JEAN BATTEN

Grey River Argus, 15 October 1936, Page 5

JEAN BATTEN

TASMAN FLIGHT May Be To-morrow (Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.) (Received Octobeir 14. 11 p.m.) SYDNEY. October 14. The Government .Meteorologist is fit present gathering weather data. He expects to be in a position to pro vide/ .Mf s s .lean Batten with particulars of the cio;nditi.on-'. over the Tasman Sea some .(line to-morrow. .Miss Batten stated to-day that there was the possibility of her hopping off for New Zealand on Friday or Saturday. She intends to fly to .Mt. Egmont and thence to Auckland. ll'v eng ne wa. s completely overhauled to-day. It was found to be in excellent condition. HOST OF MESSAGES. (Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.) (Received October 14. 11 p.m.) SYDNEY. October 14. Mist Jean Batten to-day received hundreds of letters and telegrams from all sections of the community. Many came from the D'om'nion. A number of young women pleaded w :, th her not to attempt to fly the. Tasman Sea. Mi"s= Batten brought four letters from London. One is for the Associated Aero Flubs of Australia. Another 'is from the New Zealand High Commissioner at London (Mr Jordan) to the Primo Ministry of New Zea'and (Air Savage). Each is stamped October 5, wfith the London postmark. Tn honour of the arrival of Jean Batten in Sydney, tree-lovers have arranged to plant in Hyde Park, to-day. two or three young New Zealand Christinas frees. New Zealanders and tree-lovers are invited to attend the ceremonv. AUCKLAND, October 13. Miss Jean Batten, who had a radiotelephone conversation with her father, Mr. F. IL Batten, of Auckland, this evening, said she was not certain what aerodrome she would make fur after leaving Sydney, but she hoped to see her father within a few days. “Jean said she had a great trip out.” remarked Mr. Batten, ‘‘and from her conversation she seemed quite fit and well.” ADELAIDE. October 14. A warning to Jean Batten, of magnetic disturbances around the New Zealand coast, that would make her compass an unreliable guide in blind flying, was voiced by an uuthority on this subject. He said that if cloudiness prevented usual navigation by the sun or stars, when approaching the st. reliance on the compass would b n likely to take a pilot hundreds of miles off the course. He added that these magnetic, disturbances around New Zealand were caused by geological formations, such as deposits of magnetite.

Plane Improvements BY TARANAKI GROUND ENGINEER. (Per Presg Association). NEW PLYMOUTH, October 14. The fitting of a door on the underside at the Tear end of the fuselage of a Moth aeroplhne by the Western Federated (N. 1. Flying C'ub’s ground engineer. A. Salter, in such a manner as to permit an inspection of the whole fuselage without the use o f spec’al tools, has been approved by the Chief Inspector of A : rcraft. and high tribute is paid to the sk’ll and workmanship of the designer. Pre,yiouslv. the inspection of the fuselage ■ leeupied from one hour to five hours. The work can now be done in five minutes with equal efficiency. A modification of the nose r-bs of another plane has been approved also. The Department has requested that p’ans of the improveniont b ( > submitted. so that they can lie applied to similar planes elsewhere.