THE TASMAN FLIERS

Hokitika Guardian, 15 October 1928, Page 6

THE TASMAN FLIERS

FAREWELL MESSAGES. BLENHEIM, October 13. Prior to-' entering the. Southern 4 Cross, Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith handed to the Press the following message to .the people of New Zealand, on behalf of the 'crew andhiiit'self;!—“On the ’eve- of- the departure of the :Souther,n Cross on the return trip ! t5 ISydiMy/ we feel 'that we cannot undertake this trip' without a final

farewell; message of goodwill to the ' people of the Dominion. Our short stay here has confirmed the already high opinion which we had of the people..9f. addition meaiii ,'bfi fortning many new anti treausured freindships. We can-honestly say, that nowhere in the "floUrse’ of offif flying have we been so enthusiastically and hosoitaibly received as by the New Zealand peri pier ■ afulmiwaA smal l‘' way" we ha Ve been the means of further cementing the cordial relations between our two countriesf:TWd f&L indeed; that d.uf. , risit has done some good. Again, with ; very expression of goodwill from the crew of tliS :? Southern Cross to the people of New Zealand, we say ‘Cheerio,’ till we meet again. At 3.30 a.m., Squadron-Leader, Kingsford Smith received the following brief telegram from His Excellency the Governor-General: “Good luck. GoverThe following reply was immediately despatched: “His Excellency the Govern‘or-G ehera fl Wellington. My companions and I wish to thank 'tyoit driy %ei* Excellency' for yoiir kindly interest in us, and for your re 2ssage of encouragement. C. E. 1 rigsford Smith,’.’ 1 - ; ... , aTm.; the following telegram ■was received from, the, Prime Minister,:, “On beliuif of New 'Zealand. I desire extend to yourself, Flight-Lieut. tJlm, and Messrs Litchfield and AlcWilliapis,. hearty good.wishes for a safe iournfey Lkck liaye been deiigfd2e<T * you with us, and trust that you will have pleasant recollection of your stay in the Dominion. ~ KU\ . or.iwT_,..G, Coates.’/, The: reply wis as follows:—“Rt. Hon. .J. G. Coates, Prime Minister, Wellington Before taking off from Blenheim for Sydney, my companions and I wish to express onc'a of the sple^o^o|3 l extended to us. in all portions* of New Zealand which we were privileged to visit. We carry with us most pleasant memories of - yvo,nder|y.f,cpj.mti;v and a warm' hearted,’ virile people. -We would like to "take- this 'opportunity', just before olarr&eriflg 'aboard the Southern Cross to iqxpr§|s.,,.tq, you,, and your 'Glovernment; ''and' to •'yqur-'-depaidmental officers, our. heartfelt thanks for many kindnesses. Farewell to New Zealand C. E. Kingsford Smith ’V

THE ARRIVAL. WELCOME. SYDNEY, Oct. 4. “How do you do everybody! Here ■vve. aye i .AV®,are; glad to have a word Avß^^ou r l‘AYe have only three gallons of petrol left, but here we .are!” In these words “Smithy,” the people’s idol of the moment greeted waiting thdusahcistPir tlietwifeless in Australia and New Zealand soon after stepping down from the Southern Cross at the end of an epic flight from the Domin-

The plane made the Australian ooast at midnight at Newcastle. Thick heavy weather made the task of groping the way to Richmond a difficult one. Reports came in rapid succession from various points that the plane had been observed, but in the haze there was!; niiich'uncertainty as 'to its location, thousands of. people who were gathered at the Richmond , Ae’fb,diibthe, : " other thousands who were- : waiting -in 4lr©sies listening to the’ wireless 'accounts,; oik. the Southern Cross spent an • ahxious until at 2.10ya.m., Sydney time.; Jit that hour Captain Smith brought c||3#e plane down, and made a perfeot^fanding on the,/;, brilliantly , floodligflted drome, amidst the plaudits of a) Surge crowd who hail maintained a n.ighilqng vigil. Those two hours between the; plane’s sighting! lit! Newcastle andjthe'landing had been'filled with alternating hopes, exultations/ a,rid fears, asyne-ws filtered through the ai r tli at. the '.plane had ilieen seen or heard here,, there and and had then ■ been lost in silefice for awhile wlien’/eyidently she was trying to pick up her bearings. The, actual -flying time was twenty-, two hours and fifty-onfe minutes, no less than fwo Hours being occupied' oh the stajge from Newcastle to Richi mondk, '.coming down the coast, and then..going, across North Sydney westward to the drome. Captain Smith told crowd that . they had had a forty riiilb wind all '-the wav on the journey from . Newcastle, (blit they had to turn back to

