The Pahiatua Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1935. “THE OLD BUS.”

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12952, 17 May 1935, Page 4

The Pahiatua Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1935. “THE OLD BUS.”

“Every dog has its day”—so does every man, every machine. It would now appear that the “Old Bus” (Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s affectionate term for his “Southern Cross”) has had hers. For the first time in nearly eight years the “Southern Cross” has really failed him. Hitherto, “Smithy” has invariably won through with his motors throbbing rythmically. Sir Charles, and the whole world in fact, had grown to place implicit faith in the reliability of the three wonderful Fokker engines, admittedly twice replaced, which have carried the “Southern Cross,” its intrepid crew and enormous loads over thousands of miles of ocean and through every form of weather. “Smithy” well knew that its day of usefulness was drawing quickly to a close but he wanted just "one more trip.” So again the “Old Bus” rose from the Mascot Aerodrome in the dark hours of Wednesday morning and headed over that treacherous expanse of Tasman sea. But about 500 miles out, trouble developed and Australia’s crack pilot of world renown had no recourse but to turn back and limp painfully home with one motor out of commission and another spluttering under the unusual strain. Anxious listeners were thankful indeed to hear that the Southern Cross had made a safe return and had been spared the ignominy of a watery grave. Such a remarkable monoplane deserves a far better fate. All the more amazing has been the continued performance of the “Southern Cross” when it is realised that from the first day it took the air it was nothing more than a second-hand composite machine, the engines having been in the planes of Sir Hubert Wilkins, the Australian airman-explorer who made flying history in the Arctic with his two monoplanes. They were lying at San Francisco when Smith and TJlm arrived there on adventure bent in 1927. Soon after, the Southern Cross was assembled and commenced a series of epic flights with Sir Charles at the controls. At subsequent intervals three new Wright Whirlwind engines were installed and the marvellous performance of the craft never diminished. Progress in aviation, however, has outstripped the- design and even the performance of “Smithy’s” monopiane and if and when, he next tackles a hazardous distance flight it will have to be in a more modem machine with almost twice the speed and an even, greater range. In this way alone will the element of risk be still further eliminated.