AMAZING FLIGHT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 297, 13 November 1934, Page 7

AMAZING FLIGHT

ACCORDING TO SCHEDULE. MANAWATU AIRMEN INTERVIEWED. Returning in a large sedan car driven by Mr H. E. Edmunds (president of the Manawatu Aero Club) the Palmerston North pilots, SquadronLeader M. C. McGregor and Mr H. C. Walker, who reached Wellington' by the Monowai yesterday afternoon returned home quietly last night and today were in the comparative seclusion of their homes, enjoying a family reunion after over two months’ absence. The official public reception at the Milson aerodrome, will take place to-mor-row according to the earlier arrangements entered into by the Manawatu Aero Club. Meanwhile the pilots do not intend to appear before the public until they step out of their machine at' Milson to-morrow. They are returning to Wellington to fly it to this centre.

“Would you like to do the flight from Mildenhall to Melbourne again?” Squadron-Leader McGregor was asked in an interview by a “Standard” representative to-day. “I would not hesitate,” he replied. Mr Walker, who was also present, commented: “It would be hard, but enjoyable.”

Both, pilots considered that the journey could be done leisurely in two weeks, without night flying. “Now that it is all over I am glad that they undertook the venture,” remarked Mrs McGregor. “During the progress of the flight some days I was sorry and others I was not. Ido not think I worried, so much as some thought I did.”

With natural concern for their father’s welfare, Mr McGregor’s children were constantly wondering how he would manage to secure a shave during the journey. Nevertheless, he did.

Prior to taking delivery of the MilesHawk machine at Reading, where it was built, said Mr McGregor, they had flights in other machines of this type. He went aloft also in an Airspeed Envoy, the type of ’plane which, he added, Mr C. T. P. Ulm intended to use on his flight from Vancouver to Australia. The Manawatu pilots spent a week at Mildenhall aerodrome, which was destined to be an R.A.F. centre. It'was a very fine ground, but the buildings were not yet completed. Prior to their departure from Mildenhall they received some valuable advice from Mr Ulm concerning the air race route. He counselled them not to land at Victoria Point, but they did so without trouble.

AN OUTSTANDING FEATURE. An outstanding feature regarding the flight, mentioned by Mr McGregor, was that only once did they have to stop at any place not according to their prearranged schedule between Mildenhall and Darwin. This was at Sourabaya, but nevertheless, though they had not made definite arrangements to land there, they had not overlooked this possibility. They had preferred to take no risk of being forced down between checking points owing to shortage of petrol. “We did not want to be locked up in Turkey like Messrs Polando and Wright,” laughingly commented Mr Walker. Never at any time were they near to being short of petrol and, contrary t>o reports, had still live gallons left in the tank when they landed at the Tatoi aerodrome, Athens. Brief stays on the ground were a feature of their amazing flight. They alighted for only 10 minutes at Marseilles, 25 minutes at Rome, 2 or 3 hours at Athens and about 15 minutes at Nicosia (Cyprus). The ground service was extremely good, end at some places they stopped only J on S enough—a few minutes —to refuel, taking aboard in each case 55 gallons of petrol and 3 gallons of oil. Iheir fuel consumption and range depended on the engine revolutions. 2000 MILES IN A DAY.

“We averaged 147 miles an hour fi° m England to Marseilles,” said Mr McGregor The longest day’s journey was from Baghdad to Jodhpur, when they covered over 2000 miles. “However, lie added, “it is so hard to describe which was a day and which was not. They did not sleep very much. Officials along the whole route were very courteous, merely asking for the production of passports and the official log-book. This was signed just before they left each aerodrome. They experienced a delay of about ten minutes when they were bogged in a soft patch at Alor Star, but their light machine was soon pulled out and got into the air off a better runway. Mainly they maintained an altitude of about 10,000 feet during the flight, said Mr McGregor, but when they became blinded by the red dust which filtered under their goggles in Australia, they flew along only about twenty feet above the ground in order to see, before they were forced to descend. Prior to leaving Mildenhall, owing to the need to reduce weight to the absolute minimum, they discarded their overcoats. Each wore a shirt, trousers and suede golfing jacket, with a sports coat for use in the cooler Commenting on the cabled statement that they were at the hotel at Melbourn© in onlv th© clothes which they stood in Mr Walker said this was nonsense, as immediately after arrival they were able to have a bath and change, members of the New Zealand Association seeing that they were fitted out with all the clothes they required Presented as a mark of appreciation by Mr and Mrs G. Steel, of Palmerston North to the fliers in recognition ot their achievement, a large and handsomely iced cake reposes m the Me Gregor home at present It w inscribed “Welcome Home, Mac, and is decoi „ted with a little Sllver ae l'W la , n ?- Th© Manawatu Aero Club s planes wi™ go' out in Ug* to— £ Watta when the Miles-Hnwk machine Thev will escort the pilots KK will meanwhile cirele round, to descend.

An interview with tLe Menawat;. nirnien, obtained ' € (lard’s” representative on tne . ?hsj of the Mono'.vai .1 IVelhngton yesterday, appears an page '■