SOLO FLIGHT TO JAPAN

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 192, 14 August 1931, Page 1

SOLO FLIGHT TO JAPAN

Mr Chichester Completes Ambitious Effort. DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. SHANGHAI, August 13. Mr F. C. Chichester took off for Kagoshima, Japan, at 8.15 o’clock this morning. He landed there at 7 p.m. Mr Chichester left Sydney on July 3 for Darwin, where he took off on a flight to England via Japan, North America and Greenland. On his arrival at Manila, in the Philippines, on July 17, he found that the Japanese authorities would not grant him permission to fly over certain parts of Japan included in his itinerary. This caused some delay, and he was not able to get away until August 3. He landed at Formosa on August 5 and reached Shanghai on August 7. JAPANESE SUSPICIOUS. New Zealand Airman has to Answer Questions. (Received August 14, 11 a.m.) TOKIO, August 13. Because he required ten hours to make the flight from Shanghai to Kagobhima, which ordinarily takes five, the local authorities are questioning Mr Chichester to determine whether he landed en route.