CHICHESTER'S FLIGHT.

Hutt News, Volume 2, Issue 34, 30 January 1930, Page 9

CHICHESTER'S FLIGHT.

SCHOOLING AS PILOT.

BRIEF FLYING EXPEEIBNGE,

An. interesting letter, describing Ida schooling as a pilot and the preparaj tions for his trip from England to Australia, attempting to beat Hinkier's re?, cor &j has been received by Mt; Goodf Miin', of Goodwin and Chichester, Ltd;, from Mr T, C. Chichester, wto is now. in Australia. He -has left Welteyreden for the island of Lombok, and after leaving Timor, will nave. 525 miles of.•' open sea to cross to reach. Australia. <!: '" >; '' '' Ghiehester is not flying from Austr«rlia to New Zealand,, as has been stated,' '■ said Mr Goodwin to a /Post' reporter. "I do not think he would be foolish enough to attempt that. ■Of course" 4te only learnt to. fly since hp went to England, and when he "wrpte this letter -in London an 12th. December last,-he had only done four months' flying,, though he liad done 160 Jiours of actual flying in that short tirife. He states that flying around the "aerodromes is easy woTk, but flying across country, without reports or proper landing grounds, especially at night, as 3ie is doing on his trip to Aus-

trad;, gives one the 'woolly-woilies' at times; particularly if one gets lost in a mist. He writes me that he was flying one day in a gale which was so severe that the King's train was held up; and it took him an hour and ten minutes to do 20 miles. He was flying from Brooklandes to Stag Lane, and iiad taken no map, as he thought he knew t*he country well enough. But he wished he had had a map, "because he was astonished to see a motor-car .coming towards him down a canal that he did not know was in exisVj.ace. It turned out to be a road under water. One gust, when he was turning down wind, turned his machine upside down end stalled it. ' Of course, it was a inaohine with automatic wing-siots, and would stall very easily in an inverted posi-

tion.

'•He says lie had been flying every day .at 2.30 a.m, practising night flying for his trip; and had prepared for the "trip maps -measuring ,7-lffc some inches in length, showing the Tptxte^frona! England to Sydney. T>hey were on a one-millionth scale; but some were on the scale of a quarter of a'millionth, which is rather too small. He, had in all 1300 gallons of petrol put down for him along his line of route by the Shei Company; end it will cost Mm 2s 6d * gallon, unless he breaks the record. Ho has already done very well, I notice, having crossed India in two days as against Captain Cobham's five Says. He seems to have got on' quite all:right, except for .that' smash taking off from -Tripoli at night time." ' r