JEAN BATTEN AGAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23332, 26 October 1937, Page 8

JEAN BATTEN AGAIN

The enthusiasm of the crowds that gathered at Croydon to greet Miss Jean Batten indicates that for a section of the public at least recordbreaking Aeroplane flights retain their vicarious thrill. Miss Batten s was a most meritorious performance, in which the people of New Zealand naturally had an especial interest. Like other flyers who have succeeded consistently in their longdistance exploits, she has learned to leave nothing to chance. The hazards inseparable from such challenges are sufficient to test both machine and pilot, and Miss Batten can claim particular credit for surmounting the extremely bad flying conditions on one lap of her journey. Recordmaking ventures, it need not be emphasised, haye no longer any measurable value. They are distinctly persona] triumphs, though the interest which they arouse tends to invest them with a sort of national glamour. New Zealanders will congratulate Miss Batten without reserve upon accomplishing, with fourteen hours to spare, what she set out to do But every flight, even though there may be little in it of practical motive, serves to quicken the realisation of the developments in aviation that promise so much in real benefit to this Dominion. For New Zealand the year 1937 in aviation will be important for the successful exploratory trans-Pacific flight and for the negotiations towards the inauguration of a Tasman and Imperial pcrvice. There can be no depreciation of Miss Batten’s record-breaking solo flight in the comment that it is personal rather than of national importance.