AVIATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23369, 8 December 1937, Page 9

AVIATION

ITALIAN PILOT'S CLAIM WORLD'S RECORD BROKEN ROME, Dec. 6. The airman Fuio Niclot claims to have broken the world's record for 100 kilometres, averaging 554.35 kilometres an hour in a Breda "88" with Peaggio engines. ACCIDENTS IN AUSTRALIA MINISTER CALLS FOR REPORT CANBERRA, Dec. 7. The Minister of Defence (Mr H. V. Thorby) announced that he had called for a report on a series of accidents which had occurred in the last few weeks to Royal Australian Air Force Hawker-Demon planes. During a flight of a squadron of nine Hawker-Demons from Melbourne to Brisbane and back, there had been seven accidents. ANOTHER CRASH IN AUSTRALIA HAWKER DEMON DAMAGED SYDNEY, Dec. 7. (Received Dec. 8, at 1 a.m.) Another Air Force crash occurred to-day, involving the eighth Hawker Demon in nine days. The machine, which was making weather observations on the coastline in the vicinity of Gosford, made a forced landing at Avoce. The machine was extensively damaged. The pilot (John Burgess), aged 26, and the wireless operator (Alan Lord), aged 21, were not severely injured, although the latter was hurled 30 feet into the air. The Minister for Defence (Mr Thorby) announced that an official inquiry had been opened into the series of mishaps to Air Force aeroplanes.