TO SAMOA BY AIR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 29 September 1926, Page 4

TO SAMOA BY AIR.

JOURNEY OF 14,000 MILES

ISLANDS TO BE VISITED. Long-distance flights are the order of the day by representatives of nations in wiiose l>loo<l runs the spirit- of adventure and especially those to whom the vehicle of modern adventuring, the airplane, appeals with iirestibie lure, savs the “Sydney Morning Herald.” Mr. Alan Cob-ham’s flight to Australia has quickened interest in aviation, and possibly it is partly due to his influence that the Royal Australian Air Force proposes to embark oh 'a. notable pioneering flight. Arrangements have been completed for an arduous and spectacular flight of approximately. 14,000 miles, and covering the groups of islands east of New Guinea as far as Samoa. The pivot will be Group-Captain Erie Williams, chief of the Air Force, who will be accompanied by a mechanic with experience as a pilot, and a wireless operator, who will also use a camera from the air. The mechine to be used will be a Do Haviland 50, littcd with floats and a Siddeley-Puma. engine of 240 li.p. The proposal lias the approval of the Prime Minister, .Mr. S. M. Bruce, and it is expected that the flight will begin from Point Cook, near Melbourne, within the next 10 or 12 days. It is proposed that tliq route followed will’ be from MelbouriijC up the east coast of Australia to Thursday Island thence round the south-east corner of New Guinea- and along the north-east coast as far as Madang. From Madang the machine wiU proceed round the southern coast of New Britain to Rabaul, and thence to the Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Fiji. From Fiji it is possible that the machine will visit the Friendly Islands and the Samoan group. An official statement issued by the Air Board states that the suitability of the Mandated Territory and the islands of the Southern Pacific for the establishment of airplane and seaplane bases is'at present little known, and the main object of the flight will lie to reconnoitre these places from the air, and obtain data as to the suitability of climatic conditions generally for flying operations. A large number of these islands and reefs are as yet imperfectly charted and it seems possible that at some future date it may be found desirous to employ aircraft for the purpose of amending existing charts and completing the hydrographic survey of the area. It is necessary, therefore, adds the statement, to study in advance the suitability of the area for flying operations of this kind, and the possibility Of carrying out< such operations successfully. It is hoped by means of photography to obtain a permanent record of sketches of coastline of importance, which should prove a valuable addition to existing information concerning the area. The flight is expected to occupy about two months. The machine will lie fitted with ordinary. air force wireless equipment, and at of the proposed route- is it thought that the machine will be out of wireless range. The return flight will be made fcver the same route as the outward. Although Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Islands, possessions of the Commonwealth, appear to offer stages between New Caledonia, and Sydney, they are useless for the proposed- flight, because they lack wireless stations. In flying across- open ocean an aviator is apt to be blown out of his course unless lie has the aid of directional wireless. The route'as mapped out- is studded with wireless stations. y