A LONG FLIGHT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 425, 17 November 1930, Page 3

A LONG FLIGHT

DUCHESS OF BEDFORD’S RECORD Described, by the director of civil aviation in Great Britain (Sir Sefton Brancker} as “the best thing in civil aviation tor three or four years,” the London to Capetown and return flight by the Duchess of Bedford in April of this year brought to a close another noteworthy chapter in the long asso ciation with flying of a distinguished member of the English p.eerage. Mr Little, navigator and assistant pilot on the “Spider,” told the story of the flight to a representative of the Shell Company, which arranged spirit and oil supplies over the entire route. “Adventures on the flight started at the most inconsiderate of times — for instance, when we were flying over hundreds of miles of forest in Tanganyika in which it would have been impossible to land, to our horror we saw that the oil gauge showed that we had only four gallons left, and a few minutes later it was two gallons. We han two or three more hours’ flying before we could hope to land. We thought that the only thing to do was to make a forced landing in the forest, though we knew our chance of being found or heard* of again was remote. Soon after this the oil disappeared from the gauge altogether and we assumed that the end was at hand and flew on waiting for the machine to stop. To our amazement, however, it did not stop, and when we ultimately landed we found that the oil gauge had merely broken while the tank was full of oil.

Lost Without Hope Over the Desert

In Rhodesia we had another exciting experience; we had run into very bad weather while flying above dense forests. We were flying under a curtain of low clouds just above the trees and surrounded by hills, and were circling round looking for a way out, because it was impossible to fly into the cloud without the danger of hitting the mountains round us, aud eventually we had to go miles off our course in our effort to find a gap through the clouds. Presently we decided to steer south jn the hope of seeing the Zambesi, which would give us our position, but to our dismay we could not find it, and this was very serious as there was nothing but masses of trees and jungle in which we could not land. After hours of flying, with petrol getting short, we came to the conclusion that we had lost our way and we should merely have to fly on with jungle underneath until we crashes. Captain Barnard and I mutually agreed that it was all up, but we did not say anything to the Duchess, who was busy studying the wild game through her field glasses, which were very close, as we were flying low. When we had less than one hour’s petrol supply, to our immense joy, we saw some mine buildings, and a few minutes later a railway line, which we were immediately able to identify as the Livingstone and Bulawayo railway line. This meant, of course, that as soon as we could find somewhere to land we were saved from being utterly lost in the jungle. What we had been afraid of was that we were west of Livingstone, in which case there would only have been thousands of miles of desert, in which we should have had no hope whatever. Overcome by Deadly Poison Gas Near Bulawayo we had another adventure. Captain Barnard was flying the machine at the time and became so overpoweringly sleepy that he sent n note for me to take over from him The Duchess also fell heavily asleep, and when 1 had taken over for about, 10 minutes 1 could hardly keep my eyes opem We could not make it out, and we thought it must be the great fatigue of the journey. Things became so difficult that we could only fly by taking turns of about 20 minutes eacn and the moment 1 was relieved from the controls I used to doze until reawakened at the end of 20 minutes. On landing we found that this was due to an exhaust pipe inside the fuselage which had broken and was filling the place with carbon monoxide gas, v hich, as you know, is a deadly potson, has no smell and has the effect of putting one to sleep. There is no doubt that wo had a very lucky escape on this occasion; on top of ail this we found that the flame from tne broken exhaust pipe was playing directly on the carburettor and might easily have set the machine on fire.

The Marvellous Forced Landing I need not tell you much about the forced landing we had in Bulgaria, as it has been fully reported in the daily press. Captain Barnard was flying the machine at the time and no one but a most exceptionally gifted pilot could have achieved a forced landing under those conditions. The machine was very heavy, having just started with a full load of petrol, and in such conditions the machine is practically uncontrollable when the engine is not running, yet he succeeded in landing the machine against the wind in a very small space surrounded by hills. The Duchess of Bedford’s Record The Duchess of Bedford, who is 6’4 years old, has been an enthusiastic flyer since 1926 and has a flying record of over 50,000 miles to her credit. J.t will be remembered that with Captain Barnard she flew by stages to India and back last year and has since made two extended air tours in Europe. Besides. being such an experienced aviator, the Duchess is an expert on ornithology and zoology, while much of her spare time in summer is taken up by fishing, and many nursing institutes have reason to be grateful to the kind interest she takes in their work.

She is the daughter of Archdeacon Tribe, of Simla, and married the Duke nf Bedford in 1888, and her prowess as a cricketer is well remembered in Simla, particularly a game when she scored 50 in a match for ladies in 1886.

CRICKET. Heavy rain at mid-day on Saturday caused the postponement of the cricket match, Flock House v. Bulls, but the game will be played later. No : week’s challengers hail from the Milsom Club (Palmerston North).