FLIGHT OVER

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 257, 8 October 1931, Page 5

FLIGHT OVER

THERE AT LAST Kingsford Smith Arrives in England THRILLING STORY OF ADVENTURE MOST UNNERVING EXPERIENCE HE; HEARD A TIGER GROWL Press Association. —Copyright. (Reed. 9.20 a.m.) LONDON, Wednesday. Kingsford Smith has arrived at Heston. SMITH LOOKS WELL Deep Coating of Tan WELCOME AT HESTON (Reed. 11.35 a.m.) LONDON, Wednesday. Sitting in a luxurious suite in ! the Dorchester House Hotel in Park Lane, overlooking Hyde Park, collarless, with the sleeves of his greasy blue sweater rolled up, Kingsford Smith to-night told of his adventurous flight from Wyndham in which exasperating luck prevented the record. Tie looked remarkably well consider- I iug his trying experiences, but a deep j coating of tan hid traces of what must have been a nerve-wracking ordeal. Kingsford Smith, maintaining his Australian reputation of express-train punctuality, landed at Heston accord- j ing to schedule at 5.80. Those who welcomed him included Mollison, Oscar Garden, Captain J. P. Saul (his navigator during the trans-Atlantic flight), Snuadron-Leader Marsden (representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand), the pilot Miss Jean Batten, and the Hon. Mrs. Victor j Bruce. j

HIS WIFE WAITING WIRELESS TELEPHONE CONVER SATION (Reed. 12.10 p.m.) A quarter of an hour after arrival, Smith's face broke into a smile when informed that his wife was waiting on the wireless telephone in Melbourne. He engaged in five minutes' happy conversation and then had a meal of poached eggs, before being driven to London, where he is revelling in the ease of a deep armchair after a struggle against sleep.

He talked freely of his adventures, and explained that his landing in Turkey was a case either of coming down or fainting in the air with the possi-

bility of disastrous results. The Villagers Were There "T came down eight miles from Milas, hoping to snatch a rest, and then push on before the authorities found me. I lay down on a leather coat, beside the machine, and when I awoke I found the villagers grouped round me. Then tlie police arrived, and I knew my chance of breaking the record had gone. They had •never seen an aeroplane before. Soldiers guarded me Ihe first night, and then when I explained 1 was an officer in my own country, a goodnatured officer took charge of me until the British Embassy secured my release." Sunstroke was sustained over the Bay of Bengal, through what he admitted was his own carelessness in not wearing a proper tropical flying helmet. This worried him throughout the trip, and sometimes made him feel so light-headed that he felt like jumping out of the machine. The most unnerving experience of the flight was his forced landing on the beach near Victoria Point. When he went to the jungle to gather timber with which to prop up the machine and prevent the rising tide from damaging it, he heard a tiger growl. A Quick Trip Back to the Plane "I covered the two hundred yards beach in 20 seconds and clambered into the cockpit and remained there until morning. 1 had no sleep that night. My nervous system will not stand the strain of an immediate ■flight home. 1 intend seeing a doctor to-morrow, and my plans depend largely on his advice, but I am hopeful of starling next week, and am confident of breaking the Anjjlo-Austra-lian record.