GERMAN WINS £l000 FOR GLIDING FEAT

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 146, 22 June 1931, Page 1

GERMAN WINS £looo FOR GLIDING FEAT

SENSATIONAL FLIGHT MADE BY ENGLISHMAN. (United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON. June 21. Robert Kronteld, a German, the world’s champion glider, won the prize of £IOOO offered by the “ Daily Mail ” for a flight in a glider across the English Channel, and return, in one day, or of £SOO for the one-way flight. A sensation was caused by the sudden appearance of an Englishman, who glided over, forestalling the official attempts. Five pilots, of whom three were British, waited all day long to make the attempt, but weather conditions prevented the start until the evening. Kronfeld completed the return flight in the dusk. He used a blue glider with a span of 98 feet, the biggest in the world. Its weight was six hundred pounds. As the glider loomed up in the sky it resembled an eagle. Escorted by an aeroplane, Kronfeld glided across the Channel and arrived at Swingate, near Dover, after a flight of three-quarters of an hour. He reascended an hour later and recrossed safely. The return trip to France was plucky because, by the time he took off and w’as towed to a height of 10,000 feet and released, it was dark. When he landed at St Inglevert aerodrome, he said; “ I am happy to be the first person to make the double crossing. The glide from the English coast to the French coast occupied twenty minutes. I lost myself halfway across the Channel on the ■way to England, owing to bad clouds, and I thought it might end in a Channel swim instead of a glide.” Australian’s Attempt. An Australian named Krause made three attempts to glide across the Channel. Twice he reached a height of 7000 feet but the glider broke loose from the ’plane before it was sufficiently high to enable the attempt to be made, and finally it was abandoned. Englishman Crosses. While the pilots, including Kronfeld, were waiting at Boulogne in readiness to attempt the crossing, an Englishman, Mr Lissant Beardmore, arrived in a glider unexpectedly. He said that he had left Lympne, escorted by two ’planes, one of which towed him until he had reached 14,000 feet. He then loosed the rope and glided down across the Channel. He had enjoyed a good journey and was proud of the fact that an Englishman was the first pilot to accomplish the feat. The flight was organised by the “ Daily Express.”