THE AIR RACE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 291, 6 November 1934, Page 8

THE AIR RACE

AND THE MELBOURNE CUP

(Contributed.)

The big air race to Melbourne is all over and Melbourne will now turn to the next excitement to-day—the Melbourne Cup. In the air race, the best aeronautical brains in the world had been planning for months, designing ’planes, building and tuning up engines, pilots studying navigation, oil companies laying down fuel supplies in remote ‘places by steamer, barge, mules, railway, and even camel trains to the centres of Australia, where the precious fuel costs over 6s a gallon. The whole world watched with the greatest interest the aviators annihilating distance and time, and the winning machine in the speed race was set down in Melbourne in under three days, after travelling a distance nearly half-way round the world.

With the travelling through storms, rain, lightning, clouds and fog, the airmen relying on their wonderful scientific instruments, the race has proved beyond doubt the capacity of man to do things that were impossible a few years ago. The local Aero Club’s ’plane was landed in Darwin in the wonderful time of 5 days 15 hours 8 minutes, knocking 30 per cent, off the existing light ’plane record, and gets nothing for the wonderful feat. The winner of the high speed race gets £IO,OOO for his brilliant effort—a gruelling test of endurance of man and machine for three days and nights. Contrast this with what will happen in Melbourne to-day—when a few horses will gallop to the cry “The’re off I” and in a few minutes the winner will get the same prize money as the winners of the air race I The only difference is that man has to travel over 11,500 miles for £IO,OOO. but the horse earns the same money in two miles!