A GREAT FLIGHT.

Wairoa Bell, Volume XXXI, Issue 215, 11 January 1918, Page 1 (Supplement)

A GREAT FLIGHT.

ITALY TO LONDON IN SEVEN HOURS. Captain Lauiiati. an Italian pilot, accompanied by Machine-gun Mechanic Tonzo as observer, recently made a non-stop flight from Turin to London. A new type of machine was used. The distance flown was 656 miles, and tlie time taken was 7 hours 20 minutes, or about 83 miles an hour. Warning was given of the flight, and British and Italian officers and Embassy officials were waiting at an aerodrome near London to witness the arrival. Captain Lauriati descended at 4 p.in._ having left Turin at 9 a.m. There was a slight mishap at the landing, due to the pilot checking his machine too suddenly, in order to avoid a crowd of spectators. Neither pilot nor passenger was hurt. The journey was marked by some rough weather above the Alps. Both men were tired and hungry. This is the first non-stop flight from Italy to England. In May last a British biplane, carrying five, passengers, flew from London to Rome, 920 miles, with stops at Paris, Turin, and Pisa. A pre-arranged route was followed. and splendid time kept. Captain Lauriati passed to the west of Pails, and then.followed a straight line to London. He carried with him, in addition to copies of the “ Gazeta de Popolo,” an autograph letter from the King, of Italy to King George, and letter’s to Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Derby, Mr. 'Balfour, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, and the Lord Miayor of London. The journey from Turin was made in a Sia two-seater biplane fitted with a 250 h.p. Fiat motor, and Captain Lauriati explained that it was in war trim, with a* Fiat* machine-gun mounted ready for action. “I might have encountered hostile aircraft on the way and so I came prepared,” he remarked, and one recalled that enemy airmen must have many old! scores to pay off against one who has bombed their lines 25 times. “As a matter of fact I met nothing at all till I reached England,’ he added. “The air is a lonely region.” “The most exciting and trying part of the time was going over the Alps,” Captain Lauriati confessed. “Wei crossed in the region of Mont Oenis. There was a good deal of mist and the) wind across tbe valleys was rough, I was compelled to rise to between 11,000 feet and 12,000 feet. I estimate that the difficulties in crossing tlhe Alps lengthened the. journey iby an hour. The railway had been my guide on the Italian side, and I was very glaldl to ' •pick it up again. “The journey across Fib nee was cov- j ered at an average- height _q£ .about 7500 feet. I lyid no difficulty in find- J ing my -way and. I made the pace hot. | At times we were doing nearly 120 j miles an hour, ant) the average speed for the whole journey was roughly 94 miles. We crossed the Channel above! Cape Grisnez, and two minutes after leaving the French coast sighted the cliffs of England. On getting over the land again I dropped to 2000 feet to pick up my hearings and then caone straight on to London. .There was an hour’s supply of fuel in the tank when I landed.” As to the 'aitr raid -over London on the evening of his arrival, Captain Lauriati expressed surprise that reprisals are not carried out against the Germans. “We have machines now,” iiel said, “ that could! carry us right into tli heart of Germany—my own flight! shows what can be done —and if the German people, boasting about their freedom from invasion l , were to experience a few raids on towns they have imagined to he beyond reach of the enemy, it would be a very rude, shock to their self-complacency.” The Sia machine used by Captain Lauriati is a standard one "of a type already in use by the Italian Flying Corps, of which large numbers are being produced.