DUE AT 2.30

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11836, 18 January 1933, Page 5

DUE AT 2.30

SOUTHERN CRQS| AT GISBORNE Keenest public , interest lias been displayed in tHA.arrival of the SohtHern Gross, . piloted .By tlie wcirldfamous airmail, Sir Charles < Kingsford Smitlij. and it is safe to'predict that there , will bo one of the largest gatherings, Gisborne has yet’ 6eeu at tho "Waikanae Beach this, afternoon. The famous plane is due here at 2.30 this afternoon’ On the arrifal of 1 the plane, Sir Charles and his party will be' conducted to a platform, adjacent "to the end of Grey' Street, where he will be. tendered an official welcome by a gathering bf. local body representatives, oh behalf of whom 1 the speakers will be the Mayor (Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P.), Lt.-Col. R. F“ Gambrill (president of the Gisborne R.S.A.), and Mr. J. G. Nolan (president of the Gisborne Aero. Club). Immediately following the reception, Sir Charles will .commence a programme of passenger flights and those will continue as long' as the tidal conditions permit. Further passenger flights will be made to-mor-jqw afternoon. According to the decision of tbe Borough Council at last' evening’s

meeting,, no cars will be allowed between tho' Intersection 'of Salisbury __ road and Grev street and the' beach. * will s he permitted 'in ' Salisbury road or in the' -railway reiferve

in the rear of the Beach Improvement Society’s pavilion.' Bathers using the beach this afternoon will be requested to leave tbe water will be o’clock, but later this restriction may be removed. Sir Charles will leave for Napier on Friday afternoon.

PARACHUTE FLIGHTS TO-DAY

LEAPS FROM SOUTHERN CROSS.

Additional thrills will be afforded the public to-day by tbe appearance this afternoon of the well-khowii dare-devil parachutist, “Scotty” Fraser, who has established a reputation throughout Australia for bis sensational leaps. On two occasions this afternoon he will accompany the Southern Cross on its flights and when the huge monol- - is high up in tjie air will leap overboard and descend by means of his parachute. These feats have been carried out in various towns, and the performance is said to be thrilling in the extreme. SOCIAL INVITATIONS. Invitations to Sir Charles Kingsford Smith to attend informal functions have been pouring in to Mr. G. Nicholas. the majority from private citizens and tbe various clubs. Yesterday the Maoris of the district forwarded an invitation to Sir Charles and bis party to attend a dance to be held at To Poho-o-Rawiri tomorrow evening. All these invitations r ’f?ave been kept till tlie arrival of the party, and their acceptance will *-e----pend on the time at the disposal of the visitors. Gisborne, Hovvevci, well maintained its re ' yMation for hospitality, and if only a'small quota of the invitations should be accepted the well-known aviator will not have one spare moment during his visit to this town.

HUSH FOR FLIGHTS. From present indications Sir G'has. Kingsford-Smit.li should have a busy time with passengers in Gisborne. Mr G. A. Nichdlis states that; from inquiries already made, with the fares paid in advance , in many instances, the monoplane should make 111 ‘ l11 ? trips to-morrow, each with its iu load of fouiteen passengers. In addition, to cope with the crowd, it is quite possible that, as ie towns, the tender plane, the 'Wellington Aero Club’s Waco, will need to be utilised. Inquiries for flights had been received by him from a parts of Poverty Ray, and in additio , of course, there were hundreds who had made no preliminary arrangements and intended to pay at the beach just prior to the flight.

THE FAMOUS SOUTHERN CROSS

14-PASSENGER MONOPLANE

WATCH THE SKIES TO-DAY

This afternoon, all going well, Gisborne residents will see the His modern air-liner in the Dominion, t e huge 14-passenger monoplane, Soutiern Cross, one of the most remarkable aeroplanes in Hie world. - about 2 p.m. it .is safe to predict that thousands of eyes will be searc i- . ing tlie skies for the first glimpse of monster of tlio skj, viti wing-span of eighty feet. At present Sir Charles Ivings oH Smith and party are at Rotorua, and will leave there probably after unc i to-day. The first member of the party to arrive will be Bolt, in the Wellington Aero Gn.js Waco, which'is to act as to tile Southern Cross. Flight-Lieu. Bolt is expected here this morning ■an the Southern Cross will not Rotorua until telephone awic as to wind, etc., has . ee received from , this officer. If ; the weather should piove ca m the big monoplane will come dmect from Rotorua to Gisborne. It wil Y over the Urewera Country, and i u that case should first he noticeable in town to the left of Hexton, nea Makauri. If the sky is overcast and the wind fairly strong, Sir Charles will in all probability fly out to the coast near the -Hast Cape, and cQine down the coast to Gisborne. Hn ei those circumstances the ■’plane shou < first be noticeable in the diiection. of Tolaga Bay. •As previously mentioned • hi t\e “Times.” the Southern Cross is, t*e 01 y$“-platje that has encircled' all t e Hg oceans. It is the only 'plane that has crossed th» Pacific Ocean from the Continent of America to the Con- \ tinent of -Australia. It .has flown r. .

from Australia to England (in then feiidfd thhe), and is diie of the three ’plains tliat Have made the Hazardous crossing over the " Atlantic from oast to west. From New York it has flown across tho continent to its starting point on its world wanderings j near San Francisco. It lias flown over the Tasman Sea three times, and also riori-stop across the Continent of Australia. Th e Southern Cross is an Americanbuilt Fokker monoplane, powered with three Wright Whirlwind engines. Each engine develops 220 H.p. at 1800 r.p.m. and consumes 12 gallons of fudl and two pints of oil per hour, making a total consumption bf 36 gallons of petrol, per hour. Oil the tfahs-Atiaiitic flight the machine carried 1275 galioiis of motor spirit arid 27 gallons of oil. The fuel arid oil carried at the outset of the flight weighed 41 tons. A • romantic history -is attached to the machino, winch “Smnthy” affectionately terms the "old ’bps.” For many months 'the Southern Cross was abandoned on the icy wastes of Alaska by another famous Australian, Sir Hubert Wilkins, who took two Fokkers witti him and left them both in Alaska after a re-arrangement of His plans. Before Sir Charles and Mr. p- T. P- Ulm purchased the machino I it had been used for the transport, of passengers to all mariner of places. After tlie traris-Atl antic' flight, tlie Southern Cross was flown by Sir Charles to Oakland (California) arid presented to Captain Hancock, who was the financial backer of their Paci-fic-flight, and Hancock, in turn, presented it back to Sir Charles, and it Fas shipped to Australia, converted into a commercial passenger-carrying inachine, and used by the Australian National Airways, mainly for their Tasmanian service.

RETURN TASMAN FLIGHT

TO START FROM NINETY MILE

BEACH

RECORD PASSENGER BUSINESS A NEW PLYMOUTH

(Press Association.! NEW PLYMOUTH, Jan. 17

The Southern Cross will be flown across the Tasman back to Australia at the end of the New Zealand tour, said Sir Kingsford Siriith before his departure for Rotorua this afternoon.

He said he expected to take off on Ninety Mile Beach. He estimated the cost, of flying tbe Tasman at about £75.

Fourteen person- were aboard the big monoplane when it left for Rotorua-

At New Plymouth Sir Charles had remarkable success with commercial flying on Sunday, establishing a record for Australia and New Zealand. In the event of the establishment of a trans-Tasman service by some multi-engined machine. Sir Charles estimated that: the fare would probably be £lB to £2O.