JEAN BATTEN’S FLIGHT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 243, 14 October 1936, Page 6

JEAN BATTEN’S FLIGHT

JEAN BATTEN’S successful flight from England to Australia registers several facts: the first is that she is a competent aviatrix; the second is that she is capable of withstanding the strain which so Jong a flight imposes upon the physique; the third is that her ’plane is a reliable machine. In the main, the point which is chiefly brought out is the progress in the engineering side of aviation. The question now being asked is whether A®ss Batten should tempt the Fates by flying the Tasman in her ’plane? On the human side it has been demonstrated that Miss Batten is capable of undertaking the task and accomplishing it. From the success which attended her flight across the South Atlantic and during her present adventure it would appear that her engine is a very reliable piece of mechanism. Should she attempt to fly the Tasman with a single-engine ’plane does not add to the revelation of her abality as an air pilot: she registers yet again the reliability of her machine. Should she fail to make the coast of New Zealand, then nothing is established but her failure. The reason for that failure would never be known. It would assist aviation in no way and it would end a very interesting and promising career. On balance, then, the advantages would be on the side of abandoning the trans-Tasman flight save in a twin-engined ’plane. It is unwise to tempt the Fates too much.