THE FLYING SCOTSMAN

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 10 July 1928, Page 9

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN

,„ACE WITH AIR LINER. Til AIN BEATEN UN JOURNEY. ' . LONDON, June 18. After an exciting race, which thrilled the spectators along the route', the air liner, City of Glasgow, beat- the famous train, the Flying Scotsman, from London ,to Edinburgh, a distance of 392 mi es, by 21 minutes. The plane fought head-winds throughout, but the pilot sent his machine hurtling through the air at 100 miles an hour in the teeth j: the gale. To add insult to injury, as it were, the air liner broadcast messages which were picked up by listeners on the reading train. “Flying is grand, hut it is a shame to make game of a train,” said James Birkett, aged 79, a retired enginedriver, who was a passenger on the city of Glasgow. It was his first flight, and he made this remark when the airliner overtook the train at 5.15 p.m., circled above, and went on to Edinburgh. The passengers on the train listened to the air liner’s messages on a new receiving and transmitting installation, which will not be placed on the market ior a year. They heard a message saying: “Now we are alongside.” They looked out, but did not see the aeroplane. Ten minutes later the aeroplane admitted that it had been chasing the Junior Scotsman, which left Euston at 10.5 a.m., and added: “Now you are chasing us.” The passengers rushed to the windows and sighted the plane. They wa cd and cheered. The train, which was travelling at 75 miles an hour, | was apparently holding its own. The air-liner circled, appeared on the othor side, and Avas out of sight in a few minutes.