NEW RECORD FLIGHT

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1929, Page 14

NEW RECORD FLIGHT

SOUTHERN CROSS LANDS | SPECTACULAR ARRIVAL HUNDREDS BESIEGE FLIERS KING’S CONGRATULATIONS AIR SERVICE TO AUSTRALIA The Southern Cross monoplane competed its record-breaking flight from Australia to England when it landed at Croydon yesterday afternoon. By Telegraph—Press Assn.— Copyright. Australian Press Association. London, July 10. The Southern Cross landed from Rome At Croydon at 3.20 and was welcomed by a big crowd, General Sir lan Hamilton being amongst those present. Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith said the log showed that the flying time was exactly 12 days 21 hours 18 minutes from the time they left Derby to the minute they landed. He expects to remain in England for some weeks. So far the aviators have made no plans for crossing the Atlantic.

The Southern Cross made a spectacular landing, just grazing the hangars. Hundreds of spectators besieged the fliers. Kingsford Smith stated: “We had lots of ■minor troubles, but generally speaking, had a good flight.” The King sent the following message: -"Please convey to the four airmen my heartfelt congratulations on the remarkable successful achievement after all the hardships and danger they have experienced.”

Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, conveyed the congratulations of the Air Ministry to the crew of the Southern Cross and declared that their flight •would encourage support of a passenger air to Australia. Kingsford Smith said that he considered such a service quite feasible. Great interest was shown in the Southern Cross, in which Kingsford Smith and Ulm a few months ago made the first trans-Pacific flight and have since made other remarkable trips.

It is learned that Kingsford Smith has ordered three Aero-Lyn monoplanes fitted with three Armstrong-Siddeley engines for the purpose of operating an Australian air service. Kingsford Smith will superintend their construction.

11,700 MILES IN 14 DAYS

12 HOPS AVERAGE 890 MILES. yWO DELAYS OF ONE DAY EACH. The Southern Cross airmen have accomplished the flight from Australia to England in a few hours less than 14 days. The full distance flown was about 11,680 miles. There were twelve hops, the first, 2100 miles, being the greatest. The average was 890 miles. Counting the time from Richmond, Sydney, it works out at just under 16 days, but they actually left the Australian Continent (Derby) on June 27 and arrived at Croydon on July 10. That period of u der 14 days included etoppages of one day each at Rangoon and Karachi for repairs to the engines. The Southern Cross took off from Richmond for Derby on the first stage of the flight at 2.25 p.m. on June 25, by which time the wind that had been delaying the fliers had greatly moderated. ■ The big Fokker monoplane ran for half a mfle before it rose into the air, and soon became a mere speck away in the north-western sky, which was cloudless. The Southern Cross was equipped with an emergency transmitting wireless set weighing 191 b. The tests were satisfactory, and the signals were heard in New Zealand. Before the Southern Cross left FlightLieutenant C. T. Ulm informed the Press representatives that the crew was under no contract with any newspaper this time. “Our last trouble started over a newspaper war, and we are not going to be led into another.” Uhn added that the libel action against the Daily Guardian was definitely going on, but the business of the Court was so congested that it could not be reached before December. This flight was being undertaken as their own private business. A letter of introduction was taken from General H. W. Lloyd to the Prince of Wales, and also one to Mr. Sidney Webb (now Baron Passfield), the Secretary of State for the Dominions. The airmen safely completed the stage, landing at Derby 22 hours 5 minutes after Raving Sydney. It was “the beet trip of our lives.” RECORD FLIGHT BEGINS. —x The ’plane left Derby at 5.40 p.m. Western Australian time for Singapore, 1650 miles away. Flying conditions were good along the route, which was by way of Sunda Strait', between Sumatra and Java. A landing was made at Singapore at 12.45 p.m. on June 28. The story of the flight was told in brief wireless messages received at Singapore after 9.30 p.m. on Thursday. The airmen were flying at an altitude of from 4000 to 5000 feet in cold, pleasant moonlight. They were following a regular steamship route until striking the west coast or Java.

