BEFORE THE DAWN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21937, 22 October 1934, Page 9

BEFORE THE DAWN

PILOTS AT BREAKFAST OTHERS SNATCH A SLEEP MACHINES LEAVE HANGARS approach of zero hour By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright (Received October 21, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. Oct. 20 At two o'clock this morning at Mildenhall aerodrome pilots competing j in the Centenary air race were wishing one another a sleepy "Good morning" over early breakfast. The New Zealanders, .T. D. Hewett, C. E. Kay and M. C. MacGregor and H. C. Walker, with their flying kits! ready, were having a final meal. , The roads to Mildenhall were crowded j with cars, cyclists and pedestrians con- j verging on the aerodrome. j The weather was pleasantly mild, ajid , thousands of watchers with hampers and j rugs spent the night near the aerodrome. Mechanics began wheeling the machines out of the hangars shortly after 4 a.m., and fuelling was still proceeding at 4.30 a.m., while some pilots; were still snatching the last real sleep i they would get before reaching Mel-: bourne. The steady purring of engines receiv- j ing the fi.rst warming up was a reminder , of the approach of "zero" hour. Only j the hangars and offices were lighted, the > remainder of the huge aerodrome being j in darkness. A message from Singapore stated that! weather conditions for the race -were i generally favourable in that area, and were expected to continue so. NARROW ESCAPE CAPTAIN NEVILLE STACK MAY ABANDON FLIGHT *! (Received October 22, 12.45 a.m.) LONDON. Oct. 21 A message from Le Bourget states that Captain Neville Stack, describing how he narrowly missed disaster, says: "At Abbeville 1 found my brakes were binding badly. 1 thought perhaps a good run would clear thein so. 1 started off. " I just cleared the aerodrome buildings by a hair's breadth so I decided to get the brakes repaired at Le Bourget. To avoid a smash by the machine over-running her own nose 1 got Mr. Turner, my mechanic, to go to the tail. ! We just managed to pull off the landing after waving her tail in the air once or twice." A later message states that Captain Stack may abandon the flight. j MISS J. COCHRAN WITHDRAWAL ANNOUNCED LANDING GEAR TROUBLE (Received October 21, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. CO A message from Bucharest states that Miss J. Cochran (United States) has withdrawn from the race. She announced that the landing gear of her machine was out of order. It took four attempts to land there. Miss Cochran telephoned to a friend in London saying she had encountered much had weather. The s.: 'biliser in her machine froze and refused to act. This, with other minor disorders, kept Mr. Wesley Smith occupied to such an extent that she piloted the aeroplane two-thirds of the way. LOSS OF MAPS BRITISH COMPETITORS AUSTRALIAN'S ASSISTANCE (Received October 21, G. 45 p.m.) LONDON. ' Oct. 21 Messrs. D. E. and K. G. Stodart (Britain) lost their Marseilles and Athens maps through the wind. Mr. O. J. Melrose (Australia) sportjjigly exchanged maps, saying he knew the Athens district. Squaclron-Leader McGregor made a lucky landing at the extreme end of the Tatoi airport, Athens, owing to shortage of petrol. He said the weather was fine from Marseilles, although he was very tired.