THE AIR RACE TO AUSTRALIA

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 22, 21 October 1919, Page 7

THE AIR RACE TO AUSTRALIA

POULET FORCED TO DESCEND AT NAPLES NOTES ON THE CONTEST By Telegraph-Press Afsociation—Copyright (Rec. October 20, 5.5 p.m.) London, October 10. Poulet was forced to descend at Naples in a violent snowstorm, which frustrated two subsequent attempts to continue the flight.—Aus-N.Z. Cable Assn. POULET THE AIRMAN. Andrew Lang, of the Royal Flying Corps, who won the world's' record for altitude, and is now in Melbourne, gives some interesting facts regarding Poulel, the Frenchman, to the Sydney "Sun." "Early in 19M," he savs, "when Poulct was chief test pilot to {ha Caudron csliods, lie was ecnt to Vienna to take part: in a great aeroplane competition. He was llying a 45 h.p. An-zan:-engincd (,'audron biplane, ami greatly to the chagrin of t Jic German and I Austrian authorities lie carried every, thing before him, beating the very best of their more powerful types. As the whole of the French Flying Corps received its tuition oil tho Caudron biplane, and as Uiis lypo of machine waa being built by other firms under contract with the Caudron company, you call easily grasp what an enormous amount of flying Poulet must liavo dona in testing every machine. It was the brilliant Julps Vertrincs, chief experimental test pilot, to the French Flying Corps, who introduced me to his greatest friend, Poulet, at the Caudron sheds. Verdincs mentioned, to me then that at the termination of the war lie was going to fly round Ihs world, via Australia, on a Caudron biplane. Unhappily, last May, this greatest of cross-country pilots, Vedrines, was killed, while tlying from Paris to liome, and it has consequently been left to Poulet to make tho attempt to ca'Ty out Verdrines's great ambition." Do you think he will succeed? "If any man can do it, Poiilet should. One advantage is that ho is using the make of machine which he lias handled ever since he began flying at about 18 years of age. He is now 27." The Other Contestants. Writing of the entrants for the big air rnco to Australia, the London correspondent of Die Sydney "Sun" says:— iCaptain Mathows and Sergeant Kay will be the first away. They uro only awaiting Hie delivery of spare part?. "Given a very big element of luck, saja Mathews, "the flight is possible in 30 days, but the Commonwealth has surrounded tho competitors with ridiculous conditions. There should have bcen t a relay mail-canying demonstration. Tfiea tho flight would have been possible, in seven or eight days. However, 1., am' confident that. I will get there some day, preparing the way for quicker flights in the future." Mathews regards tho variety of the climatic conditions as.tha chief hindrance to success. 'V..: Captain Wilkins's crew—ho is Ilia navigator, with Lieutenants Val Rendla and Williams as pilots and Lieutenant Potts as engineer—is expected to leave next in the Blackburn-Kangaroo 'plan'ej A syndicate composing tho crew boug!|fc the iwtchiiio and engine, and they liaya provided tho spare parts and supplies along the route. _ . Colonel Douglas and Lieutenant Ross, who will uso an Alliance machine,are fully backed by that company. They ex; pect to leave at the end ot the month^ Captain C. B. Howell, in a Martinsydo, will leave with his mechanic immediately floats arrive at Calcutta, where lie will convert his machine iiito a seaplane. • Captain Ross Smith is negotiating with' the Yickers-Yim.v Co. (one of who c » 'planes crossed the Atlantic) with tho idea of one of their machines getting away early in November. ■ . A sccond Alliance machine may be entered, and the airman in charge js likely to bo Lieutenant Cotton, R.N.A.S. 01 her competitors may be regarded as having dropped out. Captain Kiigsford Smith, who was originally one of the Blackburn-Kan-garoo crew, has been unable to secure u syndicate. Lieutenant Simonson and Chaplain. Dexter wero unable to get financial backing. Plenty of men were willing and anxious to start, but they found the financial difficulties more than they could manage. • The insurance companies think that the death of the competitors jn tjia flight from Britain to Australia, is more likely than broken _ bones, but are not giving long odds cither to Wilkins or his crew (Blackburn-Kangaroo), who aro paying premiums of 10 per cent, in caso of death, 3 per cent, for total .disability, and 20 per cent, for damage to or loss of their machine or engines. Other crews could not secure themselves.- under '15 per cent, against the loss of their aeroplane.

TIIO Competing Machines. The lion, secretary of the Australian Aero Club litis received a fable messago concerning t:ho flight, which is about to lx> made from Kng'cind to Australia. There are nine entrants for tlia flight, and the machines will l>c: —

Avro, twin engine type, Napier-Lion,, 47! i li.p. Airco, twin-engine Napier-Lion Liritish Nieuport, twin-engine. Eoulfcon and l'anl, -l-radial engine. Blackburn-Kangaroo, twin-engine SiddeJ ley-Deasey I'uina. Bristol, twin-engine Napier-Lion. Martyns'de, two machines, each or single engine Eagle "R" lioyee. ; Sopwith "Transport." fitted with 375 h.p. Eacle l?ol r .s. piloted by .Captain G. 0. Matthews, A.F.C., who expects to leave for Australia on Wednesday, October It.

Federal Government's Conditions. Referring to the -C10,fl(H) prize flight between England ond Australia, the Prime Minister, in Mo Jlouso of Jiopresontatives last week, said that no information was available as to the, number of entries that had been received and accepted, but it was understood that four competitors intended to skrt between the middle and end of tho present mi'iilli. To win the prize the flight- must be completed in 72(1 consecutive hours, Midips not biter than midnight on Bcc<'in>r 31. ISCfI. No final landing placo in Australia had been selected, but a landing on anv part of Australia would meet the eondilionr of the competition. Darwin had been "elected as a suitable point of entry. Pilot's and crows must Iki of Australia), nationality as defined bv the laws of l.lie Conmionwonlth, and the complete aeroplane and its component parts must have been constructed within the confines of tho British Empire,. though there are no restrictions as to tho sources whence tho raw material is obtained. To meet the cases of competitors who might bo prejudiced by the postponement of the flight from tho ilate originally proposed it was determined 1 hat these who were ex-mem-bers of the Australian or lioyal Flying Corps should bo paid equivalent rates to i-liojo provided l'or members of lite A.I.F. flying Corps from the date Wf notification of entry to tho date tlxwl for permission to commence the fligM, and that civilian competitors, ujion nionstrat.ioii fluit they had been )inn.n<Alvftlly prejudiced, should bo ti>ntrd. /;