AVIATION.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16728, 10 January 1920, Page 9

AVIATION.

ANTARCTIC PLANS CRITICISED.

(By Aowciavlos— Copyri<fct.) (TTnitixJ Sc rr i.*. (Received January Pth. •"••■ , p-mA I .ON DON. January .. Tho "Manchester Guardian" states that Dr. Cope's i'lo* "^ n '- nn noro " piano to reach iho S-itith Pole soems to l»o onlv a picturesque and (larrgeroui side-show. of which the probable results will not be worth tho risk.--. t will be a tremendous frckal to fly over the Antarctic ranjros. The deadly danppj of a f-rccd landing will he always present. Will aeronauts say it is possible :o land on hard ice or uncertain snow on skis? fftr I 'Copt; h; l * verv ambition? olans in connexion villi hi-' Antarctic K*j>edilion. ITf expats t<> Start lor Wellington in the' Ter r n Nova in Juno. The sum of il-Vt.POO is required to finance tho expedition. but so fnr only has been promised. Tn the Ant/nvti.' tho explorers will rely especially on a big four-seater aeroplane designed to carry a sledge and largo slipplies of fuel, photographic materials, and food. The Air' Ministry will provide tlu* orew. for place? in whHi thoro is keen competition. The aviators will '■arty out all the inland surviving, supplemented by numerous still _ photographs and sweeping kinoma .pictures. The aeroplane is prov.de.! with ice skids. Thirty flops will sledge 1 lie shorter surveys. There will l>o a staff of fifty, of whom tho shore party will number seventeen, the majority of them being scientists and Australians.]

FLIGHT TO AUSTRALIA. LIEUTENANT PARER STARTS. (Australian and N.Z. Cablj Association.) LONDON. January 8. Lieutenant Parer left Ileunslow aerodrome at 10.21 o'clock this morning. Tho weather was fine, and tjie wind strong.

("Lieutenant Parer, who is a native of Melbourne, is accompanied by Lieutenant J. C. Mcintosh, of West Australia. A message published last "Wednesday said: B Jess (commanding tho A.I.E. in tho United Kingdom) has telegraphed tn Lieutenant Parer (who was about to start for Australia in a de Haviland machine) forbidding liis departure. General Jess states that he is not satisfied that Lieutenant Parer has a chance of success. Ho thinks that the expedition is foolhardy, and docs not wipli to take tho responsibility of permitting tho officers to depart. Lieutenant Paror is flying in a De Haviland machine fitted with a G3O horse-power, six-cylinder Siddeloy-Puma engine, with a cruising speed of 00 miles per hour, and a range of 1000 miles. The machine is similar to tho6o used in tho Tjondon-to-Paris mail service. Lieutenant J. M. Mcintosh soon rod a commission in tho Royal Air Force at his own request, in lieu of payment for inventing aerial ground shrapnel bombs, which the War Office accented in October, 1018, when it_ was too lat-n for_their uso in tho war. Lieutenant Parer intends to follow the same route as that taken bv Sir Ross .Smith, but hopes to make fewer landings.] LONDOX, Decnmber 24. Tho order from Hrigadier-Gcneral Jess, commanding the A.I.F. in tlm I'm ted Kingdom, forbidding men to start in tho attempt to fly to Australia, n °t reached Lieutenants Pnror and Mcintosh to-dny, and tho airmen attempted to leave this morning under extraordinary conditions. The aviators entered tho machine, and rose three times from tho Waddon aerodrome, but each tirno failed to locate liounslow. They returned and found the ongmo required an overhaul. The workshops were closed, nnd the overhaul was impossibln until Saturdnv. The two airmen say that they intend to start on Monday. Romance has already marked the expedition. Lieutenant Mcintosh, who was lontring to fly home, accidentally mot a Glasgow merchant prince, who, without beincr asked, handed over a cheque for £1000 without anv conditions. Lieutenants Mcintosh and Parer thereupon joined their forces and bought an old type Do Haviland machine, receiving £100 as a donation towards tho cost of their petrol. Many friends gathered at nonnslow, expecting to witness their departure.