IN RECORD TIME

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 7

IN RECORD TIME

CROSSING OF TASMAN SEA EARLY ARRIVAL SURPRISES HEAVY MAIL LOAD CARRIED OVATION FROM ROYAL SHOW MESSAGES FROM THE PLANE By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. Rec. 6.30 p.m. . Sydney, March 30. Sir Charles Kingford Smith’s arrival at 3.15 p.m. was wholly unexpected, and his reception at the Mascot aerodrome was consequently comparatively quiet. However, 50,000 people at the Royal Show were made aware of his presence overhead at 3 p.m. by means of amplifiers gave a hearty cheer and expressed the greatest admiration for the famous airman. After making a perfect landing in ideal weather from among a group of escorting aeroplanes Sir Charles received his baby son from the nurse. In response to repeated inquiries from pressmen and others Sir Charles said: “I have done the trip so often now that there is very little of interest. We had a good trip to Lord Howe Island, but it was not so good after that.” The crew stepped from the “old bus” and began to handle the mails, 25,000 New Zealand letters, in the most casual way, after which they went home. The Southern Cross was in constant wireless communication throughout the trip with Sydney and the Wanganella, on which Lady Smith was a passenger. The time for the journey is estimated at 13 hours 25 minutes, breaking the previous record by 35 minutes. Sir Charles in an interview said the Southern Cross passed close to the Wanganella but they were unable to see her owing to bad visibility. A feature of the trip was the splendid navigation of Captain Taylor, “enabling us to hit Lord Howe Island dead-centre, and later striking Sydney Harbour heads exactly in the middle. If we had not flown over Lord Howe Island we could have accomplished the journey in under 13 hours.” Unfortunately, the New Zealand letters missed the Thursday afternoon delivery here; consequently they will be held up until Saturday owing to the Good Friday holiday intetrvening.