Sir Charles recognised Capo farewell from a distance of between 150 ;1 "d 175 miles. He* was heading straight for this point—a circumstance which boro out Hie accuracy of the sextant readings. Ho then altered his course 25 degrees to north and soon sighted Alt. Egmont. Tho visibility was amazing. TTe said: “AN e were fully 160 miles away when we saw Mount Egtnnnfc. and wo were then still a long wav out at sea.”

?ir Charles himself undertook the hulk' of Ihe work of piloting the machine. while Mr. Taylor did most of ihe navigating. At intervals, however, Air. Taylor relieved him at tho controls, while he himself chocked up *m the navigation readings. The actual flying time, according to a clock fitted in the Southern Cross, was 14 hours 5 minutes 30 seconds. The monoplane's wheels loft Australian soil at 2.50 a.m. (Australian time! by this clock and touched New Zealand soil at 6.55 p.m. by the same instrument.

“The engines of the Southern Cross are in' bettor condition than they were four years ago.” Sir Charles declared. “1 keep them like that; they are my bread and butter nowadays’’. He ini imated that il was hi* (intention to lly 'pack to Australia. btt(- this woulfl depend on two conditions—i he state of the engines after what he hoped would he a strenuous tour and the state of tho weather at the time he proposed to return. He would be prepared to wait several days if neeesary for a break in the weather. Ho was seriously considering taking off from Ninety Aide Beach in event of his returning by air. In Ihe first place I bore should be ample provision for an excellent take-off in this locality, and in the second place, it would shorten the distance 'by about 65 miles. The distance from New Plymouth to his destination, would ho approximately 1300 miles. ITc considered the total distance of to-day’s, flight was about 1305 miles, taking into account the deviation to the south. Touching on the subject of commercial aviation between New Zealand and Australia, Sir Charles expressed the opinion that any practical venture in this direction was still about ten years distant. When Hie time manic when the business was available it would justify, the use of multi-en-gined planes which could if necessary he repaired en route. There should be no further difficulty (in tho way “It there any news of. Hinkler?’ 1 Sir Charles asked. “I have great .faith in Hinkler”, he added. /‘He is an extraordinarily resourceful man. I am by, no means unduly alarmed. Ho has probably landed somewhere o.n one of the various mountain ranges on. his route and is beyond communication”, he remarked ho did not agree, with Hinkler’s policy of maintain cy secrecy about Ids. projects because it must, be realised that,-. I,ho more , that, was known about an airman’s intended, route and other plans the greater was the possibility of his. being located in the event of ;-a mishap occurring.

■ NAVIGATOR’S STORY. lIOW PLANE WAS KEPT ON TRACK. “Aly job was navigation and the flight was in command of Sir Charlies”, said Captain P. G. Taylor, interviewed. Consequently, I. can talk about, nothing hub,; the, navigation side of tho trip.. A strong northeast wind, evas ~encountered-; for a 'start and tho heavy, hrdakorß below showed lines .of foam that enabled us to observe the.- .machine’s drift some time before' daylight. During

tho morning tho position was checked by taking drift sights of tho sun. All through tho day the. conditions, were ideal for ascertaining and chocking the position of the machine, when, the northerly eased off after noon, there wore,, no. breakers l'r.prri iwhich drift sights could ,bo . obtained, so special aluminium powder bombs were used. When they struck thp: water the.bombs caused a, bright patch to appear.on the sea and from such patches the.,drift could ho observed. That method was used, all through the latter part, of the flight. Sights of sun. were taken in. the afternoon to fix the longitude. “Everything went wonderfully well”, said Mr. Stannago when interviewed, “X was in communication with; both sides all the time, and never at any time did I fail to receive messages. Tho Maunganui was most helpful for mo for she arrived in tho vicinity just at a, time . when the magneto noises made it impossible to receive from either side, but our good friends solved the difficulty by relaying messages both ways”. Mr, Stannago said that it was unfortunate that be had been unable to use the telephone during the flight. Right up to tlio last moment, it bad been hoped to do so, but .negotiations for tho service foil 'through and they had to confine themselves to morse. The trouble arose over some complications in connection with thp international regulations. Up till the last every effort was made to overcome the difficulties but without av nil.

OFFICIAL TIME OF FLIGHT. ENGINES IN PERFECT CONDITION. ARRIVAL AT GISBORNE AT 2.30 ON WEDNESDAY. (Special To The Times). NEW PLYMOUTH, Jan. It. The official lime for the Tasman flight was 14 hours 5 minutes 30 seconds. Sir Charles made a wonderful landing and received a tremendous reception. The engines were in perfect condition. The tour will commence as scheduled and he will arrive in Gisborne definitely by next Wednesday afternoon at 2.30.