Over Africa by 'Plane.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17982, 29 March 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

Over Africa by 'Plane.

IN many parts of Africa, writes Rene GVlaccoll in the Daily Telegraph, the most practical means of transport is the aeroplane, and as a practical traveller the Prince has chosen it. In a continent of vast distances, huge forests, great rivers, and mountains, scanty railways and sketchy roads the aeroplane brings salva;ion Only the other day a pilot flew 3000 miles from Johannesburg to an Isolated place in South-West Africa, bearing with him serum that saved a womans life. The roads of Central Africa are bad, and frequentlv atrocious. The many pot-holes are cavernous. Cars must usually progress slowly and cautiously. More than that Spells Suicide for Springs and a terrific jolting for passengers. The rains complete the impasse. When, last March, I passed through that country by ’plane, an official of the Broken Hill copper mine was “bushed for a week when trying to reach Bwana M Kubwa to the north, bv car. The car was stuck hard and fast—a not uncommon occurrence. In face, then, of these conditions, the Prince s decision to take to the air when he has reached his hunting grounds is understandable. Rough, small landing-fields are the rule. There were last year no hangars or other aerodrome buildings between Bulawayo and Khartoum on the Cape to Cairo route. Bumpy grounds, tall, rank grass and frequently high trees marching closely against the edges of the “aerodrome, combined to call forth all of a pilot’s skill, both in landing and taking-off. Moreover, the great altitude at which most of the Central and East, African landL grounds, including Tabora, in Tangan- ' Territory, are situated is an added difficultv. The increased height makes for a dragging take-off. The Prince’s various take-offs, however, should Present Small Danger, because he will presumably be using a light ’plane, and it should not be ne cessary to cut down trees at the cd-e of the grounds, as has been done before for large machines nccciing 9. lon© \s everyone knows who lias made even n short flight, the novelty soon wears off. After this, unless one is flying low, to look at the ground is extremely monotonous. However much of the character of the country actually varies, it all looks, at ~000

Sights When Flying Low.

feet or so “much of a muchness." This generalisation holds for Africa. At times the Dark Continent comes abruptly 'to assert itself with such dramatic sights as the Victoria Falls, but in general at a fair height there Is little to .excite the observer. From above the dense jungle or miasmal swamps that might be expected are not in striking evidence. Instead, in Tanganyika and Northern Rhodesia, one flies for the most part over richly wooded country or great plains spotted with flimsy-looking timber. Now and then red-brown mountains thrust upwards. It is an Attractive Enough Region seen from the air, resembling at times parts of Western 'Europe in summer. One day’s flight to the north from Tabora would bring the Prince into a paradise of game. To fly low over the Southern Sudan as to skim a 200 let loose. Elephants, giraffes, gazelles, antelopes, enormous herds of water-buck, wheeling and galloping like brigades, of cavalry, lonely lions, belying their reputation by evident panic at the clamour of the propellers, and comically startled ostriches follow one another thick and fast. Vast flights of strange birds flap lazily along beside the ’plane or cluster in white masses round the water-holes, and in the headwaters of the Nile nearby great crocodiles scutter from their sun-parlours on the mud to join the hippopotami in sinking hastily out of sight. Tempting though all this would be, it is unlikely that the Prince would be allowed to venture into the Sudan, still a disturbed region. Last year, flyers had to follow a “corridor" marked out for them by the Royal Air Force authorities. A forced landing might be dangerous. The natives are as shy as the animals, and can be seen bounding away from their villages into the trees at the approach of the aeroplane, the Women Clasping Their Babies. In Tanganyika, only a few hundred miles 1.0 the south, 'their altitude is one of intense interest, with no trace of fear. They run from their huts to stare up and wave to the aerial passer-by. The territories to the south of the Sudan seem from the air less richly endowed with game. Only an occasional herd of antelope leaping with'startled grace among the trees is 'to be seen from above. In his travels about the world the Prince has not left much untried. Flying over Central Africa will still further reduce the list.