LONG FLIGHT

Southland Times, Issue 22188, 2 December 1933, Page 6

LONG FLIGHT

YOUNG AVIATORS NORTH CAPE TO BLUFF JOURNEY IN A DAY AN AMBITION REALIZED Jlist before eight o’clock last evening the rays of the setting sin illuminated the letters ZK—ABP on the wings of a D-II Gipsy Moth as it circled over Invercargill. Seventeen hours earlier the lighthouse at Cape Maria van Diemen had flashed its rays on the same stout little plane as it turned south to make the first Hight from one end of the Dominion to the other. Piloting the machine was Mr E. F. Harvie, of Auckland, a member of the Western Federated Flying Club, and with him as passenger was Miss Trevor Hunter, of Wanganui, also a member of the Western Federated Flying Club and incidentally the first woman pilot of the club to go solo. Their combined ages do not reach 40, the pilot being only 21 and the partner of his flight only IS. As they disembarked at the Southland Aerodrome at 7.57 p.m. after a flight of almost 1200 miles accomplished in 16 hours 10 minutes they might have been returning from a jaunt over the city instead of landing from a flight which had made history, for there was an entire absence of fuss and pother. “It was quite an unofficial flight,” remarked Mr Harvie. "I have been anxious to accomplish it for three years, ever since Captain Hewitt made his non-stop flight from Dunedin to Auckland. Now my ambition is realized, Sometimes it was tiring and monotonous and as we came south it grew very cold. But there were some glorious colour effects and lovely I views in the South Island. ‘'Ninety-five per cent, of the success of a flight such as this depends on the aircraft, its engine and on ground organization. Had it not been for the fact that the engine was thoroughly reliable and for the snappy I ground organization the flight could not have been made in one day. I cannot speak too highly of the assistance I received from the ground staff of the various aerodromes. Mr W. G. Walkley, of the Hawera Aero Club, ! also assisted greatly in connection ! with weather reports.’’

The Preliminaries. The Gipsy Moth in which the flight was made is one of the Western Federated Club's machines. On Thursday Mr Harvie, with Miss Hunter, flew from Hawera to Auckland, thence to Kaitaia at the southern end of the Ninety Mile Beach. After selecting the best ground possible for the takeoff, they began the rather arduous task of fuelling, stowing an extra four-gallon tin and a twogallon tin in the machine as. well as filling the tank. Then in their hotel they awaited weather reports from Stratford, Hawera, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. All of these were favourable, though a later telephone message from Hawera said that there was a lot of mist over the higher country. It had been decided that if visibility were bad at the take-off the flight south would be immediately commenced: otherwise the intention was to circle round the North Cape before turning south for Bluff. The moon was almost at the full and the tide was half out. so that if the engines should fail above the Ninety Mile Beach a forced landing could be made with comparative safety. The first stage planned was from Kaitaia to North Cape, then south to Auckland, a distance of 270 miles. However, the range of the machine, 31 hours benzine, gave an approximate distance of 230 miles, so that refuelling at daylight en route to Auckland had to be undertaken. Further weather reports received about 1 a.m. were favourable, so the two adventurers left the hotel for their plane, stowed away food and luggage and started up the engine.

The Take-Off. There was enough moonlight for a safe take-off, but to make doubly sure of taking off straight into the wind two persons held torches in their hands and the plane took off between the two. A large peat fire near Kaitaia formed a valuable land mark and would have proved of great assistance had visibility become bad, for the pilot could have circled round the fire and landed at daylight. Blind flying had to be avoided at all cost. At 2 a.m. sharp the plane took off and flew up the Ninety Mile Beach, its exhaust manifold glowing red as it sped towards the northernmost tip of New Zealand. It was the pilot’s intention to pass Cape Maria van Diemen lighthouse and follow' the coast for another few miles .to the North Cape lighthouse. Along the beach the visibility was good, but near the Cape a wall of thick fog was encountered and rather than go through this and fly blind the pilot decided, as soon as the light flashed its cheering ray at him, to turn south. Guided by the great fire, he had no difficulty in again picking up Kaitaia over which town he circled to let his friends know that he had been to the Cape. They had now been flying for an hour and a half, with visibility quite good, but a bad period came between the setting of the moon and the first streaks of dawn. This came at 4.30 a.m. when they were nearing Kaipara Harbour, part of which was enveloped in fog. After three hours in the air they decided to land and re-fuel so that they could carry on to Mangere (Auckland). At the little town of Ruawai, on Kaipara Harbour, they landed and emptied the spare six gallons into the tank. At 6 20 a.m., 4 hours 5 minutes after setting out, they landed at Mangere. Five minutes later they were in the air again, so expeditiously had re-fuelling been done. There was thick mist at Stratford, but Hawera was clear and here they landed at 9 a.m. for more benzine, leaving at 9.15. Conditions were good to Otaki when a stormy head wind was encountered and severe bumps made the flight temporarily unpleasant. At 11.40 a.m. they reached Rongotai (Wellington), where Captain Stedman and his ground staff were ready with food both for the occupants and the plane. Nearly Abandoned. So strong was the south wind that Mr Harvie seriously thought of discontinuing the flight, since he feared that battling against contrary winds would so far delay the plane as to make a landing at Invercargill in daylight impossible. Captain Stedman

advised obtaining weather reports from Christchurch and Cape Campbell. These proved favourable, so it was decided to continue the journey. They steered a compass course for Cape Campbell until half-way across. Planes have to circle above the Cape Campbell lighthouse until a white Verey light is exploded as a signal to proceed. Both Mr Harvie and Miss Hunter said it was a great sight to see the star shell soar skyward. The wind then changed, blowing behind them. An extra two gallons had been placed aboard at Rongotai and it was decided, to be on the safe side, to put this in the tank at Kaikoura, a landing being made there for the purpose. This lovely seaside town was left at 1.53 p.m. and Sockburn was reached at 3.5 p.m. Captain Mercer had everything well organized and by 3.25 Mr Harvie was at the controls again. He circled over the New Zealand Airways base at Salt Water Creek, Timaru, passed over Oamaru and sped on towards Dunedin. Again the weather gave him cause for concern, since there was heavy fog inland and he was dubious of getting over the hills between Dunedin and the Otago Club’s aerodrome on the Taieri. Had these hills been too much enveloped in mist it was his intention to skirt the coast, land at a village for petrol and continue along the sea-front to Bluff. But the conditions improved and Mosgiel was reached at 5.50 p.m., and food and fuel were supplied by Lieut. Olson. Journey’s End. There was now plenty of daylight for the rest of the flight, so the pilot decided to proceed leisurely towards Bluff. He went a little out of his course, reaching the coast near Fortrose, thence to Bluff and to Invercargill. A Southland Club Fox Moth piloted by Mr S. Gilkison came out to meet the eagerly-awaited visitors and led them to the aerodrome where they landed at 7.57 p.m. “Have a cigarette?” said Mr Harvie to a Southland Times reporter who sought details of the flight, and though a non-smoker the reporter could not resist inhaling the fumes of a “weed” which had in one day been carried from one end of New Zealand to the other. Mr Harvie and Miss Hunter will remain in Invercargill until Sunday when they will probably commence the return journey. Their intention is to make it at- least a two-day trip. The previous longest flight made in New Zealand was that of SquadronLeader McGregor who on November 12, 1931, flew from Invercargill to Auckland, a distance of 900 miles.