AUSTRALIAN AIRMEN.

Southland Times, Issue 21288, 8 January 1931, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN AIRMEN.

The remarkable feat of the young Sydney aviator, Guy Menzies, in crossing the Tasman yesterday in the “Southern Cross .Junior’ calls attention to the large number of Australians who have written their names on the sky. In 1919, when long-distance flying was in its infancy, two Australian brothers, Sir Keith ami Sir Ross Smith, flew from England to Australia. It took them nearly twenty-eight days to accomplish the flight, but their performance remained unchallenged until 1928, when Bert Hinkler, also an Australian, astounded the world by flying from Croydon to Port Darwin in 15 days. Last October no fewer than three Australians attempted to lower Hinkler’s record. Captain Matthews, the first to set out, had to land in Siam, and it was nearly a month before he finally reached Australia. Lieutenant Hill when almost in sight of his goal came to grief on the Island of Temor. It was left for Wing-Commander Kingsford Smith to set a fresh record. In his light Avro-Avian machine he accomplished the flight in 9 days 21 hours, but remarkable as the feat was, the world had come to expect so much from Kingsford Smith that it was not astonished. His great flight from San Francisco to Brisbane, his transatlantic flight from Dublin to Newfoundland, his transcontinental flight from New York to San Franeiseo, and his conquering of the Tasman had already stamped him as the greatest aviator of the day. Another Australian airman who has distinguished himself is Sir Hubert Wilkins whose Hight across Hie North Pole added much to the knowledge of the Arctie. Now comes the unostentatious but meritorious performance of Guy Menzies. No one can accuse Australia of having- failed to contribute to the data necessary to make long-distance aviation a safe means of transport.