ROMANCE OF THE AIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 14

ROMANCE OF THE AIR.

CIRCLING THE WORLD. t FEATS OF SOUTHERN CROSS. KINGSFORD SMITH'S STORY. | GENESIS OF GREAT ADVENTURE. BY AIR-COMMODORE KINGSFORD SMITH. (Copyright.) / No. 1. The story of the Southern Cross is the story of a monoplane which has been ilown round the world about its greatest circumference—across the equator—which had carried an Australian airman over Arctic seas before she came into my possession and -which, in the course of the past four years, has carried me and mv companions across the Pacific, across Australia, across the Tasman Sea, across the Atlantic and across the American continent. , It is natural, therefore, that 1 should take a pride in and ljave an affection for ihis wonderful craft which has never failed me—though on occasion I may perhaps have asked too much of her. No matter what the severity of the tests imposed on her, she has come through them all. She has braved gales, fogs, blizzards, sandstorms and rainstorms; she has carried cruel loads which were far too heavy for her; she has been driven to the bitter limit and beyond even that, and she has flown over four continents and three oceans and over some very treacherous seas. .j As his ship to the sailor and his horse to the rider—so is his plane to the airman. My affection for the Southern Cross and admiration for her designer and builders is increased when I reflect that after all she has done and all that she has gone through she is here in Sydney to-day-r-as good a plane as I would ever wish to have, fit and ready to undertake any flight—anywhere. When the Story Began. The story of the Southern Cross really begins on the day (August 5, 1927) that I landed in San Francisco with my friends, Charles Ulm and Iveith Anderson. We had gone over to the United States with a definite idea that we should 1 fly across the Pacific from America to Australia. We landed with but vague notions how such a flight was to be successfully carried out; we had some promises from Australia of financial support and I had had considerable experience of flying in all types of planes in England, America arid Australia. But our determination to make the flight was our principal and indeed our only asset when we set foot in the United States. The absence of money has been a common feature in all pioneering efforts. We landed in San Francisco from the steamer Tahiti on August 5, 1927. but it was not until the morning of May 31—nine months later —that we were at long last able to set off on the first of our long distance flights in the Southern Cross. That nine months was a period of anxiety and stress almost more trying than the flight across the Pacific itself. "We were perfectly confident, provided we could secure the right machine and the right equipment and organisation, that our proposed flight across the Pacific was not only feasible, but a safe and almost certain venture, but first it became necessary to decide which particular type of plane and engine were '< hp best suited for the task. Selection of an Aeroplane. After a prolonged analysis of the best flying performances already recorded in which power and endurance were combined, we found that the Fjokker plane was among the most successful and the ,"Wright Whirlwind the most reliable engine. Furthermore, a Fokker plane would enable four of us to make the flight, thereby allowing not only a navigator, but a wireless operator also to be carried. We had thus arrived at a stage ■where we knew what we wanted. At this juncture, by a remarkable coincidence, we were brought into close touch with a Fokker plane. Sir Hubert Wilkins had been, flying in the Arctic and had recently given up that season's attempt to fly across the North Pole. He had a Fokker plane which was then superfluous to his requirements arid hearing, while he in Seattle, that we were in San Francisco seeking such a plane he promptly telegraphed to me that he could sell us a Fokker plane without, however, engines or instruments. I replied: "Re your wire. Come down to Frisco and talk it over." He came and in the course of many long talks with him he not only gave us a great deal of valuable information, but also told, us the history of the plane which he was willing to sell to us. It had been built by the Fokker Company during its early days in the United States for use in Alaska and was known as a Fokker F7 monoplane. Melbourne Friend's Help. The machine had crashed on the, rough ice, but was later salvaged, and together with another Fokker . singlc-engined machine, which had also been damaged, was ship]>ed to Seattle. In/ the reconstruction Wilkins had accidentally improvised a new type of plane by using the good wing of tlie F7 with the single-motored fuselage of the other,, tjie wing of which -had been damaged." The wing of the F7 was bolted on to the fuselage of the other machine. Upon the termination of Wilkins' expedition the original wing and fuselage of the three-engined F7 were shipped to Seattle and'reconditioned bv l lie Boling j -Factory. The price Wilkius asked was £3OOO and j although we had enough funds to buy j the Fokker we did not have sufficient to j purchase the/engines and the instruments [ as well. But again our good fortune held, for . at this juncture we met Mr. Sidney Myer, the well-known Melbourne business man. We asked him to help us in order that we might buy a Fokker plane with three engines in which to fly across tlie Pacific Ocean. He was aghast at the idea, hut when he realised that we were determined to make the attempt he generously handed/ us £ISOO, desiring that it should be regarded as a gift. Fears for Pliers' Safety. But a few clays later he came to see me in a serious mood. He said that he was gravely concerned for our safety and begged us to abandon the project altogether, at the same time reiterating that the money which he had given us was ours, to do as we liked with. I thanked him for his great geneiosity nud kindness to us, but told him that we were fully determined to make the flight, that pothing would induce us to abandon our plans and that with the help of the money he had given us we had decided -to buy Wilkins' plane. But the further funds which we needed to buy the engines had not arrived from Australia. In this dilemma Wilkins came to the rescue by allowing us to pay only half the puj-chase price for the plane, ■which enabled us to place the order for the three engines. (To be continued.)