FLIGHT TO N.Z.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20477, 1 December 1934, Page 1

FLIGHT TO N.Z.

Ulm to Link U.S.A. and Dominion. HOP-OFF TO-DAY. WILL DEPART FROM OAKLAND FOR AUCKLAND. United Press Assn!—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received December 1, 9.50 am.) N VANCOUVER, November 30. Mr Ulm by telephone from Oakland, announced that he would hop off from Oakland for Australia on Saturday, or Sunday, if possible. He planned a flight on Friday to Vancouver, but the weather conditions were unfavourable.

“ The rainy season is approaching and it is imperative that we should start our trans-Pacific flight immediately,” Ulm declared.

He revealed that he •will visit New Zealand.

“My route will be Oakland to Honolulu, to Fanning Island, to Fiji, to Auckland and thence to Sydney,” he said.

An additional factor in the flight is the approach of the high tide season at. Fanning Island, and the flyers must get there as soon as possible. Spare parts for the machine are being rushed from Vancouver by air to permit of a complete overhaul of the machine by Saturday. Mr Ulm in his message expressed regret that he could not make his trip an all-British flight by hopping from Vancouver to Fanning Island, but the extension of the runway at Vancouver would take too long. COMMERCIAL VENTURE. Mr Ulm Has Practical Objective. In an attempt to fly the Pacific with an all-British machine and crew, C. T. P. Ulm is due to start to-day from Oakland in his Airspeed Envoy. His destination is Melbourne. The route to be attempted by way of Fanning Island, Suva, Auckland and Sydney is approximately 8400 miles. Whether the flyers can keep to this route, however, depends on the weather at the time of starting. The first hop, from Oakland to Fanning Island, is about 2600 miles, a distance well within the plane’s flying range. He hopes to do the complete journey in 5£ to 6 days. Ulm’s companions, George Littlejohn (co-pilot) and J. L. Skilling (navigator and wireless operator) are Sydney men. The plane is entirely British. It is fitted with two Siddeley-Lynx engines, each of 240 h.p. The cruising speed is about 150 m.p h., and the machine is equipped with an automatic pilot and a radio of unlimited range. The petrol tanks hold 580 gallons, of which 340 can be dropped in 40sec, thus enabling the plane to float if forced into the sea. The preparations for the flight have occupied six months. They included special arrangements for the construction of an aerodrome at Fanning Island, because the giant crabs, with which the island is infested, dig huge holes in the ground as soon as it is cleared. With Kingsford Smith. Famous first as a companion of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith on his epochmaking flights, Ulm has, in recent years, become well-known as a pioneer of commercial flying. He was with Kingsford Smith in his first great flights in 1927, 1928, andl929, around Australia, across the Pacific and across the Tasman. This early partneri ship was discontinued after the abortive Australia-England flight in 1929, which ended in failure in north-west Australia. Having in the meantime established a reputation as a commercial pilot. Ulm last year began a new phase of activity by’ attempting to beat Mollison’s Australia-England record. Bad luck dogged him, as with success in sight he was delayed by engine trouble in the Persian Gulf. Broke Record. > Later last year, however, he gained, l in the Faith of Australia, a record by - making the first England-Australia > flight in under seven days On his rei turn journey in October he broke Kingsford Smith’s record, established i a few day's previously. » Since that time Ulm has been active in commercial flights in New Zealand i and New Guinea. In April this year he r made his fifth Tasman hop, and in July 5 his seventh. In August he flew to Port - Moresby, Papua, with air mail, and returned to Melbourne, thereafter setting , oft' by- steamer for America to start on I his present flight.