AIR RACE ENTRANT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18901, 31 December 1935, Page 5

AIR RACE ENTRANT

CLAIM AGAINST COMPANY SERIES OP DISASTERS LONDON, Dec. 10. Captain T. Neville Stack's failure in the Melbourne air race had its sequel in the King's Bench Division, when he and his assistant pilot, Mr. S. L. Turner, sued Airspeed (1934), Limited, asking for rescission of the hire-purchase agreement on the Airspeed Viceroy aeroplane, which they used in the race, and the repayment of £2448, with damages for breach of contract or misrepresentation. Mr. Tristram Beresford, for Captain •Stack, said that the delivery of'the aeroplane was rushed, and the race was a series of disasters. The lights which indicated the position of the retractable undercarriage' fused when the undercarriage was pulled up, the compass was inaccurate, the landing wheels and landing lights were faulty, and when Captain Stack switched on the landing lights one fused and the other began scorching a wing. Then, over the Gulf of Corinth, the flyers noticed that the leading edges of both wings were beginning to cave in. Excessive petrol consumption rendered it useless to proceed beyond Athens. Captain Stack gave evidence that the smell of burning rubber them down at Abbeville (France), prior to which the wireless operator, Mr. J. H. G. McArthur, had to stand by with a fire extinguisher. When they landed at Athens, sufficient petrol remained for only 10 minutes flying. The company denied breach of contract or misrepresentation, and said the machine was airworthy. They entered a counterclaim for £2Ol, and alleged that the plaintiffs carried extra weight. The hearing was adjourned.