*if .'•» % , ■ :X ,j VC r i|" , '' 1 »v ’ ‘ ... LINpV SAFELY AT RICHMOND after very trying journey -G,,.-’..’ -..V —^ ONLY 3 GALLONS OF PETROL LEFT PARTICULARS OF JOURNEY V- ' —O' Ark • - •; • .. ,v / » (United Press Association—By Electric p Telegraph—-Copyright).

pick up their hearings, while fog also gave her -trouble. “Never at any time did I Jeel that we would fail,’.’ said Smith, “although I knew we were cutting things pretty fine.” The first to greet .the airmen was “Doc.” Maidmqnt,« the '' man who superintended the plane’s engines, and whom Captain Smith, assured that the engines had run . splendidly: Next came 'Mrs. Smith, the airman’s mother. Their affectionate -meeting was soon ended by the hero-hunting crowd, however, and the personal touch was gone in a twinkling. Next Ulm, , Litchfield, and Mc-Wil-liahts were seized by. a cheering surging crowd, and carried shoulder high across the field, till they were rescued from their too boisterous admirers by a party of police and Air Force men, and thev were then taken to the shelter of the hangar.

It was an . amazing welcome. The crowd plunged through the barriers. The cheers and the motor horns made a wild babel of sound, which almost drowned the roar of the giant Fokker’s engines, before they stopped. The -airmen, at last, got free and left for their homes. Airs tTlm carried her, husband off in triumph. Smith accompanied his family, and the other two. men found much-needed rest with friends, hut the crowd remained long discussing the epic event, and the incidents of the night.

THE AIRMEN’S REPORT. GIVEN BY ULM, A ROUGH EXPERIENCE. (Special to Press Association.) ... , .... (Received this day at 8 a.m.) SYDNEY, October 1.5.

.The weather report- forwarded u- by Dr Kids.oy at 3 p.m. on Friday indicated that' we would have a chance of leaving on Saturday morning, and the ‘5.30 p.m. report confirmed this, giving us high barometer readings, practically the whole length of the Australian coast. The Southern Cross had been filled up the day before- so. we were, all ready to take off at a-moment's, notice and Dr Kidsoif kindly arranged to give US another report at 11 p.m. and a final one at-. 3 a.m. Kingsford Smith, Him, Litchfield and McWilliams went to bed early and when I received the 11 o’clock report it was sufficiently good to warrant our making a start, although it was indicated that we would meet with head winds over the whole off the course, -averaging between 20 and 25 miles per hour.

1 At 3 a.m. Dr Tvidson ’phoned us from Wellington, giving us the latest local weather report and the position of all •ships, over the route. After an early breakfast we went to the ’drome and warming up the motors at 4.25 a.m., were, leading to take off at 4.45 a.m. but the crowds encroached on - efich side' of the runway and we were delayed ten minutes until they were moved .back. We took off at 4.55 ■‘New Zealand '-'time, using about half a riiile of ; funy ; ay. and at 5 o’clock were passing over the town of Blenheim.

At 'five past five we were passing over Cook Straits in a stiff north-west-erly wind. We were escorted for the first twenty minutes ‘bv two New Zealand Air Force Bristol Fighters piloted by our friends Captain Findlay and J Captain Buckley. The escort leJft us at 5.15 at an altitude of 1400 feet.

It was particularly bumpy in Cook Straits and before leaving the straits we encountered our first rain storm and very strong head winds, probably over forty miles per hour. In view of the generally adverse weather conditions we had decided after consulting with Dr Ividson to set a north-westerly course for the first 500 or 000 miles and at half-past five were on the first leg of this course, 309 degrees true. Our altitude was COO feet, with thickclouds above, light rain and poor visibility. At 6.35 we passed two ships on port beam, visibility still poor with strong Pn.N.W. winds. At 6.40 I relieved Smithy at the controls for an hour, flying through several scattered rain storms at about 500 feet.

At about 7.30 we encountered a very heavy rain storm and many heavy humps. Smith took over the controls as we entered our first patch of blind flying, which was rather trying at sudi low altitudes, but we decided to re-

main low down unless the weather became particularly violent and wo knew we would meet even stronger head winds in the higher levels. At 8.35 we came out of the storm which continued away to the north and here was the first sign of an abatement in the head winds. 'Up till 8.40 when 1 again relieved Smithy at the controls, our ground speed had not averaged more than 55 knots.

