HINKLER’S HOME BURGLED

Taranaki Daily News, 19 January 1933, Page 5

HINKLER’S HOME BURGLED

FEARS FOR SECRET PLANS PLANE UNDER CONSTRUCTION FORTUNE-MAKING MACHINE AVIATION FOR THE FAMILY By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 7.10 p.m. London, Jan. 18. Burglars have ransacked every room hi Mr. Bert Hinkler’s Southampton home. A postman calling with letters saw the dining-room window smashed, and the police found the house in wild disorder. It is impossible yet to say what is stolen, but Mr. Hinkler kept many valuable gifts and trophies there. The thieves may have stolen the secret plans of Mr. Hinkler’s mystery monoplane with which he hoped to make a fortune and bring aviation within the reach of the family man. The plans would be of the greatest value if the thieves can place them in the right quarters. It is believed the raiders thoroughly examined the monoplane in a shed. It is feared the blue prints were in the house but Mrs. Hinkler’s absence prevents certainty. A cable seeking information is being despatched to her in New Zealand, also inquiring what valuables were in the house. . . . PLANS THOSE OF NEW AMPHIBIAN. . INTERVIEW WTH MRS. HINKLER. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. Interviewed regarding the London cablegram reporting the burglary at her residence in England Mrs. Hinkler said to-night that she had not yet received news of the burglary. The news was, most disturbing. The plans referred to* would most probably be those of the new light amphibian monoplane on which her husband had been working for some time, and the perfection of which constituted one of his greatest ambitions. At their home was a hangar housing Mr. Hinkler’s model of the machine which he called his Ibis ambhibian monoplane. If he did not deposit the plans in the bank before leaving England they would most certainly be stored in a ( safe place in the house, together with other articles they both valued. Her husband, she said, had been working on the machine for at least five years. A model constructed at Southampton had been flown. She had had flights in it herself with her husband. His aim was to construct a light amphibian monoplane of considerable cruising range which could be easily handled by one man. SEARCH FOR BERT HINKLER. DISASTER IN CHANNEL FEARED. Basle, Jan. 17. Snow and sleet prevented Captain Hope from searching for Mr. Bert Hinkler, the missing aviator. He has transferred his headquarters to Lausanne, which is handier than Simplon. Those familiar with the Alps are apprehensive that snow will obliterate all traces of the aeroplane. A new report states that a machine was seen on January 7 over Lake Geneva, also another going from the Rhine Valley towards Simplon, which is an unusual route. A message from Paris states that the French authorities have exhaustively inquired for Mr. Hinkler at the request of the British Air Ministry, but they report no evidence of an unknown airman crossing France. They say that ’aerial control is so close that it is impossible for a plane to cross France unseen. It is unlikely that Mr. Hinkler has gone so far out of his course as the Alps, especially in winter time. They fear that he met with disaster in the Channel.