'PLANE RETURNS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19163, 21 November 1927, Page 9

'PLANE RETURNS.

GILES ENCOUNTERS FOG. FUEL JETTISONED. (BT CABLB—PRIS9 ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) SAN FRANCISCO, November 19. , Against the advice of the Weather Bureau officials Captain Giles hopped off at 8.7 this morning for Honolulu. Twenty miles out he encountered a heavy fog, was forced to jettison part of his gasoline, and returned at three minutes past nine to the Mills Field) Airport, having been in the air barelv an hour. As he climbed out of the cockpit he stated that after passing the San Francisco lighthouse he ran into the fog about eighteen miles out, and it became so thick that it was impossible to continue; therefore, he dumped most of his 390 gallons supply of gasoline and headed back. Captain Giles slept at the Field last night. He checked and rechecked his charts in the early morning, while mechanics again inspected his 'plane. The light fog had drifted over the Flying Field during the night, but appeared to lift after dawn. The weather reports from the United States Weather Bureau indicated that unfavourable conditions might be encountered between San Francisco and Honolulu, but Captain Giles decided to leave anyway. Captain Peterson, Captain Giles's manager, had urged him not to go and issued a statement that the departure was against his advice. The 'plane is capable of a maximum speed of 128 miles per hour, and its ci'uising speed is 105 miles per hour. The 'plane has a blue fuselage, nose landing gear, yellow wings, the numbers NX1445 on the tail rudder, two main petrol tanks in the fuselage between the pilot's seat and the engine, and four emergency tanks in the wings. It will hold a total of 390 gallons. The motor is a Wright Whirlwind of 220 horse-power. Captain Giles has abandoned the proposal to take a rubber lifeboat in order to avoid extra weight. He declared that he is confident the Wanda would remain a,float almost indefinitely if forced down on to the water. The airman carried a small life jacket and a handsaw to cut the supports and drop the motor into the ocean if necessary, saying "I have got a good 'plane, t-nd it'is in perfect condition." He carried magnetic and earth inductor compasses, one and a half gallons of drinking water, and a few sandwiches, also some condensed emergency rations sufficient to sustain him for thirty days. The Wanda is named after the sister of Aubrey Mess, the designer of the 'plane. Captain Giles's plan was to rise fairly high after the take-off to enable him to right the machine if it should fall into a tail spin. He announces that he will not .attempt to hop off again to-day, but will probably do so to-morrow. . [Captain Giles plans to fly to 'New Zealand, via Honolulu, Niti Levu (Fiji), and Brisbane.] FLIGHT TO CAPE TOWN. (AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. AND SUN CABLE.) (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 19John Carberry, by which name Lord Carberry chooses to be known since he became a naturalised American, departed from Croydon, accompanied by a mechanic, on an attempt to fly to Cape Town in record time, via Cairo and Central Africa, thence to Kenya, where he is a large landowner. A later message states that Carberry was forced down near Lyons. AT MARSEILLES. (AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLB ASSOCIATION.) (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 19. Carberry has arrived at Marseilles. SIR ALAN COBHAM. (AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (Received November 20th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, November 19. Sir Alan Cobham left Southampton, but a heavy mist forced his return ten minutes later. [Sir Alan Cobham, in the largest all-metal flving boat in the world, intends to make a 20,000 miles' circuit of Africa.]