DR. MAWSON’S AEROPLANE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 168, 3 July 1911, Page 11

DR. MAWSON’S AEROPLANE.

PILOT’S PLANS FOR ANTARCTIC FLYING.

Lieutenant Hugh E. Watkins, of the Essex Regiment, the officer airman who is to pilot the monoplane which Dr. Douglas Mawson has decided to take with him in his expedition to the Antarctic, described his plans recently. Lieutenant Watkins learned to fly in a HowardWright biplane at Brooklands, and holds a Royal Aero Club certificate of proficiency. “ It is practically certain, ” he said, ‘ ‘that the machine we shall take with us will be an R.E.P. monoplane. It was in the first instance a French built aeroplane, the designer being M. Robert Es-nault-Pelterie. Latterly Messrs Vickers, the famous engineering firm, have acquired the rights to manufacture these monoplanes in England. “This machine has been chosen largely on account or its portabilitiy. The wings can be attached to the body in ten minutes. Its engine has a large reserve of power, and the control of the machine is simple. We shall take the monoplane to a quiet flying ground near London, which belongs to Messrs Vickers, and prepare it for Antarctic work. “A special screen will be made to protect the pilot and his passeir-

ger from the cold. Adjustments to the carburetter and fuel tanks will be necesssary to prevent the petrol freezing. It is probable that the present landing chassis of the machine —-two wheels and a central skid—will be altered in order to facilitate rising and descending upon snow. “So far as we have at present outlined the uses of the aeroplane, it will be employed for survey work and also in connection with the journey to the Magnetic Pole. I believe that the monoplane will be of the utmost value. An observer will be able to make rough maps while flying. It is hoped that the machine will be able to fly 250 miles without a stop.”