HAZARDOUS TRIP

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1932, Page 7

HAZARDOUS TRIP

FLIGHT IN DAMAGED ’PLANE.

BROKEN PROPELLER BLADE. Auckland, December 14. A flight from Matamata ; to Tauranga. a distance of 25 miles, by air, with a broken propeller and a hole in the fabric of one wing of his 'machine, was made last week by a private owner. Mr. H. L. D. West, of Whakatane. Mr. West owns the only Comper Swift machine in the Dominion, a tiny single-seater highwlng monoplane. Immediately he took off from Matamata Mr. West noticed that his little machine was not climbing at its usual rate, and was at a loss to account for its indifferent performance. He experienced difficulty in gaining altitude, and managed to clear the Kaimai Hills only by a small margin. In spite of the poor performance of the Comper, the pilot decided to continue his flight, but received a rude shock when, while crossing the Kaimai Hills, he noticed a gaping hole in the fabric of one w’ing. CROSSING THE KAIMAI HILLS.' As a landing on the Kaimais was quite out of the question, Mr. . West was obliged to carry on, in spite of the fact that the hole in the wing fabric was growing in size at an alarming rate. Under the circumstances there was nothing to be done but hope for the best, and after a nerve-wracking trip the pilot made a safe landing at Tauranga. On making an inspection of his mach-r ine, Mr. West was astounded to find that the tip of each propeller blade was missing, and that one blade .was almost snlit to the boss. It was then apparent that, in taking off from a comparatively rough field at. Matamata the propeller had struck the ground, snapping the tips; from the blades and splitting the airscrew. The hole in the fabric was evidently due to a piece of broken propeller, striking the wing. The Comper is fitted with “Doughnut” type landing wheels, and on an uneven field there would 'be little clearance between the tips of the propeller blades and the ground when the machine was in flying position. , - • •