At- 10.55 a.m. we received Irom Dr Kidson indicating probable southwesterly winds, therefore instructed Leitcliiield to set a direct course for Sydney. At 12.15 p.m., New Zealand time, our position was: Latitude 38.138; and longtitnde 169.35 east. \Ve then realised .that we would take probably 23 hours on tlur trip. From then to 2.30 the wind appeared to increase and we passed through several small patches of light rain. At 2.30 Litchfield gave our position as 720 nautical miles from Sydney. At 3.15 the altitude was 450 feet, against strong head winds, but visibility quite •fail-. The sun win-, out but gusty winds made the trip quite bumpy.

At 4 p.in. our ground speed was improving find we were then approximately 530 nautical miles from Sydney. We had previously moved our course to the northward but at 5 o’clock again changed hack to a direct course for Sydney and an'air speed of 78 knots, with ground speed of about 02 knots. Throughout the whole of the daytime Smithy and I about halved the flying, but as night time set in 3 was troubled with a bad cold in the back and thereafter was only able to relieve Smith occasionally for short half-hourly spells. At 7.20 p.m. we were about 400 nautical miles from the Australian coast, visibility good and. altitude 2200 feet, revolutions 1650. climbing and ait speed 74 knots. It was getting much colder but the wind was decreasing as in the, forecast by both Dr Kidson and Air Hunt (Commonwealth Meteorologist).

At 9 p.m. Litchfield reported that !v could not then get a fixed position for us, but our dead reckoning position was 34 degrees 18 south and our longtitnde by observation 156- degrees 52 epst, and distance from Sydney approximately 309 nautical miles.

From 9 o’clock until mid-night we climbed fairly steadily, occasionally going through light rain squalls and sometimes heavy 7 bumps, but although cold there was no sign of ice forming anywhere on the machine. Throughout the trip, McWilliams kept our radio gear lunctioning perfectly and secured many weather reports from New Zealand and Australia for us.

At about half-past, seven in the evening, we received a Sydney wcathei report advising us to expect. southerly winds, changing to moderate easterlies approaching Sydney and the forecast for landing time was cloudy with fairly thick clouds about 1500 up.

At 12.45 a.m. (Sunday) we first sighted some coastal lights, but it was not until 1.15 that' we picked up the city lights to the southward and were then undecided as.to whether this was Sydney 7 or Newcastle, hut we came down low and I recognised Sockton beach, where I had once been in a forced landing some years 1 eiore. AVe Hew fairly low over Newcastle and tlien. headed for Sydney.

Gradually climbing through very thick clouds and reaching about 8,000 feet we must have come, more than hall, wiiy to Sydney when we realised that there would be little chance oi oui picking up Sydney through the'dense c-lpmrt and we did not care to risk coining down through the clouds •without knowing what was underneath us, so we turned back again to Newcastle and when we estimated we were over Newcastle we climbed down .through the clouds and were out of them at 700 feet, when we picked up the Newcastle lights.

Ti,A trip up amt down the coast was rather worrying, lor our supply of petrol was getting low and although ve had enough to take us to Sydney and then on to Richmond, we were faced with the probability of a forced land ing at night without lights, for there was thick fog over Sydney and Richmond and we were unable to got under it. On the second trip clown from Newcastle we kept below 1009 loot all the way and even then wore sometimes in the lowest-part of the clouds. • We soon sighted Sydney and easily found our way to Richmond at an altitude of not more than 600 feet. Ihe Parramatta road was thick with the headlights of motor car returning from the aerodrome.

We had previously received wireless reports droin Richmond stating that the flood lighting system had broken down but that ground flares would be put out for us.

When approaching the aerodrome itself we were surprised to see the number of ears and the thousands ot people out at that early hour to meet us and at 3.55' a.m. Smithy made a really perfect landing in conditions not.entirely suitable.

After the machine ran on the ground we taxied round and intended to take her to the hangar, but were worried at the way the crowd seemed to he rushing the rhachine, so switched off ail motors to prevent the possibility o’ anyone being struck by the propellers. We were met at the officers mess by Commanding Officer Squadron header Lukis, Col. H. S. Briusmead (Controller of Civil Aviation), Captain Geoff rev Hughes (President of the Aero Club') and numbers of other officials and friends.

Litchfield and McWilliams were apx parcntly whisked away by their friends or by the admiring crowd, for 1 have not seen them since we landed, butSmithy and I returned almost immediately to our homes and had a muchneeded sleep.

