Pioneering and Peril

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 669, 22 May 1929, Page 9

Pioneering and Peril

ULM CONCLUDES EVIDENCE Landing of the Southern Cross PLANE’S RADIO EQUIPMENT DEFENDED j (United P.A. —By Telegraph — Copyright) Reed. 11 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. IF it Is in the interests of aviation to give up long-distance flying, Smith and I will give it up,” Flight-Lieutenant C. T. P. Ulm told the Committee of Inquiry during his evidence yesterday. Pilot Brain, who found the Kookaburra, continued his evidence this morning.

The Committee of Inquiry was set up to investigate the forced landings of the Southern Cross and the Kookaburra, also the loss of the search airplane D.H.9A.

The tribunal comprises BrigadierGeneral L. C. Wilson, solicitor, of Brisbane; Captain G. Hughes, president of the New South Wales Aero Club; and Mr. C. N. McKay, president of the Victorian Aero Club, Mr. J. H. Hammond, K.C., assists the committee. Lieutenant Ulm said it was difficult to pick up landmarks in North-West Australia, as the hills presented such similarity in their characteristics. Wyndham was chosen for the jumping off place for the flight to England because that point was important in the defence of Australia. They wanted the flight to illustrate the importance of the Singapore naval base, from which Richmond was only two days distant for the most powerful airplanes. They had been told already by highly-placed authorities that their flights had been of great national value. The Southern Cross carried more efficient wireless than any other airplane ever had carried except for Commander Byrd’s Antarctic equipment. That had been made by the same firm as the wireless on the Southern Cross. Further examined, Ulm said the decision to try to reach Wyndham after they had sighted the Port George IV. mission station was experimental. They had an immense amount at stake in reaching there. As it happened, they encountered a head wind and with their dwindling supply of petrol they were compelled to turn back. Previously they had noticed that the only possible landing places near the mission station contained mud and water, which would have caused certain disaster. Others contained outcrops of rock, which would have made them unsafe. They failed to reach Wyndham and their reputations had been challenged throughout the world. In view of the extraordinary variations in the weather in North-West Australia they would try in future to secure fuller weather reports before starting on a similar flight. PERILS OF PIONEERING Captain Hughes: What is your view of the steps which should be taken to regulate long-distance flights in future ? Witnes: The question is too general. If the Aviation Department assumes control of all pioneering work then pioneering will cease. There will always be pioneers and there will always be casualties among pioneers. A few years ago many people would have thought we were lunatics to fly the Pacific. Men like the late Lieutenant Keith Anderson and his mechanic, Mr. Hitchcock, will always go out and risk their lives in relief work, whether the Government likes it or not.

You do not advise regulations?—l do not say that. But it would take me two or three days to consider the question. If it is in the interests of

aviation to give up long-distance flying Smith and I will give it up. If you had heen able to operate with a fixed aerial instead of a trailing aerial it would not have carried away? —That is so.

Did not the New System Telephone Company ofier you a substitute for your emergency set before you left Sydney?—Yes, they mentioned a set weighing 1001 b. You made rather a momentous decision when you decided to leave the Port George IV. mission station to fly 150 miles?—We did not know it was the mission station. That was the only habitation in sight, yet you made that decision to leave it? —We only had to have reasonable help from a following wind and we knew we could turn hack if necessary. Do you think it necessary to prevent people going off on harebrained flights?—lf they are harebrained, yes. Thomas McWilliam. of the New Zealand Air Force and radio operator on the Southern Cross, explained that the aerial broke off while Litchfield was taking a drift reading. The emergency set belonging to the monoplane was little use. It only had a range of 25 miles. The batteries would not operate more than 15 minutes. The set was left behind because witness would not have it. Witness said he had made a test of the set last Sunday and an officer of the Sydney Radio Station, only seven miles away, could scarcely hear his signals. Witness admitted that the loss of the aerial on the flight had seriously interfered with their reception. Questioned about converting the receiver into a transmitter, he said that had occurred to him, but he could regard it only as an experiment and could not afford to use the battery in that way. Captain Lester Brain, of the Queensland and Northern Territory Aviation Service who took part in the search for the Kookaburra, detailed the incidents leading up to the discovery of that machine and the dead body beneath one wing. He was asked by Mr. Hammond to suggest precautions for the safety of those who undertook long flights. Witness said a machine like the Southern Cross could undertake flights which other machines could not. Nevertheless it was advisable that a crew should take at least three days’ supply of food and water, also a radio set which would function as efficiently from the ground as from the air. Tools sufficient to effect light repairs should also be taken. Pilot Brain gave further evidence that he did not think an airplane of the type of the Kookaburra should attempt a long-distance flight over waterless country. It had a very small engine, and was carrying a heavy load which would tax the engine’s capacity to the utmost. Anderson and Hitchcock knew they had a faulty compass, and their safe policy would have been to fly to Newcastle Waters and then to Wave Hill. The inquiry was adjourned until Thursday. The committee will hear evidence at Melbourne next week.