GRAPHIC STORY

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 23 November 1934, Page 7

GRAPHIC STORY

ADVENTURES ON FLIGHT

Only a Mechanic to Greet Them at Mangere

TIRED, BUT TRIUMPHANT

REMARKABLE FEAT

(By Telegraph—Special to “Star.”) AUCKLAND, To-day.

It was a greatly’surprised mechanic on’duty at the Mangere aerodrome who hoard zooming - '*overload about 7.15 this morning. He knew the ’plane i'as foreign to the Auckland Club s hangar, but for the time he did not realise that it was the “Faith in New Zealand. With a perfect cross wind lauding, the silver grey machine came down in the middle of the flying field. It “lost its prop,” but one of the airmen got out and started the engine again. Slowly it taxied right up to the door of the hangar, and the airmen stepped out to stretch themselves and yawn. Only one person was on the ground to meet them —an Aucklander, who is a pupil of the club. The unexpected arrivals at the clubhouse were soon sitting in the lounge enjoying a hot drink, and a wash and a 'change of clothing loaned by the mechanic followed. The fliers then had a more substantial meal of poached eggs on toast. Whitehead sent a brief telegram to liis parents in Wellington, and then the two airmen, tired, but triumphant, went to bed for the first sleep for three days. They slept until 10 o’clock and a good deal of shaking was needed to (ywaken them.

With tired and glazed eyes, but with their faces wreathed in smiles, the airmen awoke to tell the story of their remarkable flight to a group of newspaper men.

“We had a violent desire to come to New Zealand, and we thought this was the best, quickest and cheapest method to get here,” said Nicliolls. “We will probably do a bit of joyriding now, perhaps a tour of the Dominion. "We intend to have a look round and see what opportunities there are for the establishment of a commercial service. Wc have plenty of ideas, but no definite plans.

BIG CROWD ON BEACH

“There was'quite a big crowd at the Gerringong Beach to see us off, e\ en at 2 o’clock in the morning. We knew hardly any of them. They sat round a fire and attempted community singing, but it didn’t go too good. “Ray was at the controls when we took off,” continued Nicholls. “He stayed there for six hours, and then I took over. After another eight hours we changed over again and Ray piloted the bus until we landed. “The weather was not too bad,” volunteered Whitehead. “We struck patches of dirty stuff and wc ran info an occasional thunder storm and rain. "Whitehead said they thought the islands thev sighted in the north were the Three Kings. When they landed tey walked for what seemed nnles along the beach before sighting a house, which they were unable to rciei'. i it is believed here that the landing place was on the Houhora Beach, close to the Houhora Iliver. “The general idea Avas to land at New Plymouth, and naturally we made Egmont our landfall,” said Whitehead. ‘‘But it is the most difficult thing in the world to make your objective in a flight such as ours.

FIRST SIGHT OF LAND

“Thirteen hours after the take-off we first sighted land. We had no idea where we were, so we decided to fly north. After a short time we saw what we thought to be the Three Kings, as we had then lost-jdie mainland. Wo turned south and kept going for about 39 miles. We looked for a good beach, and when we found one we decided to come down. AVc knew we were on the east coast, hut we had no idea where we spent' the night. “When we got out of the plane and had a look around we found we were in an uninhabiteed part,” chipped in Nicliolls. “We walked along the beach for what seemed miles, and then away inland we saw a house. That was good, we thought. We would be able to let our people know we were cafe and then get a meal and some sleep, but we came to a liver and our way was blocked, so we decided to go back to. the ’plane. We made a fire with driftwood in the hope that it would he seen, and incidentally to keep us warm during the night. “We did not attempt to sleep. \\e just sat huddled on the beach until dawn came. As soon as it was light enough we climbed into the machine and started off with the idea of binding at Mangere,” continued M bitehead. “I had a general idea of where the aerodrome was, and we bad little difficulty in finding it.” I A half-share in the monoplane was bought by Nicliolls, Previously the [’plane was the sole property of \\ h i tehead whose father had bought it from a wealthy New South Wales grazier. When the “Faith in New Zealand” landed on the beach, which the airmen believed to be somewhere near Doubtless Bay, they still had enough petrol loft for two and a half to three hours’ flying. If they had used an altitude control, thereby weakening the mixtures they could have stretched out the range on their 117 gallons to pctiol to 2000 miles or mors.

