DASH TO FRONT

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

DASH TO FRONT

THRILLING TRIP SCOTT AND WALLER TWO LEADERS-OVERTAKEN ARRIVAL AT ALLAHABAD TIRED BUT DETERMINED i By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received October 21. 11.45 p.m.) LONDON. Oct. 21 ! Messrs. C. W. A. Scott and T. Camp- j bell Black astonished tlie crowd at | the Bagdad airport by their fresh ap- | pcarance as they leapt from their aero- i plane and demanded beer and sand- j wiches. The fliers said they had had a thrill- j ing adventure. They lost their bearings near Kirknk and had to land in the j darkness of an unlighted, small field j They made a splendid landing. Members of the Royal Air Force supplied them witli 20 gallons of petrol, 'with which they managed to reach Bagdad two hours after the Mollisons, but they reduced the Mollisons' lead by staying only .13 minutes and left Bagdad in hot pursuit only 45 minutes behind the leaders. Mr. Scott and his companion arrived at Allahabad at 2.45 p.m. (local time) on Sunday. They said they had had a. splendid trip, with no incidents. There were head winds toward India, but afterwards a following wind. Both were tired, but determined to proceed within half an hour. . HOT PURSUIT FIRST GROUP OF FLIERS "A TERRIBLE JOURNEY" (Received October 21, 11.55 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 21 Two hours after Messrs. Scott and Waller had reached Bagdad Mr. K. 1). Parmentier landed there and left within one hour. He reached Karachi, leaving there again at 5.35 a.m. for Allahabad. Just after midnight Messrs. Aster and Geysendorfer arrived at Bagdad in hot pursuit of Scott. They stayed one and three-quarter hours and had hardly left when Colonel Roscoe Turner landed. Lieutenant Cathcart-Jones and Mr. Waller then arrived with only one gallon of petrol after a terrible journey lroin the Black Sea. They found themselves over unknown country, which they believed was Persia. Their petrol was running short. They saw a light and landed at a friendly village and took off again immediately. The weather necessitated a detour of 250 miles. These fliers left Bagdad, but had to return through trouble with the starboard engine. The repairs are expected to take several hours. MOLLISONS DELAYED TWELVE HOURS AT KARACHI UNDER-CARRIAGE JAMMED (Received October 21, 11.35 p.m.) KARACHI, Oct. 21 ; Mr. and Mrs. Mollison left Karachi j for Allahabad at 11.15 a.m. local time, } but returned at 11.25 owing to the i retractable undercarriage of their ma- j chine being jammed. i Although it took the mechanics only two hours to rectify the matter, the ■ mishap involved a delay of at least j 12 hours, as Mr. and Mrs. Mollison feared they would not reach Allahabad in daylight if they took off immediately the repairs were made. As a result they have postponed the j resumption of their flight until 3 a.m. j on Monday. They expect to make up the j lost time. MR. SCOTT'S RECORD FEATS ON SAME ROUTE Mr. C. W. A. Scott, who is leading in the air race, has had a colourful j career as an aviator. He joined the j Royal Air Force in 1922, and soon j achieved a reputation as a fearless night j flier. In 1927 he joined Qantas, and a year later had the distinction of piloting the then Governor-General, Lord Stonehaven, on a tour of north-west Queensland and Central Australia. Mascot.- pilots say that Mr. Scott | knows Australia "to" a blade of grass." i He was one of the record-makers in the I England-Australia and Australia-dEng- ! land flights. In April, 1931, he set up a i record in a solo night from England to j Australia in 9 days"3 hours. His return ! tri ]» took 10 days and 21 hours. This j was also a record. The year after he ' again flew from England to Australia in 8 days 20 hours, and again set up a solo record. Mr. Campbell Black, who is Scott's co-pilot, is a well-known British longdistance flier. The Comet, which has a guaranteed speed of 200 miles an hour, is one of England's " hush-hush " aero- ! planes, specially designed for the race.