SCOTT ARRIVES IN DAZED CONDITION

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 134, 8 June 1931, Page 1

SCOTT ARRIVES IN DAZED CONDITION

PILOT HAGGARD AND DRAWN AFTER EFFORT. (United Press Assn.—By lllectrlc Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, June 6. A new record for the flight from Australia to England was established when Flight-Lieutenant C. W. A. Scott arrived at Lympne from Brindisi last night, completing the final stage of his great journey. Leaving Wyndham, Western Australia, on May 26, he bettered Air-Commodore Kingsford-Smith’s record of 12 days 21 hours, by fortyeight hours. Mr Scott' accomplished the whole flight in the face of very difficult conditions. He crossed the Channel in a storm. He climbed down from the cockpit of his machine dazed, drawn and haggard, and suffering badly from cramp and deafness. His face was blistered by the heat of the engine, and he admitted that he was glad it was all over. “It is too far,” he said. He considered the homeward flight the better of his two achievements, owing to the breaking of the monsoons. MOLLISON CRASHES AT PORT DARWIN. WRECKS OVERLOADED MACHINE ON FENCE. DARWIN, June 7. The airman, Mr J. A. Mollison, who was attempting a record flight to England, took off shortly after midnight. He rose well, but found that the ’plane was overloaded, and, in coming down, struck the fence at the end of the aerodrome. Mr Mollison jumped or fell out before the ’plane actually crashed, and was uninjured. The undercarriage of the machine, the wings, the propeller and tail are in crumpled ruins, damaged beyond repair. Mr Mollison planned to fly to England in seven days, stay there about a week, and return to the same schedule. NEED FOR ENLARGING DARWIN AERODROME. (Received June 8, 10 a.m.) DARWIN, June 8. Mollison’s ’plane has been dismantled for shipment to Sydney. The engine, instrument board, wheels, rudder and part of the fuselage alone will be sent. The rest will be burnt on the ground. Mollison hopes to make a fresh start from Sydney. The accident points to the imperative need of enlarging the Darwin aerodrome.