MISSING MACHINE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21937, 22 October 1934, Page 10

MISSING MACHINE

CLOSE TO DESTINATION EXCELLENT EQUIPMENT IN USE ONLY SHORT TIME DESCRIPTION BY PASSENGER A description of tho missing air liner Miss Hobart and the service upon which she was engaged was given yesterday by Mr. Noel Simmonds, of Hobart, who arrived at Auckland by tho Monterey on Saturday morning. Mr. Simmonds was a passenger by the same machine from Lfiunceston to Melbourne only 10 days ago. According to his calculations the Miss Hobart had but another 15 minutes' flying before reaching her destination, when the last message was received. She had been in commission a little over a fortnight and was regarded as the largest aeroplane in Australia. Mr. Simmonds left Hobart on October 12 and travelled by a smaller machine to Launceston, where he changed to the Miss Hobart.- The journey from that point to Wilson's Promontory, which is across Bass Strait, occupied two hours, and that from Wilson's Promontory to Laverton Aerodrome, Melbourne, 15 minutes. Good conditions were experienced across the strait, but a few miles from the coast they became very bumpy. From Wilson's Promontory, to Melbourne the machine ran into heavy rain and the flying for the most part was blind. In the opinion of Mr. Simmonds, who made his first flight in 1918 at the invitation of the Handley Page Company, and has since flown hundreds of miles in the Dutch East Indies, the efficiency and organisation of the Hobart-Melbourne service compares very favourably with anything he has experienced. The' Miss Hobart, Mr. Simmonds said, was a 12-passenger de Havilland biplane used to begin the subsidised daily mail and passenger service between Melbourne and Hobart, supplying also the Bass Strait link for the England to Australia service to start shortly. When the accident occurred she was operating only between Melbourne and Launceston until the new aerodrome at Hobart was completed. It was intended to extend her service to Hobart about Christmas. Four-engined Machine The machine arrived from England less than a month ago, and after she had been assembled and tested at the Laverton aerodrome, it was found that her performances were even better than had been guaranteed by the manufacturers. Mr. Simmonds said the Miss Hobart was handsome in appearance and wsis so neatly designed that her largo size was deceptive when she was in flight. The four Gipsy six-cylinder engines were situated in a row on the lower wing, and each was of 200 horsepower, making 800 liorse-power in all. The machine's appointments were luxurious. The 12 seats ranged one behind the other the length of the cabin were ol: the armchair type, very comfortably upholstered and covered with grey morocco leather. An attractive shade of grey predominated in the whole colour scheme. The cabin, said Mr. Simmonds, had been specially constructed to mak-3 it sound proof, and ordinary conversation could he carried on without one having to raise his voice unduly. The visibility was excellent, and by- means of patent appliances each passenger was able to arrange the ventilation to his liking. Smoking was permissible and the independent air vents were arranged so that non-smokers would not be inconvenienced by smoke. Lavatory accommodat tion w.Ets provided at the rear of the cabin. Excellent Performances As to the performances of the machine, it had been stated by Captain Holyman, the chief pilot, that in the tests carried out at the Laverton aerodrome, the Miss Hobart, with a full load, had climbed to 5000 ft. at full throttle in 3m 10s, and had gone up to 13,000 ft. at cruising speed in 14 minutes from the ground. Opened out the machine attained the maximum speed of 180 miles an hour, her cruising speed being set down at 145 miles an hour. At 13,000 ft, one Engine had been shut off and the machine had maintained height and climbed. With two engines pn one side shut off at 5000 ft. she had maintained height. With one engine on either- side shut off she had climbed at 5000 ft. That performance had been guaranteed at only 3500 ft. Each engine, Mr. Simmonds said, was a separata unit and there were two petrol tanks behind the main engines. The capacity in all was 114 gallons, which gave the machine a safe range, fully loaded, of three hours' flying. The oil-capacity was 16 gallons. Ther*> were electric starters on the dash board for all engines. Complete Set ol Instruments The instrument board presented a fine array of "gadgets," including electric petrol gauges, four electric revolution counters, electric oil gauges, the latest type of turning and banking indicator, compass, and ascent and descent indicators. The wireless was the latest Marconi set for transmitting and receiving either the voice or Morse code, with a guaranteed range of 500 miles for the voice and 1000 miles for Morse. Directional wireless instruments were also provided. The Miss Hobart. continued Mr. Simmonds, had a landing speed of 70 miles an hour, and was capable of taking off on three engines. Her weight was 10,0001b. fully laden, and her pay load was about 30001b. She was fitted out completely for night flying if necessary, with the necessary navigation lights and reading lights for passengers. Experienced Pilot Mr. Simmonds said a secoud machine of a similar type to the Miss Hobart had been ordered by the company, and would leave England about the middle of next month, arriving in Melbourne just before Christmas. It had been th«> intention of the company to use this machine to replace the Miss Launceston, which had been carrying on the service in conjunction with the Miss Hobart. Tho new aeroplane would differ from the Miss Hobart in that she. would have dual control and a differently shaped nose. It had been proposed to alter the Miss Hobart to dual control. The assistant pilot, Mr. G. Jenkins, with whom Mr. Simmonds had conversed during his trip 10 days ago, was a man of wide experience in aviation, having served for four years in tho Canadian Air Force and for two or three years in the transcontinental American mail planes. Mr. Simmonds said Mr. Jenkins had told him that across Tasmania there was some of the worst flying country in the world.