PLUCKY AVIATOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20713, 5 November 1930, Page 13

PLUCKY AVIATOR.

CAPTAIN MATTHEWS' FEAT. WARM WELCOME IN SYDNEY. UNFORTUNATE MISHAP. [from our own correspondent.] SYDNEY. October 30. Here at last, after many trials and disappointments, Captain J. J. Matthews, the English aviator, who failed in his attempt to create a new record from England lo Australia, was accorded a warm welcome, and one that surprised him more than it surprised anybody else. Australia always has had a warm heart for aviators, and when one shows that pluck and courage that Matthews did he can be sure of the plaudits of the crowd. That was why he was escorted over the city by a fleet of 16 aeroplanes, almost as many as greeted the hero Ivingsford Smith. 4 It was unfortunate that even Captain Matthews' final stago from Brisbane to Sydney should havo been marred by a crash at Lismore, about half-way, where he had called for the purpose of receiving a civic reception. Describing this final crash, Captain Matthews said that tho engine cut out almost as soon as he left the ground. He could do nothing, and down went his aeroplane. There were two small fields adjoining, and one of them seemed suitable for an emergency landing. He tried to get into a larger field, but the machine went down too quickly. Then lie tried the flier's trick of bumping the machine over a barbed-wire fence, but it so happened that one wing tipped the fence. "So," added Captain Matthews, "there was nothing for me to do but pilo up the machine, and this I did against the fence. I escaped with only a small scratch on my hand. Tho shock absorbers were forced through tho undercarriage, and came up between me and the dash-board. A few inches either way and they might have pierced my body. I am sorry I could not bring my machine along with me, especially as I have had such a wonderful welcome, but I had to leave it at Lismore looking rather an untidy mess." When he was asked to describe the principal incidents of his long flight. Captain Matthews, who is a typical English sportsman, whimsically replied: "Never land an aeroplane in a quarry. If you do you will find yourself in a devil of a fix." That, he explained, had reference to his experience at Ban-Mee, near Bangkok. Ho said that the rain literally came down in torrents. It was so heavy that it washed away the main road in 10 minutes. It, was so bad that it forced tho. aeroplane to the earth. Hecould not get any elevation, and finally he landed in a cup formation —practically a quarry. "That," Captain Matthews said, "was the end of my attempt to break the record." Otherwise he made light of the enormous difficulties that confronted him on every turn, and it says a great deal for his courage that he has announced that he will make an attempt on Kingsford Smith's record on the way back to England. He is still hoping that, he will be the only aviator to fly solo from England to Australia and back.