AIR RACE STARTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19133, 30 September 1936, Page 5

AIR RACE STARTS

ENGLAND-AFRICA PLANES PASS BELGRADE THREE MEET TROUBLE REDUCTION OF FIELD ROSE LEADS AT SALONIKA (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 30, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept, 29. Starting the air race to Africa, Air. Ken Waller with Flight-Lieut. Max Findlay took off at 6.30 a.m. from the Portsmouth aerodrome in their Airspeed Envoy. Their handicap is 3hr 13min. They were followed at minute intervals by the following : Captain S. S. liaise, Pet'cival Mew Gull (scratch). Mr.-K. Alingon and Lieut. P. Poolh, B.A- Eagle (21hrs 58min). Flight-Lieut. T. Pose and Mr. Jack Bogshaw, B.A. IV Douhle Eagle (3hrs I6min). Flying-Officer A. E, Clouston, Miles Hawk VI (6hrs 25min). Flying-Officer D. Llewellyn. Percival Viga Gull (13hrs 27min). Major A. W. Miller, Percival MewGull (lmin 12sec) Messrs. C. W A. Scott and Giles Guthrie, Percival Vega Gull (13hrs 14min)

Mr. Victor Smith. Miles Sparrowhawk (lOhrs 34min). Dawn was just breaking when Mr. Waller left,

The most powerful machine is numbered 13 It carries a wireless operator and a passenger.

SIGN OF LEARNER

Fellow officers played a joke on Flying Officer Clouston, affixing a large L to siginify "Learner" beneath the fuselage. 'Phis was not seen until he was aloft, Mr. Scott should have been the last to leave, but unlucky Mr. Smith lived up to his reputation. His engine was slow to start, so Scott was flagged away first. However, Smith soon overtook him. Each pilot carries letters from the Lord Mayors of London and Portsmouth to the Mayor of Johannesburg. The weather was clear with a big harvest moon and an almost complete absence of wind. A large crowd gathered overnight and spent the time dancing, singing, and listening to music. Over 500 cars were parked at the aerodrome. Flight-Lieut. Pose arrived at Linz, Austria, at 11.6 a.m. He landed owing to a shortage of fuel, and resumed at 11.27 a.m. • FIRST AT BELGRADE Captain liaise arrived first at the compulsory station at Belgrade, reaching there at 12.8 p.m. Mr. Smith arrived at 12.42 p.m., Flying Officer Clouston at 12.42 p.m., Mr. Waller at 12.50 p.m., Mr. Alington at 2.4 p.m., Mr. Scott at 2.8 p.m., and Flying Officer Llewellyn at 2.23 p.m. Flight-Lieut. Rose circled the field and signalled he was not landing, but later returned for a weather report and departed at 2.37 p.m. Major Miller arrived at 4.33 p.m. and said he was retiring from the race. having landed at Puma, 25 miles from Belgrade, owing to lack of petrol, which took him 4£ hours to obtain. Mr. Smith also announced he had abandoned the race after a forced landing at Scoplje, owing to oil trouble. Captain Halse averaged 202 miles an hour. Ho and Mr. Waller complained of the intense cold over the Alps.

Flying Officer Clouston, who is a New Zealander from Moteuka, was only 13 minutes at Belgrade before resuming.

Fifteen minutes sufficed for most of the competitors to refuel. All the competitors continuing in the race left Belgrade, some having made a stop at Vienna prior to arriving at Belgrade. Flight-Lieut. Biose, Mr. Scott, and Flying Officer Llewellyn, arrived at Salonika in that order. Flight Lieut. Rose and Flying o'fficcr Llewellyn departed again for Athens and Mr. Scott left direct for Cairo.

A Berlin message says that Mr. Alington is out of the race. He made a forced landing at Regensburg in South Germany, owing to running short, of petrol. ' The occupants were not injured, but the undercarriage of the plane was damaged.