MOLUSON SETS RECORD

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 29 March 1932, Page 9

MOLUSON SETS RECORD

London-Capetown Flight

FOURTEEN HOURS TO SPARE

Night Landing On Beach

FLYER IN DAZED STATE

LIGHTS CAUSE .CONFUSION

. U nited Press Association — By Electric Telegraph dopy right, j Received 2 p.m. to-day. CAPE TOWN, March 28. The airman Mollison landed safely at 8.35 at night at Milnerton Beach, missing the Infield Aerodrome by ‘ a few miles, though it was fully lighted with a beam visible for 150 imles. Milnerton is six miles north of Cape Town. Mollison rushed to the aerodrome in a car, where a large crowd gave him an enthusiastic welcome. The total time for the flight was four days 16 hours. This creates a new record, beating Miss Peggy Salaman’s by 14 hours. He had two forced landings, first when crossing the Sahara Desert owing to overwhelming sleepiness and later oil the banks of the Niger owing to engine trouble. He said he had actually flown four nights without sleep. - His landing at Milnerton was sensational, but at present tlie. airman is quite incoherent. He is bewildered and incapable of telling what happened. Piecing together tlie fragments of his story it appears his sight was affected and Ihe was seeing double, both over the Sahara where he landed and nearing Capetown to-night. He was confused! by the revolving beam and giving i,t a wide berth he flew almost into Capetown itself. He then become confused again by the crowded lights on tlie beach promenades. _ He says he saw' a jetty though no jetty was tjhere. When lie landed on the beach he narrowly missed cars on the beach road. A taximan whisked him off to the aerodrome.

In a room thick with smoke, and dazed by questions fired at him from all sides Mollison became completely confused and incapable of saying what had happened till the Mayor took command, leading him away to rest. Meanwhile the ’plane which he had abandoned on the beach was overtaken by the rising .tide. It either landed upside down or the waves overturned it.-