STILL UNSATISFIED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20978, 15 September 1931, Page 9

STILL UNSATISFIED.

HIGHER SPEED WANTED. SECOND ATTEMPT PLANNED. SPECIAL SEAPLANE ENGINE. By Telesrnph—l?ress Association—Copyright. (Received September 14, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. The Air Ministry is still not satisfied with the speeds attained by the High Speed Flight. It intimated this evening that the specially boosted engine which arrived from the Rolls-Royce works on Saturday will be installed in Flight Lieutenant Stainforth's seaplane for a second attempt on the high-speed record. It is hoped it will be raised to well over 400 miles an hour within the next two or three days. PILOT'S MISGIVINGS. "COUNTING THE CIRCUITS. FEAR OF PETROL SHORTAGE. LONDON. Sept. 13. Flight-Lieutenant Boothman reveals an interesting sidelight on his own feelings during the Schneider Cup flight. He recorded each lap by cutting a notch in a piece of soft copper. At the close of the sixth lap he saw the machine blow off a cloud of black smoke, and he began to wonder whether he had mistaken the count, and had really covered the distance. The pilot decided to fly on, but during the concluding lap he was terribly worried about the petrol, because ho thought ho was perhaps actually doing eight laps. SCENES ON SOLENT. THRILLS FOR SPECTATORS. TRIBUTE TO THE PILOT. LONDON, Sept. 13. The Schneider Cup flights were made in brilliant sunshine, with good visibility. There was a very slight breeze on the Solent, which was packed with small craft. Spectators lined the foreshore. Flight-Lieutenant Boothman took off successfully and began bis seven circuits of the course with his mighty engine filling the air with a deafening noise. A trail of smoke a mile long followed his two-ton machine. The pilot sat in a tiny cockpit, surrounded by boiling water and oil and maintained perfect control. The crowd, which looked on in spellbound silence during the race, broke into a mighty roar of acclamation as the victor landed. The speed Lieutenant Boothman attained was about what the officials had expected. It was hinted that Britain was not taking any risks, but was determined not only to complete the course, but to improve on the previous race record. It was obvious when 343 miles an hour was announced for the first lap that Lieutenant Boothman was satisfied, as he had attained a speed which would ensure Britain's keeping the record, and from that moment there was a gradual, though not very pronounced, diminution in speed. The speed achieved on the straight run between the pylons is not yet revealed, but will bo much greater than the lap average, because it could be seen at each sharp turn that Lieutenant Boothman was losing considerable speed. His fellow officers say it was a wonderful job and that Lieutenant Boothman covered himself with glory. During tho race he broke the closed circuit 100 kilometres record, with a speed of 342.9 miles an hour. VISITORS DISAPPOINTED. GUESTS OF GOVERNMENT. British RUGBY. Sept. 13. When it was officially announced at Calshot that the weather made flying for tho Schneider Cup impossible yesterday tho Prime Minister, Mr. Mac Donald, and other guests of the Government on the aircraft-carrier Courageous landed, and Mr. Mac Donald left immediately for Chequers.