ONLY ONE SHIP

“Wo saw only one ship on the whole crossing, and that was .‘IOO miles out from Sydney,” said Whitehead. “For some time before we picked up the coast wc began to wonder when we would sec land.

“We got sore eyes looking for it,” interjected his companion. “It was only natural to start to look for land long before we actually expected to see it. We had nothing else to do, and it gave us a hobby.” A piece of drift wood was sighted with enthusiasm, and it was not long now before the fliers saw some seagulls wheeling. That was CO miles out from the coast. “Wc guessed then that land could not be far away,” said Nicliolls.

At this point it was suggested to the airmen that they were lucky they had not gone a few miles further north and missed New Zealand altogether. Alternatively, it was suggested that if a heavy bank of clouds had been hanging over the narrow isthmus of the north they might have flown over the land without seeing it. The airmen, however, did not; agree. “Wc had seen the gulls, and if we had not picked up land within a reasonable time we Would have turned back and looked for it in another direction. 'Once wo saw the gulls we thought we could not go wrong.

NEVER MISSED A BEAT

“The engine never missed a bent,” said Whitehead. “We would have missed a few if she had,” laconically remarked his companion. It was explained by Nicliolls that the Puss Moth lva-d done about 1000 hours’ flying, with never a forced landing—a remarkable record. With a knowledge of ’planes and a fine recordthe airmen considered they would have been unlucky if she had not covered an odd 20 hours or so without letting them down. The fliers smiled when they wore asked how they came to be friends. “We got pally living together at the club house at Mascot,” said one of them. “Both of us apparently had the idea at the back of our minds that some day we might fly to New Zealand. “Last Wednesday week we w.cro sitting in the lounge of the Mascot elub house having a cup of coffee.

“Ray said: ‘Are you game? If so I am.’ We both said ‘yes’ together.

“I don't think it was the centenary air race that inspired, us. Long before that we had both wanted to make a flight,” said Rex Nicholl.

CHANGE OVER IN THE AIR

To the delight of a small crowd at Mangere, the airmen demonstrated how

they had changed over in the air. Even with the ’plane on the ground, the manoeuvre appeared complicated and difficult in the extreme, and one wondered how they must have felt when performing it in the air over the lonely sea. Only to be seeing the reckless change-over accomplished can one realise what a remarkable feat the whole flight was. “We found that making the change was rather easier than we thought it would be,” said one of them. Although they had been warned by the Civil Aviation Department of Australia they were undertaking an unlicensed flight, the two young aviators decided to ignore officialdom. The authorities were opposed to the flight being attempted with a single-engined machine. They were informed in a telegram a week ago that their certificates had been cancelled, but even that did not. deter them. “You are allowed to take a boat and sail it away anywhere you like,” said one of the airmen. “It is our own craft, and if we wished to bring it across I don’t see why they should stop us. We were risking only our own lives.”

It was mentioned that they were liable to a fine of £2OO or six months’ imprisonment for an unauthorised flight. “We will do six months, provided they give us nice cosy cells," laughed Nicholls.

Legal Action Uncertain.

Received 0.0 p.m. to-day

SYDNEY, To-day,

It is not known whether legal action will be taken against Whitehead and

Nicholls for having taken off in an uncertified machine. The penalty for such a breach of the regulations is a fine of not more than £2OO, or not more than six months’ imprisonment, or both.

Captain Johnson, the Director of Civil Aviation, said the question of taking action would depend on whether the fliers return to Australia.