Passing through Sunda Strait they were compelled to descend to 1600 feet as the straight was difficult to locate through the thick clouds, the ground being totally obsctfred. They struck Java near Cape Genteng in the early morning. They then encountered thick mist and rani, experiencing two bad hourg of heavy clouds and rain before dawn. They emerged from the bad conditions over Sumatra, where they wire-

leased that the weather was delightful. The motors were running perfectly and they had plenty of fuel.. The last two hours were flown in consistent rain and visibility was not good. They arrived over Singapore at 1.15 and landed after a search for the landing ground at 12.45. The men were looking the freshest and were not tired after their 20 hours in the air. It was soon after the departure from Derby that the engine trouble which pestered the airmen through the tropics first developed. ( The airmen left Singapore at 11.50 a.m. on June 29 and landed in the evening at Singora, Siam. They reached Rangoon, Burma, on the afternoon of June 30.

ENGINE DIFFICULTIES.

The Southern Cross left Rangoon at 10.45 a.m. on the Monday (3.45 p.m. New Zealand time) for Calcutta, which town they reached at 2 p.m. (8 p.m. New Zealand time). They had intended to fly the 1000 miles to Allahabad direct but were detained by engine trouble. Calcutta was left’at 5 a.m. (11 a.m. New Zealand time) on Tuesday for Karachi, but the full stage was not completed, the ’plane landing at Allahabad at 12.15 p.m. owing to trouble with a magneto. The airmen made a perfect landing at the dreaded Dum Dum aerodrome°after an abominable trip. They left at 11.55 a.m. on Thursday for the 890-mile flight to Karachi and arrived at 4 p.m. Bad luck continued on the journey. Slight engine trouble had arisen and at. Karachi "the airmen spent a day repairing the engines. Bunder Abbas, Persia, was the next o-oal, for which the airmen left at 5.55 a.m. on Saturday. Instead of landing there they flew to Basra, Iraq, about 1350 miles from Karachi, landing .at 12.45 a.m. on Sunday and leaving immediately for Bagdad. They reached Bagdad the same day, the distance be320 miles. The Southern Cross reached Athens from Bagdad, 1280 miles, at 7 p.m. on Monday. They left Athens for Rome, GOO miles, on Tuesday morning.

ENTERING THE LAST LAP.

The monoplane arrived at Rome at 2.35 p.m. on Tuesday. It left at 4.55 a.m. on Wednesday for the Croydon aerodrome, London, 850 miles away. When he was over Paris SquadronLeader C. E. Kingsford Smith wirelessed that all was well and he expected to reach London at 3 p.m. He was over Lyons after 10 o’clock. At . noon he wirelessed the Air Ministry: “We are now heading up through France; fine and dear here.” In an interview at Rome SquadronLeader Kingsford Smith said he was delighted to find the Southern Cross was two days ahead of the fastest time for the Australia to England flight. “We are tired but we are fit, and I would do it all over again if it were necessary, but if I had to repeat the trip I would use a lighter* machine,” ne said. “The Southern Cross is extremely heavy when fully loaded, weighing more than six and a-'half tons. The majoiity of taking off grounds, if wet or sandy, will not°carry that weight. We struck a bamboo pole at Calcutta, which was placed there by some stupid native, when we were leaving.” The previous record for a flight between the two countries was that of Mr. Bert Hinkler, who flew from Croydon to Port Darwin in February, 1928, in 15J days. His itinerary was:—

February 7—Left Croydon. February B.—Reached Rome. February 10. —Left Rome for Malta. February 12. —Arrival at Ramleh, Egypt, near Alexandria. February 13. —Reached Basra. February 15.—At Karachi (India) in one week. 1 February 18.—Arrived Calcutta. February 19—Left Singapore for Batavia. February 20.—Arrival at Batavia. February 21. —Set out for Bima, Dutch East Indies. February 22. —Bima to Darwin, arrived at 6 p.m. The distance covered was 11,300 miles.

