AUSTRALIAN FLIER SAFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20637, 8 August 1930, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN FLIER SAFE.

NEWS OF CUNNINGHAM. LANDING ON AN ISLAND. INTENTION TO CONTINUE. Py lelograph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received August 7, 5.5 p.m.) BATAVIA. August 7. News of the safety of Mr. A. T. Cunningham, tho Australian airman who is attempting to fly from Australia to England, has been received at Batavia. Tho non-arrival of the flier at Bima, Sumbawa Island, Dutch East Indies, on Tuesday morning had caused anxiety and a search for him on Timor Island had been ordered.

It now transpires that Mr. Cunningham landed on Tuesday afternoon at the coastal village of Boleng on Florcs Island. His machine was not damaged and the airman himself was not injured. Mr. Cunningham intends to continue his flight to Bima shortly.

RELIEF TN SYDNEY. WIFE HEARS THE NEWS. INTEREST OF OTHERS. (Received August 7, 11.15 p.m.) SYDNEY. August 7. The safe landing of Mr. Cunningham on Fiores Island has considerably relieved the feelings of his wife in Sydney and all those concerned in his flight to England.

The western extremity of Flores Island, Dutch East Indies, is about 60 miles eastward of Bima. The island is mountainous and is more than 200 miles in length from east to west. Mr. Andrew T. Cunningham was trained to fly by the instructors of the New South Wales Aero Club at Mascot aerodrome. He secured his first certificate in March, 1928, and his final certificate later that year. He was one of the most successful of the club-trained pilots. He purchased a Moth aeroplane, which he used for business in connection with his station property, which adjoins the Federal Territory, as well as for pleasure. Ho was one of the pilots in the aviation race from Sydney to Perth last October, and made good time during that flight, though later he had an accident.

On that occasion Mr. Cunningham showed ingenuity. In a forced landing the machine used in the east-west race was damaged. Mr. Cunningham repaired it with pieces cut from petrol tins, some wire and cord, and made a wooden support by bending a sapling. In that condition the machine was flown to Melbourne and later to his home near Canberra.

The machine which the airman is using on his present flight is a biplane. It was manufactured at the works of the General Aircraft Company, Limited, Mascot, and the passenger seats were removed to permit of extra fuel and oil being carried for long-distance flights. The machine is fitted with a 105-115 h.p. Cirrus Hermes engine, and is in all respects similar to machines which have been built by the same company for service in Queensland and elsewhere in the Commonwealth. This particular aeroplane was named the Genairco, and on its name-plate, to comply with the air regulations, was the name "J. Jackson, Sydney, British born." That was the name assumed by Mr. Cunningham, who desired that his identity should not be declared when-leav-ing Mascot.