Grey River Argus THURSDAY, May 16, 1935. SMITHY’S CLOSE CALL.

Grey River Argus, 16 May 1935, Page 4

Grey River Argus THURSDAY, May 16, 1935. SMITHY’S CLOSE CALL.

The fact that the famous monoplane Southern Cross should onc e b.ain have reached safety, after ’ Laving this time been for houi;s in jeopardy, may have disposed some people to conjecture whether her danger may not have been so great as the news ol iter plight bad at first indicated. There can. however, be little doubt that the danger was real, and that the celebrated aviator, with his noted colleagues, had doubtless their narrowest escape to date. What might escape being noted is the probability that the portion of yesterday’s flight which would

appear to have spelt failure, so lar as the original objective wen., may actually have been one of the greatest feats of airmanship in the career of the men engaged. Many aviators have, _by their feats, gained world-wide fame, and yet encountered ultimately a situation that has been beyond their ability to surmount. The men of the Southern Cross, however, when faced in mid-Tasman by an emergency with all of the elements of disaster, proved once more man’s mastery over nature m> less valiantly than they have done before. It may be said that 11m jubilee air mail project owed its inception to Smith, for n 0 other aviator had been even mentioned in connection with it, and the circumstances might suggest that, when he could obtain only one navigator, it was risky to attempt the transport of mails at first intended for two planes in one machine alone. Yet his record indicates that he is extremely earful to eliminate risks, where possible, so that it may be assumed that the non-suceess of the project arose entirely from one ot those risks that have to be taken and that cannot be averted because they cannot be foreseen. The accident was unusual, and its cause does not yet seem to be certain. It is reported as a matter of opinion that a piston ring from one engine damaged the propeller of another, which must be accounted a very unusual accident. That the Southern Cross was kept up only with extreme difficulty, requiring the ,-argo ami most of the mail to be jettisoned, will doubtless reconcile the philatelist fraternity to the loss of their property. It was obviously the stamp collecting hobby or business which influenced the Postal authorities to make the King’s Jubilee an occasion for the venture. The conclusion to which the mishap will force the public is that future Tasman flights should be confined to flying boats. Had the Southern Cross been adapted for a decent upon the water, the anxiety of the airmen and in a lesser degree of the public would probably have been minimised, whereas the ill-fated flight which ended the career of Smith’s erstwhile associate. C. P. Him, in the neighbourhood of Hawaii would point to the belief that had not the Southern Cross been piloted back to her starting point yesterday, but descended upon the sea no more would have been seen of her crew or herself than of Ulm,

his companions and his plane. I The insistence of the British ' authorities upon the use of flying boats for the air mails has thus r. warranty for at least those parts of the route outside of the Continents of Asia and Australia. Although unsuccessful, bis flight of almost sixteen hours yesterday is likely to he as memorable almost as any of Smith's successful journeys. He still remains a wizard of the air. who has shown his ability is equally as great under extreme difficulty as it has been proven otherwise to be. Perhaps his past feats in the Southern Cross have disposed him to place in the “Old Bus’’ a reliance that really attaches rather to the pilot than to his instrument. Familiar though he he with its capacity, the lesson he should now have derived is to seek yet a greater safety margin than he is noted for having hitherto done. It is a genuine satisfaction that so great a pioneer in aviation should have survived so great a danger, and remain with further experience to assist the progress of this revolutionary art in this part of the

world.