FLIGHT RECORD

Taranaki Daily News, 21 November 1932, Page 7

FLIGHT RECORD

ENGLAND TO CAPE TOWN

MRS. MOLLISON’S SUCCESS

HUSBAND’S TIME BEATEN

ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME

FINE FEAT OF ENDURANCE

By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. Capetown, Nov. 18. Mrs J. A. Mollison (Amy Johnson) has’ beaten her husband’s record for the flight from England to Capetown by 10 hours 24 minutes. Mrs. Mollison’s time for the flight was 4 days 6 hours 58 minutes, compared with Mr. Mollison s 4 days 17 hours 22 minutes. Practically unassisted, Mrs. Mollison repaired the lubricating fault at Benguela, Portuguese West Africa, to which place she returned after the trouble developed. She resumed the flight at 4.20 a.m. having lost nine hours and rested for ’three hours. She left Mossamedes at 2.50 a.m. on a non-stop flight to Capetown. As she circled the aerodrome the crowd broke the barriers and cheered wildly. , . . , Mrs. Mollison, on alighting, remarked, “It is fine to see Capetown again.” She immediately telephoned her husband in London. She has had only five hours sleep during the flight and the strain of sleeplessness has been terrific. She was delighted that she had beaten her husband, though she would not be surprised “if he hopped into a plane and attempted to beat my record.” The worst stretch of the trip, she said, was that from Dualla to Benguela, which she flew at night. CONGRATULATIONS FROM KING. “FRESH AND READY TO RETURN.” By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. Rec. 11.30 p.m. London, Nov. 19. The King has telegraphed Mrs. Mollison: “Heartiest congratulations on your splendid achievement. I trust you are not too exhausted.” In a broadcast relayed to London Mrs. Mollison said she undertook the flight as a test of endurance. She slept overnight on the flight to Australia, but to Cape Town had flown day and night. She was still quite fresh and ready to return. Mr. Mollison after listening to his wife’s broadcast of her experiences said he would wait until the record was again broken before again making an attempt. SEARCH FOR VICTOR SMITH. ORDER BY FRENCH GOVERNMENT. Rec. 12.45 a.m. Paris, Nov. 20. The Ministry of Colonies has ordered the Governments of French equatorial Africa to search for Victor Smith, 19-year-old South African who has disappeared in his attempt to break the air record from the Cape to Croydon.. He was last seen over Jebba on the Niger. GIFT OF THOUSAND POUNDS. HUSBAND’S PRIDE IN FLIGHT. London, Nov. 18. ’ Mrs. Mollison, in an article in the Daily Express written before her departure, said: “It is not a pioneer flight, but I wanted to be the first woman to fly solo on this route. I wanted to keep my hand in at long-distance flying and satisfy myself in regard to my powers of endurance.” Mr. Mollison said that she followed his advice to go “all out” fl while fresh and avoid his experience of being behindhand, which necessitated long hops at the finish. In a telephone communication with his wife at Capetown Mr. Mollison assured her of the personal pride he felt in her performance, which he said would probably do more to advance British aviation than any single flight yet done. When Mr. Mollison suggested that she must be very tired after her four days flight she said she was not too tired to go on talking. Mrs. Mollison’s machine Desert Cloud” is a standard De Havilland Puss Moth cabin aeroplane, fitted with a Gipsy major engine of 130 horse-power. It is equipped with special petrol tanks. Normally these machines carry tanks of 35 gallons capacity, but by utilising the space occupied by the back seats for fuel tanks the capacity was increased to 120 gallons, the range being increased from 650 to 1850 miles. The route used was the most direct possible. Mr. A. E. Whitelaw, a Melbourne merchant, has given Mrs. Mollison £lOOO in recognition of her performance. Captain Broad describes the feat as the most magnificent that any woman has achieved. He says it would be fine for a man, but. still finer for a woman, though there is no reason why a woman, whom he places on an equal footing, should not emulate the male aviator. Amy used the Aeronautical Association maps previously supplied to her husband. Congratulatory telegrams were sent by Lords Londonderry and Wakefield, the Aeronautical Society and Captain Hope, the King’s Cup winner. Mr. Mollison, speaking at a .dinner at Brooklands Automobile Racing Club, said it was nearly the happiest day of his life. He knew that Amy had the skill to beat the record, but did not think she possessed sufficient endurance, OF THE FLIGHT, ’ CAREER OF MRS, MOLLISON. Mrs. Mollison left Lympne at 6.37 a.m. on November 14. She followed the same west coast route as her husband, crossing the Sahara. Mrs. Mollison financed herself, the cost was £2OOO. Mr. Mollison took off simultaneously, hoping to escort his wife to the French coast, but he missed her because of poor visibility. The first hop took Mrs. Mollison to Oran, Algeria, where she arrived at 7.30 a.m., having covered 1100 miles. She refuelled her plane and left at 1.30 a.m. on a single hop to Naimey, in the Sahara. Conditions were favourable, and she passed over Naimey at 9 a.m,, compared with Mollison’s arrival there at 6 p.m. on the second day of his record flight. She arrived at Gao, French West Africa, at 12.30 p.m., having crossed the Sahara safely. She then proceeded down the West Coast of Africa to Duala in the Cameroons. Her progress was checked at Benguela, Portuguese West Africa, where she made a forced landing owing to trouble with the oil pressure. This she rectified and proceeded to Mossamedes, whence she made the final hop to Capetown of about 1500 miles. Twenty-nine years of age and the daughter of a Hull business man, Mrs.

Mollison had had less than 100 hours’ flying experience when she left Croydon for Australia on May 5, 1930. Her only distance flight until then had been a trip'to Hull. Her Gipsy Moth machine was the one in which Captain Hope followed the Prince of Wales in his African tour of 1929. She learned her flying under the instruction of Captain F. R. Matthews, the instructor at the London Aeroplane Club, which she joined in 1928. Her first lesson was on September 15 that year. All that time she was working in. a London office and could visit Stag Lane Aerodrome only in her spare time, but on June 9, 1929, she made her first solo flight. Seventeen days later she was a fully qualified pilot.

ENGINEER’S CERTIFICATE.

Then she began to study the mechanical side, eventually gaining an Air Ministry ground engineer’s license. She was the first woman to achieve this. Mrs. Mollison graduated in Arts at Sheffield University in 1925. Briefly, her previous exploits are as follow: On May 5, 1930, she left Croydon (England) for Australia, and arrived at Darwin on May 25, thus completing a wonderful solo flight of approximately 10,400 miles in 20 days. She was the first woman to accomplish the long and lonely journey by air to Australia. She was awarded the 0.8. E. She returned to London and joined the staff of the Daily Mail for seven months’ employment as aeronautical correspondent and lecturer at a salary of £lO,OOO. On January 1, 1931, she left on a solo flight to Pekin, via Berlin, Moscow and Omsk. After a difficult journey to Berlin and Poland she crashed near Warsaw. Her aeroplane was damaged, but she escaped unhurt. Subsequently she flew to Moscow, where she was persuaded to return home. However, she began again on July 29, landing at T°kio on August 6, in spite of a forced landing near Moscow. She returned via Latvia, arriving on May 9. She was married to Mr. J. A. Mollison, a Scottish airman, on July 29. Mrs. Mollison stated then that neither would interfere with the other’s flying plans.