“COME ON N.Z.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20282, 17 April 1934, Page 9

“COME ON N.Z.”

Well-known Airman on Big Race. GOOD PILOT AVAILABLE. (Written for the ‘‘Star" by F. C. CHICHESTER.) New Zealand enters a team to compete for the Davis Cup, sends Home a football team, a cricket team, and a team to compete at Olympia. Yet here is the finest race ever staged and New Zealand not yet entered—the England to Australia air race. Nearly half way round the world—l2,ooo miles of hard going. And what a race. With starters from every air-minded nation. What a test of the men engaged in it. Yet I am convinced that New Zealand can produce men with the qualities requisite for a good sporting go. Against such men as Hawks and Kingsford Smith, whose flying skill amounts almost to genius, our pilots will be hard put .to it. But we are not the nation to keep out of a race because we are not certain of winning. Many of us pay to enjoy a horse race. The air race will give us more intense and general interest. Yet gate money cannot be collected. If New Zealand wishes to put up a starter, the cash must be subscribed. An aeroplane will cost no more than a fine racehorse. If one person out of every 300 in New Zealand puts up a pound we can enter. So many people have told me they wish to do so, to_ see New Zealand a starter, that I believe the money would be subscribed if the leading newspapers opened lists. If the people want to subscribe, cannot we give them the chance? No definite proposition has yet been put up to the public. I venture to nominate a team which, in my opinion, cannot be bettered in New Zealand and will give us the best possible run for our money. If my short experience of long-dis-tance flying has taught me the qualities necessary for it, I emphatically assert that the average pilot is totally unsuited. How often have we seen pilots, skilful in their own way—Air Force pilots, club instructors, fancy stunting pilots—attempt long-distance flights and fail. Sitting in a cockpit is the smallest part of the job. The difficulties to be overcome before the flight ever starts are immense and the public never hears of them. The team for this race must include an efficient organiser, a man of personality and, above all, a man of determination and push who will get the job through at all costs. Such a man for captain of the team is A. W. Nisbet, New Zealander, resident in Wellington. He is secretary of the Aero Club, Staff Officer of the New Zealand Air Force, and has had business training. Without an organiser the flight is impossible. Here is the man to make all speed to England, buy the best aeroplane available, make a thorough job of the extensive organisation preliminary to the flight, and see that the necessary intensive training with the machine is undergone. A W. Nisbet learnt flying two years ago. He was 46 then. Personally, I am all in favour of tne older pilot. (Kingsford Smith, the world’s finest airman, is over 37.) During the past two years A. W. Nisbet has won the Cory Wright Cup for navigation twice, the Herald Navigation Trophy once, has been granted a Flight-Lieut-enant’s commission in the Territorial Air Force, and has undergone four refresher courses. Is it possible to find better indication of the keenness and determination necessary for the race? The Cool Hand for Piloting. As chief pilot, yet subordinate to Nisbet, I would nominate J. D. Hewett, New Zealander, resident in Auckland, who is pilot to the marrow, with the reputation of talking as much as an oyster. On his own he has made a living out of commercial flying for the past five years: the only man in New Zealand, I believe, who has succeeded in doing so. Said to be a crack shot, his air fight over the camp in Palestine is reputed to have been one of the most spectacular of the war. This is the man to provide the cool hand needed for piloting. It is the combination of pilot and organiser that offers the chance. These pilots, if we enter them for the race, must undertake:— 1. —Win or lose, to buy a British machine. 2. —Account for every penny of their backers’ money. 3. —The plane and equipment will belong to the backers; if they win the race the pilots shall be given the machine, and the prize money, £IO.OOO, shall be divided amongst the backers as their dividend. The minimum needed is £8125. If the leading newspapers give those who wish the opportunity to subscribe, we might be able to get our men away next month, which is the latest date possible.