FEATS IN AVIATION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 181, 3 July 1931, Page 6

FEATS IN AVIATION.

lx a decade in which aviation has made remarkable strides, when two English airmen have flown from England to India without one stop in fifty hours, and jnlots have demonstrated the practicability of' keeping- a machine aloft for days while it is refuelled from the air, the record round the world flight of the United States airman, Captain Post, and his companion, Lieutenant Gatty, a native of Tasmania, must take a prominent place among its epic achievements. Leaving Harbour Grace (Newfoundland) on June 23, havingflown from lloosevelt Eield (New York State) the same day, they spanned the Atlantic Ocean in 15 hours 24 minutes, beating- the record which had stood in the name of the two Britishers, Sir John Alcock and Sir A. Whitton Brown, since they flew from Newfoundland to Ireland in 1919. Annihilating space, they were in Moscow on June 25, and three days later had crossed the great Continent of Asia to Khabarovsk, the seat of the Governor-General of Amur. There then remained 2400 miles, across land and sea, before they would again set foot on their own land, and it was one of the most difficult sections. All across the Behring- Sea, the aviators said in graphically describing- their adventures, were miles of ice floes moving northward, while cold and haze prevented them from flying- in higher altitudes. Only a staunch plane and its never failing- engine, and their own knowledge of aviation lay between safety and tragedy, but nearly seventeen hours after thej- left Khabarovsk on Monday tkey_ were at Solomon in Alaska. Not seven days had elapsed since their departure from Koosevelt Eield, and their actual flying time to Solomon was a little more than three days. Such flights assume the character of a “stunt” to a large extent, but nevertheless are intrinsically of value in demonstrating what man with his machine can do. In 1913 an American, J. H. Hears, set a record of 3G days for a round the world flight. A United States Army team in 1924 did a similar flight in 363 hours actual flying time. Of four machines two failed to complete the journey, but the successful airmen were acclaimed for their venture. In subsequent years there were other flights which reduced the period to 24 days, but each included a longsteamer trip. The _ development of aviation science is one of the events of the century, and it is leading to still further effort. French aviators plan to circle the globe in four laps, and two United States airmen are anxious to beat Captain Post and Lieutenant Gatty’s record. In other directions, two British airmen, Captain Stack and Mr Chaplin, are seeking to fly from. England to India and back, in record time, while other United States pilots ambitiously plan to span the Pacific Ocean from America to Japan. The Graf Zeppelin is on a tour of the higher altitudes, and the New Zealander, Mr Chichester, on his world flight is announced to leave for Japan, thence by way of Kamchatka and the Behring Sea to Alaska, across the United States to Greenland, then by way of Iceland and the Faroe Islands to England. All these flights point to the great and growing interest in aviation.