AIR RACE VICTOR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19135, 2 October 1936, Page 5

AIR RACE VICTOR

SCOTT AGAIN 'ORDINARY JOB OF WORK r LACK OF HIGH SPOTS LLEWELLYN UNLUCKY DOWN WHEN LEADING IKJoc. Tel. Copyright—Unitfid Press Assn.i (Reed. Oct. 2, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 1. Reports from Johannesburg state Mr. C. W: A. Scott aud Mr. Giles Guthrie in their Pereival Vega Dull were flagged in at 12.36. local time, winning the air race from Portsmouth. Their official time was 52hrs. 56min. 48sec, and the average speed was 123 miles an hour. .... ..... ---They completed -the -flight in l&hrs28min* less than Amy Mollison's record breaking flight to Capetown. She however, flew by a different route. On bis arrival Scott said: "It was just an ordinary job of work. There were no high spots, or tough weather. It was a bit mucky ami bumpy after Tabora, but it was less exacting than the Melbourne flight, because it, was shorter." Scott decided not to continue to the Cape in an attempt, to gain a new record. "It is wonderful," said Scott's wife. "I am very proud of Scotty. and looking forward to welcoming him." YOUTHFUL COMPANION Mr. Giles Guthrie, Scott's companion, is the youngest competitor in the race. Ho is the 20-year-old sou of Sir Connop Guthrie, and is an undergraduate of Cambridge. He received special permission to compete. He has flown several thousand miles in Britain. A messago from the Rand discloses that Flying-Officer D. Llewellyn was well ahead of Scott when he crashed. Apparently ho arrived in the neighbourhood of Abcrcom yesterday evening and cruised for an hour seeking the aerodrome, which ho was unable to find owing to great clouds of smoke drifting over "tho countryside from grass fires. Finally, with liis petrol finished, ho crashed at Mpulqngu, at the southern end of Tanganyika.

A Capetown message states that a furid has been opened at the suggestion of the South African Minister of Defence, Mr. O. Pirow, and with the approval of the Prime Minister, Mr. J. B. Hertzog, and Mr. N. C. Havenga to mark appreciation of the effort of Captain S. S. Halse, instructor to the Johannesburg Aero Club, who crashed near Salisbury yesterday when in the leading position in the race. Scott revealed that till he landed, lie was unaware whether he was still in the race for first, place. He regretted Captain Halse 's ill-luck.

Devised with the help of prize money >y Mr. I. W. Schlesinger, a, South' African industrialist, the air rate from Portsmouth to Johannesburg, which was con:ined to British aircraft and British lilots, was held in conjunction with the dritish Empire Exhibition at Johannesburg, which was opened on September 15. Under the terms originally anloimced. the biggest prize, £4OOO, will ;o to the competitor completing, the •ourse in the shortest time. Four prizes vill be awarded on a formula handicap ivliich is weighted in favour of machines •arrying large useful loads. The first of these prizes will be .C3OCO. the second the third £IOOO and the fourth GSCO. The conditions stipulated that the race must finish within 120 hours.

CAREER OF THE WINNER

MELBOURNE RACE EPIC

RECORD SOLO FLIGHTS

By winning the race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg, Mr. C. W. A. Scott has added to the laurels gained in previous air adventures which have made him one of the world's most famous pilots. His most notable exploit was in 1934 when, with the late Mr. T. Campbell Black as co-pilot, he flew the winning Comet, which, in the race from Mildenhall, England, to Melbourne, covered that journey in 2 days 23hrs. 58min.

Now 35 years of age, Scott was born in London, the son of Mr. W. K. Scott, well known as a conductor and composer. Ife was educated at Winchester College, and after leaving school went to the West Indies, where he was engaged on a plantation for some time. On his return to England in 1922 he joined the Royal Air Force, and was for two years boxing champion of the jforcc.

In 1926 ho was transferred to the reserve, and the following year went to Australia and joined the Qantas Companv in Queensland as a pilot. He acted as pilot to Air-Marshal Sir John Salmond when he was in Australia, and it was while returning to Brisbane from Adelaide, where he had left Sir John, that he struck Mount Lofty during a fog. The machine was destroyed, the observer killed, and Scott lay for months in a neighbouring farmhouse in a fight with injuries for his life. BEARINGS LOST He also acted as pilot to Lord Stonehaven during his Contral Australian and Queensland flights. The story is told thnt on one occasion Scott had lost his bearings and passed back a note to the Governor-General asking him if ho cared to have afternoon tea. The reply being in' the affirmative, they landed at the station they could see nearby. Scott, after a few inquiries, ascertained the name of the property and so found out where he was. Before leaving, Lord Stonehaven turned to Scott and gravely thanked him for his thoughtfulness; then, with a twinkle in his eye, ho added: "And I hope yon know where you are now." Scott had forgotten that his passenger was also an airman and had detected his dodge to find out where he was. When Miss Amy Johnson arrived at Darwin Scott flew the Wakefield plane to meet her and acted as her escort to Brisbane. During his flight north to Darwin he created a new record by covering the distance between Brisbaneand Darwin in one day. In April, 1931. he made the.record solo flight from England to Australia, completing 10,450 miles- in 9 days 3 hours. In June the same year he made the first solo flight from Australia to England in 10 days 21 hours. In 1932 he again broke the record

England-Australia flight, which he did in' 8 days 20 hours 24 minutes. Scott was married in Scots Church, Melbourne, in April, 1929, to Miss Kathleen O'Neill. In February, 1930, on the birth of his daughter, Scott flew from Brisbane to Melbourne in one day —another record. Scott is 6ft. in' height, broad-shoul-dered, and every inch an athlete. He is adept at inverted flying..