HERO OF THE AIR

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1930, Page 19

HERO OF THE AIR

KINGSFORD SMITH’S PLANS.

Sydney, July 3.

Australians once again are engaged in hero worship, but honour® for once are divided between the cricket wonder, Don Bradman, and the air wonder, Kingsford Smith. When they could take their minds off tho second teet mateh Australians centred their interest, on Kingsford Smith and now are hoping that be will fly home and eo provide another thrill by attempting to beat Hinkler’e record nolo flight. Australians have such unbounded faith in Kingsford Smith that they have no doubts about the outcome of such a flight, but whether it will be undertaken still ' fieeme doubtful. It is stated, however, that before Kingsford Smith left Sydney for England some months ago, he entered into an agreement with the Vacuum Oil Company to make a record-breaking solo flight from England to Australia. Although he had never spoken publicly about Hinkler’s record, Kingsford Smith has on many occasions referred to the possibility of reducing tho time between England and Australia by at least three days. It was to make definite arrangements for this attempt that “he primarily went to England,” and the flight ovei- the Atlantic, which he has just completed, was merely an afterthought. It enabled him to fill in time waiting for the construction of a light plane in England. According to the contract with the Vacuum Oil Company Kingsford Smith will fly an English nlane. No definite knowledge of the make or type has yet been received in Australia, but before he left Sydney he informed several friends that the de Havilland Company had offered him one of its latest planes. He may, however, have decided on an Avro Avian, as, in a cable message to a friend in Sydney, he said that the next time he camo home it would be in a “little Avro.”

According to the arrangement with the Vacuum Oil Company, which has laid down oil and petrol supplier, the "hop-off” will be made from Cranwell, England, with calls at the following places: Rome, Athens, Aleppo, Basra (emergency only), Bushire, Bundar Abbas, Karachi, Allahabad, Rangoon, Victoria Point, Singapore, Atamboea, Darwin, and thence to Sydney and Melbourne. Kingsford Smith hopes to leave England at the end of July, as he has a most important engagement in Melbourne —he is to be married to Miss Mary Powell —and it is imperative that he should reach Melbourne early in August. It is estimated that about 500,000 persons listened in to a remarkably clear telephone conversation between Kingsford Smith and his friends in Australia hist Saturday night. The telephone connection was arranged by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Ltd., and the whole thing was connected with the A class stations. The conversations were delightfully informal; it was as though those who took part in it were quite ignorant of the fact that a whole nation was listening.

"I’ll be seeing you about the middle of August,” said Kingsford Smith to bin mother, "It’s wonderful to hear you people so clearly. Your baby boy jive and kicking.”