ATLANTIC FLIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19731, 2 September 1927, Page 11

ATLANTIC FLIGHT.

/[ENGLAND TO OTTAWA. * 1 r i . ■- NO HEWS OF PARTY. SCENES AT THE START. PRINCESS AND PRELATE. BLESSING THE MONOPLANE. 'By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received ■ September 1, 5.26 p.m.) A. and N.Z. LONDON. Au S . 31. A message from New York says that np to midnight no word had been received of the two Imperial Airways pilots, Captain Hamilton and Lieutenant-Colonel Minchin, who left the Upavon aerodrome in Wiltshire yesterday morning in an attempt to make r» non-stop flight to Ottawa, accompanied by Princess Lowenstein-Wertheim. They are flying in a Fokker-Jupiter monoplane named the St. Raphael. It was estimated that when the New [Fork message was despatched the piano should have been 400 miles east of Newfoundland. The weather reports indicated that it would in that case be within an area of cloudy skies, showers and fog, with adverse winds, which would slow

up its progress. The scenes at the commencement of the flight yesterday were most dramatic. Captain Hamilton and Colonel Minchin did not sleep a wink all the previous night. With dawn came a strong easterly wind. Airmen gathered in a ghostly mist, shook their heads and gave the verdict that it would be impossible to take off finder such conditions, but Captain Hamilton was determined. He jumped into a ;waiting car and made a tour of inspection of the eastward section of the aerodrome.

Watchers on Salisbury Plains saw the great headlights of the car sweeping the ground. Captain Hamilton returned, consulted Colonel Minchin, and decided to take off in another direction. Thereupon the monoplane was hauled across the country by 40 men. While this was occurring the Princess Lowenstein-Wertheim arrived at the aerodrome in a large limousine, accompanied by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff, Br. Francis Mostyn, and three priests. The Princess had left her London home shortly after midnight, called at Devizes and picked up Dr. Mostyn. ' When the preparations for the start of the flight had been completed the Princess stood in the shelter of a wing of the plane. In 'the half light the Archbishop then blessed the machine, whereupon the Princess knelt and kissed the episcopal ring. The prelate raised one hand and gave the Princess his .blessing, adding: "I will not forget to pray for you." He then placed his hands on the two airmen's shoulders, shaking each man affectionately. The Princess stepped to her seat in a wicker-cane chair among the luggage. The monoplane ran 1000 yards for several anxious moments, nari'owly missing an ambulance and then a line of fir trees. PRINCESS* CAREER. AN INTREPID AIRWOMAN. ENGLISHWOMAN BY BIRTH. (British Official Wireless.) A. and N.Z ; ' RUGBY, Aug. 31. Princess Loewenstein-Wertheim is the first woman to attempt to fly across the Atlantic. She is an Englishwoman by birth, the daughter of the fourth Earl of Mexborongh. Her maiden name was Lady Anne Savile. In 1897 she married the German Prince Loewenstein-Wertheim, who was killed- two years later when fighting for the Spaniards against the Americans in the Philippines. In 1918 the Princess became a British subject again. She is an intrepid airwoman, and learned to fly before the war. She has had many adventures in the air. In 1923 she entered a machine in the race for the King's Cup, and accompanied the pilot in the circular air tour round Britain. MISSING AMERICAN. REDFERN SEEN FROM SHIP. COURSE SET FOR VENEZUELA. A. and N.Z. MONTREAL, Aug. 31. A message from Kingston, Jamaica, says a Norwegian steamer, the Christian Krob.T, has reported having seen the j American airman Paul Redfern 24 hours after the latter left Brunswick, Georgia, on August 25, on an attempted flight to Brazil. The vessel exchanged signals with the aviator, after which he pointed his monoplane in the direction of the land, as indicated by the ship, and continued his flight,. The ship's log gives the position as 165 miles north of the nearest point on the coast of Venezuela.

FLYING TKAGEDIES. COLLISION m MID-AIR. PILOT BURNED TO DEATH. A. and N.Z. PARIS, Aug. 31. Two aeroplanes collided and were telescoped in mid-air at Petit Clamart. One machine fell to the earth like a stone. It struck an electric cable on the descent and burst into flames. The pilot was burned to death. The other machine, in spite of its crushed wing, landed safely.

FATAL ALPINE JOURNEY. YUGOSLAVS' MISFORTUNE. Times. LONDON, Aug. 31. The Innsbruck correspondent of the Times says a party of alpine guides who were seeking a Yugoslavian military plane which had disappeared in a flight over the Arlberg mountain in a blizzard on Saturday, found the demolished plane on a glacier. Apparently it had hit the face of the mountain. The pilot was frost-bitten, and had sustained compound fractures of his legs. He was alive, but his companion had been frozen to death. .