SIR KINGSFORD SMITH

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 303, 20 November 1935, Page 5

SIR KINGSFORD SMITH

PILOT’S SKILL. I TRIBUTE BY COLLEAGUE. The brilliant airmanship of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, his ability to ' handle a heavily-laden machine under • adverse conditions, and the capabilities of the Lockheed Altair monoplane Lady Southern Cross, are the subject of frequent references by Captain P. G. Taylor in his hook, “Pacific Flight,” ! which has just been published. Captain Taylor accompanied Sir Charles on the Brisbane-San Francisco flight in the Lady Southern Cross last year. Tho book is dedicated “to AirCommodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Kt., M.C., A.F.C., whose unfailing leadership, sound judgment and fine airmanship were grand companions on the Pacific flight of ‘Lady Southern Cross.’ ” BUOYANCY OF MACHINE. The author’s reference to the buoyj ancy of tho Lady Southern Cross is of particular interest in the present. situation. “We had no doubt that the machine would float, as the main fuselage tank, of 200-gallon capacity, was fitted with dump valves through which the fuel could he let go in a matter of seconds, and which could he sealed again by the operation of controls from the pilot’s cockpit.” he states. “With the main fuel line from the tank turned off, and the dump valves closed, there was flotation for 2000 U). weight, enough to take care of the weight of all parts of the aircraft which did not provide flotation in themselves. In addition, we had in our equipment a hacksaw, numerous blades, and a gigantic pair of wirecutters which together would have enabled us to part company with the engine within reasonable time of landing in the sea. “So had the absolutely unbelievable happened, and our Wasp let us down, I see no reason why we could not have remained afloat indefinitely, so long as everything bold together. In this respect, in my opinion, a land piacliine with flotation is probablv better off than the average small flyingboat in a heavy sea, The small flyingboat will certainlv break up, and, unless provided with flotation, will sink. The land machine, being partly submerged. would, I imagine, be less likely to break up.” LANDING ABILITY. Sir Charles’s uncanny ability to set the Lady Southern Cross down in a restricted area is recounted by Captain Taylor in bis description of the landing in Albert Park, Suva. “He lias decided to land at Albert Park. I have seen it and marvelled how he got the Southern Cross in there, without brakes, after 34 hours in the air. To-night he will put Lady Southern Cross down in the same small patch of grass among the buildings and the trees of Suva. “Our’final message out, lie takes over just as the lights of Suva come over the water ahead, and I sit hack to watch the proceedings of the landing. Past Tomba-ko-Namuka and over tlie reef at the harbour entrance; the buildings come into sight and the shed which was Fiji Airway’s banger. At six o’clock we fly over the shore and lie bolds her down to dive into the small green patch that is Albert Park. The Altair comes singing down to within a few feet of the ground, and then lie holds her up. Over the treetops she roars in a terrific zoom, and up, till we brush the bottom of the cloud layer. T look back down the tail. It is pointing into tlie ground of Albert Park. ' REMARKABLE AIRMANSHIP. “At the top be lets her come away in a beautiful turn and tlie song of tlie Wasp fades out as she flows into the glide that takes us round to approach the ground. We fly slowly over the park to make sure of just bow low we can approach, and, tlie flaps down, he lets her sink away toward the ground. Low through the gap in the palms by the road be snakes her in; we glide a few y.eards across the ground, the wheels feather tlie surface and take the load as we roll over the grass, to come to rest within 150 yards of the approach.” There are many other references in the book to Sir Charles’s skill as a pilot. Captain Taylor tells how the Lady Southern Cross was saved from destruction on Naselai Beach, near Suva, solely by Sir Charles’s remarkable airmanship, and later how the great pilot took tlie machine through some heavy weather.