UNJUSTIFIABLE DARING.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1934, Page 6

UNJUSTIFIABLE DARING.

Whereas there will be general relief that Thursday’s trans-Tasman fliers made a safe landing, there will also be a general feeling of protest that the flight was undertaken at all. If there ever was a time when a Tasman flight in such a machine, similarly ill-equip-ped, was justifiable that time has certainly gone. Crossing the Tasman by air has passed the experimental stage, and no advantage whatever is gained from the flight undertaken on Thursday. On the other hand, two valuable young lives were recklessly placed in jeopardy, relations and friends of the airmen were put to unnecessary distress, and an unwarranted expenditure of time and money was incurred at at least three airports in the North Island. The flight was ill organised, it was undertaken in, a machine totally unsuited to the task, and insufficient consideration was given to the demands it necessarily made on many people in New Zealand. The experiences of seasoned pilots such as Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Mr. C. T. P. Ulm and Squadron-Leader J. D. Hewett prove conclusively that it is courting disaster to undertake a Tasman flight with a single-engined machine of the type used and without radio equipment. Thursday’s fliers had luck with them. Had it been otherwise, not only would lives have been lost but aviation would have received a serious set-back. It is all very well to argue that deeds

of daring made Great Britain what she is to-day. Daring must be viewed in relation to the existing circumstances, and when there is no advantage to be gained, or no possibility of adding further to the store of general knowledge, then daring may easily become nothing more than foolhardiness. It is to be hoped that the risky venture which happily was successfully accomplished will be a lesson rather than a precedent, and that it will not be emulated on any future occasion.