MISS JOHNSON’S TRIP.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18026, 22 May 1930, Page 2

MISS JOHNSON’S TRIP.

TRIBUTE BY AIRMAN. I . ’ . CONSIDERS FLIGHT WONDERFUL. GREAT DANGERS ENCOUNTERED. Few aviators are more competent to speak of the difficulties and trials of the long flight from England to Australia than Flight-Lieutenant S. J. Moir, ■who pays a high tribute to the achievement of Miss Amy Johnson. In his two flights to and from Australia Mr Moir met with, many obstacles and difficulties, and when he ultimately reached London after the crash of his machine in .Greece he refused to take the advice of friends and return home by steamer. Instead he insisted on making the return journey in a Vickers-Vellofe machine,- and after passing through many perils he almost met disaster when, within’ an hour’s journey of Darwin, his engine began to give out. Darkness overtook him, and he sent up flares, which were seen by a lonely watcher at Cape Don lighthouse, where he landed, and was isolated for many days while Captain Brain searched for him and his companion, Flying Officer Owen. They were eventually brought to Sydney. “I regard Miss Johnson’s flight as wonderful,” he says- “Memories come to me of the journey over strange lands and seas, when I flew to England and. back. I had company, but Miss Johnson, alone, and without the experience of others who have covered their names with glory, has passed through many perils. Only those who have experienced the thrills and trials of the long journey can see in true perspective the greatness of her flight. “Daily I have followed her flight, and when I read- that she had reached Bagdad my mind went back to the time when Flying Officer Owen and I lander there. My companion was stricken down by the terrific heat. Dangers in Persia. “From Bagdad to Karachi we ran into some of the hottest and heaviest of weather. We flew over the Persian Gulf —a hazardous route, as was experienced by the fliers Piper and Kay. The very fact that they had so much trouble is a tribute to the success and capacity of Miss Johnson in her passage over that region without mishap. “Because I have some little knowledge of the country crossed by her I can appreciate the greatness of her exploit. Alone hour after hour and day after day in her ,flight she has to guard against the- danger of being lulled to sleep by the drone of the engine. ' “She has no companion to keep her company—no help if anything happens, and no one to assist her if she crashes in lonely or hostile country. She has no mechanic to help her with the engine, and no one to lend a hand if the engine breaks down. “She must solve all her own problems, must personally attend to the machine, abd when she lands in some desolate place at the end of the day must overhaul, the machine, tired .though she may be, and prepare for the continuation: of her epic flight: 'Only a -woman of great pluck and character could essay such a task,, and her achievement thus far stamps her as an exceptional woman. “Robber Bends. “Miss Johnson faces danger too whole way through- '.Her journey has taken her over places where unfriendly tribes might menace her, and in her flight over the Persian Gulf, if she had been forced by had weather into the interior and brought down, She would have had to facO'danger .from robber bands which infest the conutry. “I cannot speak too highly of her memorable, and epoch-making flight, and the whole • aviation world must thrill ■ at the record of her wonderful journey.” •;