The Hawera Star. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1928. THE PROJECTED TASMAN PLIGHT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 5 January 1928, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1928. THE PROJECTED TASMAN PLIGHT.

Delivered every evening by 5 o olook in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa. Eltham, Mangatoki. Kaponga. Alton, Hurley ville, Patea. Waverley. Mokoia, Whakamara. Ohangai. Meremere. Fraser Road and Ararata

It will be with gratification that most people in the Dominion* will learn that the- New Zealand airmen now in Sydney have overcome the difficulties which threatened to put a tetop to -their project to attempt to fly across the Tasman Sea, for it was felt that their enterprise, and the faith of their financial backers, who are all New Zealanders, deserved something very much better than the disappointment which they would have suffered had authority been withheld. The airmen and the promoters of the flight were fully aware that the Federal Government did not favour attempts being made on the Tasman flight in a machine not designed to take to the water, but it was thought that any opposition which might have been expected on that score had already been overcome before the aviators left for Sydney. The Prime Minister of New Zealand had been in communication with the Federal -authorities and it- was understood that the latter would waive their objections in the case of the New Zealanders in view of the fact that they carried the good wishes of -the Dominion Government. Until yesterday it appeared that there -had arisen some misunderstanding between -the New Zealand and the Australian authorities which would result in the abandonment of the flight, or, at the best, in an attempt to get away in spite of the -official ban. It is- very much more satisfactory to everybody concerned that the men are now in a position to set. off with the full cognisance and assistance of the two governments. Since it was first announced by the “Hawera Star” and a few other newspapers in New Zealand which had been in touch with the development of the plans to conquer the Tasman Sea by aircraft, a great deal of interest has been evinced in the project. While admiration of the courage of the airmen has been general, there has been a tendency to regard the flight in a monoplane not equipped to ride the surface of the ocean as a rash, and even as an unnecessary experiment. The risks attaching to the venture are- obvious, but the men who had chosen, in the face -of the known and the probable dangers, to make this heroic attempt to bring to New Zealand the honour of pioneering the airway across- the Tasman, cannot be regarded as merely courageous- adventurers. Lieutenant Moncrieff and Captain Hood—the former is the leader of the expedition —are both fully seized with a sense of the- responsibility which rests- upon their shoulders. Both are skilled airmen of wide experience, and it may be assumed that in choosing a monoplane of a type similar to that chosen by Lindbergh for his transAtlantic flight, they were guided by knowledge and experience. It is probably true that if communication between Australia and New Zealand by air becomes a commercial possibility in the future it will be by the use of larger machines, designed to float on the water, but before men can. bo found to invest their money in any such enterprise as that the trail has first to be blazed. That is what, the crew of the “ Ao-Tca-Road” are anxious to accomplish—to “blaze” a new trail for the transport-of the future. But. whereas the pioneers of seventy years ago wore called upon to undertake long and arduous journeys through unexplored country on- foot, the modern pioneers of the air have to stake their skill, their faith in. their machine and their lives in the effort to prove that it is possible to cross- the ocean which separates New Zealand from her continental neighbour in a matter of hours rather than of days, as at present, by steamer transport. If they, succeed in their purpose they will have made new aviation history for the

world and for their own Dominion,

That they 'will succeed is the earnest hope and wish of every New Zealander. It is certain, in the light of the knowledge) of aerial transport which has 1 been gained in the last few years, that the Tasman Sea will 'be crossed by a heavier-than-air machine some day. The two men who are ready to set out to-morrow believe that it can be done 1 now, and they have found a number of men willing to back their courage and brains with money. They have gone quietly about their task of preparing for the flight, but now that the secret of their intentions is revealed, they carry with them the good wishes of all New Zealand and of every other country which admires splendid endeavour.