GREATEST OCEAN FLIGHTS

RECORDS ON PACIFIC JOURNEY. FLIERS’ EPOCH-MAKING VENTURE. The Tasman flight westward made by the Southern Cross in October, 1928, marked the completion in the Pacific of the greatest flight over oceans in the history of aviation. It was the last of five great trans-ocean hops. The first was from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, a distance of 2420 miles; the next from Honolulu to Suva, a distance of 3290 miles; the third from Suva to Brisbane, a distance of 1881 miles; the fourth from Australia to New Zealand, a distance of about 1300 miles; and the fifth from New Zealand to Australia, a distance of 1534 miles.

The plane has now completed 11,700 miles in 12 hops, taking 13 days, a record.

The attempt on the Pacific was made only after many setbacks had been received, and innumerable scientific and financial obstacles had been overcome. Finally, however, preparations were complete, and soon after 8 a.m., on Thursday, May 31, 1928, Captain Kingsford Smith. Mr. C. T. Ulm (co-pilot), Captain H. Lyon (navigator) and Mr. J. Warner (wireless operator) entered the Southern Cross at Mills Field, Oakland, California, ready to start on the first stage of the journey to Hawaii. The distance was 2400 miles. It was a memorable start to an epochmaking air journey. Memorable as was the departure of the monoplane from Oakland, it was overshadowed by the reception at Honolulu at 9.49 a.m. the following day, after a successful journey of 27 hours 27 minutes. Preparations were immediately made for the second stage of the journey 3180 miles from Kauai (near Honolulu) to Suva. At 5.20 a.m. on June 3 the ’plane hopped off from Barking Sands, on Kauai Island, and after running for less than half the length of . the , field took the air easily. Captain Smith banked her sharply and set a direct course for Suva. The plane carried 1290 gallons of fuel. From the point of view of distance over water, the journey from Kauai to Suva was the' longest ever attempted, but in spite of stormy weather at intervals, good time was made, and at 2.10 p.m. on June 4 the hum of the motors was heard in Suva’s Albert Park. Thousands of people of all nationalities assembled in the park, to welcome the airmen, who landed at 2.21 p.m.

EPIC STAGE OF JOURNEY.

Albert Park, Suva, being unsuitable for a take-off with the machine fully loaded with fuel, the aviators transferred the plane from the park to the Naselai Sands on June 7. At 2.52 p.ni. the following day she rose gracefully from the sands to start on the last and, as it proved to be, the most epic stage of the-long journey, 1750 miles. Thousands of excited people greeted the intrepid airmen when they reached Brisbane at 10.14 a.m. The fliers were feted in Australia and flew to New Zealand from Sydney. They toured New Zealand and on October 14 returned to Australia.

The monoplane left Richmond aerodrome, Sydney, on the morning of March 30" for England and was forced to land about 150 miles from Wyndham, in the north-west of Australia. The actual whereabouts of the plane were wrapped in mystery until on April 12 the Canberra thrilled the world with the discovery of the plane on a niudflat near Port George. All the fliers were well. Two of the searchers, Lieut. Keith Anderson and Mr. H. S. Hitchcock, lost their lives. The plane was flown back to Sydney and repaired. An inquiry was held into the forced landing of the Southern Cross and Lieut. Anderson’s plane, the Kookaburra. The second and successful flight was commenced on June 25. The’Southern Cross airmen intend to fly the Atlantic after the completionof their business in London, if their plans work out to schedule. The first stop in their last flight in the round-the-world sequence will be Madrid. Thence they will go to Sierra Leone, from where they will cross the Atlantic at practically the narrowest section to Pernambuco, Brazil. The route will then be north to Pana,ma across the Gulf to Miami, thence direct to New York. There is every prospect of the monoplane being sold in the United States. Previous notable flights along the England-Australia route include: November-December, 1919 —Ross Smith flies in stages from England to Australia, 11,295 miles, in 124 flying hours. 1924-25. —Sir Alan Cobham makes the 17,000-mile trip from London to Rangoon and back in 210 hours. 1925.—Marchese di Pinedo flies 34,000 miles, from Rome to Melbourne, and Tokio and back. June-October, 1926—Cobham flies 28,000 miles in 230 hours from England to Australia and back. February, 1928—Bert Hinkler flies Moth from England to Port Darwin, 11,300 miles, in 15J days.