The Drift Theory.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 659, 12 January 1933, Page 8

The Drift Theory.

Aotea-roa s Fate

Subsequent Flights Show Its Importance.

'pilE strong southerly drift experienced by the Southern Cross, putting the machine well to the southward of its course, bears out a theory propounded at the time the Aotea-roa went missing, that Captain G. Hood and Lieutenant J. R. Moncrieff were well to the south of their proper course, and that when their signals failed at 5.12 p.m., they were some 200 to 300 miles west of Hokitika. On the night that the Aotea-roa was expected, and Wvhen an anxious crowd was waiting at Trentham, Squadron-Leader J. L. Findlay expressed the opinion that the machine had drifted south and had descended in the sea off the west coast of the South Island. This view was not held by those responsible for arranging for the search for the missing men and the area covered by the searching machines and the ships was from the northern end of the South Island to Cape Egmont. As every New Zealander, knows, the search failed. All experience since then has indicated that the theory that drift had carried the Aotea-roa much farther south than was generally believed was sound. On the original flight of the Southern Cross, the navigator, Mr H. A. Litchfield, reported that he had to keep a constant check on a southerly drift. Again, when Mr Guy Men. zies made his solo flight, an effort comparable to that of Hood and Moncrieff, in that the machine was not fully equipped with instruments for navigation, he was carried over 300 miles south of his destination. He intended to land at Trentham, but actually came down in South Westland. Those who may have thought that such conditions were not usual, and who thus placed little credence in the theory, have now to supply a reason for the strong drift which took the Southern Cross well off her course. Had a competent navigator and a wireless operator, together with the finest equipment procurable, not been carried, there is little doubt that the machine would have been carried as far south as Hokitika, if not further. When the noon bearings were taken yesterday, it was found that drift had carried the machine so far south as to 'be on a course which would make a landfall somewhere near Westport. The course was corrected to allow for this drift and yet four hours later, the pilot sighted Cape Farewell, the north-western extremity of the South Island, about 100 miles from Cape Egmont. Drift is the most difficult condition for an airman to estimate. The compass course gives no indication of it, for the nose of the machine is heading in the correct direction, while an imperceptible side movement is taking place. Yesterday’s flight of the Southern Cross throws more light on this difficult problem, and the information gained will be of great value in the future when trans-Tasman flying becomes a regular event.