PILOT RESIGNS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22695, 6 April 1937, Page 9

PILOT RESIGNS

AIR MAIL_SERVICE BROADBENT'S PROTEST AUSTRALIAN CONDITIONS DISREGARD OF WEATHER By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received April 5, 9.45 p.m.) SYDNEY, April 5 The well-known airman, Mr. H. F. Broadbent, has resigned his position as an air mail pilot owing to his objection to the principle of expecting a pilot to "get through" no matter what the conditions. He declared: "The get-through-despite-the-weather spirit and competition with surface transport are making airline flying too hazardous." Mr. Broadbent said he thoroughly endorsed Imperial Airways' slogan: "When the weather is bad, sit down." He added that some years would elapse before a\ r iation could hope to achieve with safety the regularity of train and boat schedules.

Mr. Broadbent came into prominence in 1931, when he made a solo flight from Brisbane to Adelaide, via Sydney and Melbourne, in one day. The distance covered was about 1350 miles. Later in the same year the airman flew 7315 miles round Australia in seven days Hi hours, which was two days 17| hours less than the previous record held by the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. When he first attempted the record he was forced down

in North Queensland and was missing for two days. He was discovered alongside his aeroplane. He also held the solo flight aeroplane record for the trip from England to Australia. In June, 1936, Mr. Broadbent was awarded the Harmon Air Trophy of the Ligue International D'Aviateurs, Paris, in recognition of his services to aviation. CRASH FEARED MACHINE IN AMERICA EIGHT PERSONS ABOARD (Received April 5. 11.15 p.m.) LOS ANGELES, April 6 Eight persons are missing aboard a new transport aeroplane which was en route from Kansas Citv and has not been reported since 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. Fears that a crash has occurred are widespread, but the company has expressed the hope that the machine was forced down in a remote spot. The aeroplane was consigned to the Royal Dutch Airline. POPULAR AVIATION NEW LIGHT MONOPLANE BRITISH DESIGNER'S MACHINE (Received April 5, 10.55 p.m.) LONDON, April 5 The time when private aeroplanes will be as common as motor-ears is foreshadowed by the production of a twinengined high-wing monoplane named the "Baynes Bee," designed by Mr. L. E. Ba.ynes. The Times aviation correspondent says it offers comfort seldom found in a light aeroplane. It is pushed instead of pulled by the two propellers driven by engines enclosed in the wings. One of the most novel features is that the wings do not fold. Instead, the whole wing pivots on a turntable and lies along the fuselage, thus reducing the dimensions for housing to a width of 9ft. and a length of 29ft. 10in., compared with the flying dimensions of 30ft. and 23ft.

The machine has a cruising speed of 100 miles an hour.