WOMAN FLYER RETURNS HOME

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 66, 19 March 1931, Page 9

WOMAN FLYER RETURNS HOME

MISS AROHA CLIFFORD’S EXPERIENCES ABROAD. (Special to the “ Star.”) WELLINGTON, March 19. Although Miss Aroha Clifford did not obtain her father’s consent to fly home from the Old Country as far as Australia, she evidently made good use of her time in England as far as flying was concerned. Miss Clifford and her father, Mr W. L. Clifford, returned by the Rangitane to-day. Miss Clifford told a “ Star ” representative that three months of her time in England was spent at De Haviland’s factory taking the private owners’ course in mechanics, which had given her ft good knowledge of running repairs. “ That was a whole time job really,” said Miss Clifford, “but I also joined the London Aeroplane Club and frequently flew their machines from Stag Lane until I got my own Puss Moth. I flew a lot over England and had ten days on the Continent, De Haviland’s providing a pilot. We went to Nice and Berne, and had a couple of marvellous days’ flying 1 round the Alps, and then on to Amsterdam.” Miss Clifford met Miss Amy Johnson and Miss Winifred Spooner, whose plucky swim for help when forced down off the Italian coast in an attempt to lower the record flying time to Cape Town thrilled newspaper readers some months back. Miss Clifford liked Miss Spooner very much and understands that she is getting ready to set out again over the same course. “We saw some marvellous flj'ing at the Brooklands School of Flying, when a pageant was arranged for the delegates to the India Round Table Conference, the demonstrations of inverted flying being particularly thrilling. We also made a hurried trip to the Continent after we first arrived in England and saw the last performance of the Passion Play at Oberammergau. On the way out I flew across the Panama Canal as a passenger in a cabin machine. It was rather funny to wait at the other end and see the ship come in.” Miss Clifford sa3 r s she has no immediate plans for flying now that she is back in the Dominion, but her Puss Moth is being sent out to her. When the Rangitane arrived in the stream an aeroplane from the Rongotai base, piloted by Captain Stedman, circled over the ship with the engine shut off and greetings were clearly exchanged with Miss Clifford and her father.