GLAD TRIP; t COMPLETED. i, Now Lhat both the outward and return flights are over, we are glad that we made it in tins, the worst time of the year, as quite apart from vciv valuable scientific information which we have gained on the flights, the .tact that these flights were made in such adverse weather will, we hope, he a further demonstration to the public of the safety and utility of organised flying.

HELP GIVEN APPRECIATED

ik’ifore closing this report on our return flight, I would particularly point out to everybody that flights such as the ones we have now successfully com pleted could not he efficiently undertaken without the valuable help we received from many sources; the individuals connected with which, being unfortunately in the background and seldom receive the credit and praise due them.

As an instance of this 1 would mention that for the past two weeks, Dr Kidson (Dominion Meteorologist at Wellington) has thrice daily prepared for us special weather reports and forecasts and the Commonwealth Meteorologist has sent us • special telecasts, without which our object of deciding when was the best time to start, would have been almost tan impossibility. We -will never be able to thank Dr Kidson enough for the personal interest he has taken in our work and the staunch way m which he lias helped us. For two. nights prior to our de parture he could have had very lift 1 ' sleep as he was building up special re ports and ’phoning' them to ns at If p.m. and 3 a.m. and the. weatl.ei bureau people in Australia were doin' likewise. . , The Committee and members olt the Marlborough Aero Club at Blenhe-mi particularly, idteiv secretary (Mr McDonald) and their pilot instructor (Captain Chandler), rendered us stalwart service in preparing a 600 feet runway at Fail-halls Held, four miles from Blenheim, and in building a special temporary hangar to house the Southern Cross. Some idea of the value of their work may be gleaned from the fact of our starting from Blenheim, insteio of Christchurch made our return trip some 200 miles shorter.

The New Zealand' permanent air force had their engineers available at all times for work on the Southern Cross, and throughout our stay we had two Air Force Bristol Fighters at oui disposal, which were utilised by us eon siderably. The Prime Aiinister (Hon. J. G Coates) and the Governor-General of New Zealand generously made us tliei guests of the Dominion during our stay, and every Government seiium was at our disposal at all hours.

Another body of people who are \eiy seldom thought of in flights such as ours arc the telegraphists and post office officials who worked special hoim to see that we got the latest weather and other information at the times most desired. <■

io all these individuals and organisations we would tender our thank' and congratulations for the efficient manner in which,they carried out the i big part in our flights, without, for one moment forgetting the personnel oi our own local Australian Air Force at Richmond, who,, in conjunction with Now Systems Telephone Company, so ably handled our'landing arrangements at Richmond. Lastly, but not leastly, we would mentioned those connected with the Atlantic Union Oil Coy. Limited, sup pliers of our fuel and oil, for the solid way in which they have acceded t our every requirement. Their job has often been a trying one as we have nc less than three or four times fuelled up the machine with fuel and oil hoj - ing to get away the next.morning and then received adverse reports in each case, when we would drain the fuel from the machine so that the undercarriage gear might he relieved of the weight for some days.

RESULT OF FLY. As far as New Zealand is concerned we are entirely satisfied that our flight has been o>l practical xalue, foi civil flying when we arrived was practically unknown, and so far as w< know there was only one civil aircralt m the Dominion in commission. As a direct result of pur visit some eight o ten aero clubs , have been formed ami they will, we are confident, under the supervision of .Major Wilkes (Diieetm of Air Services) carry on valuable wer! in the cause of aviation as has been and is being carried out by our owe aero clubs in Australia.

Regarding the possibility of a 'future trans-Tasman regular airplane service our flight has been of great technical value. At present we know of no type of aircraft in production which is ideally suited to such a service, but we arc thoroughly convinced that such a typ< can. and will in. the eomparatiiely ncai future he developed and that fiio information we have gained on our pm ueer flights will he of value to the operators of sueii a service, whotnoi ourselves or others. However, it is my opinion, that before such a service is put into operation at least a year, or probably two years oil work is ahead in research and preliminary organisation. Kingsford Smith and «mysell hope to have some hand in this in the in lure.

May I take this opportunity through your columns on behalf of Kingsford Smith and myself and also on beliali of Litchfield and McW’illiain, of publicly thanking all those who have so ably assisted m our flight ventures and also those who have so generously cabled, telegraphed and written their congratulations on our success. I'inaliy, oirbehalil of “Smithy and myself, we would pay the highest tribute to Messrs Litchfield and McW illiam for their part in our flights. In their different spheres they have dis-

played tlio highest skill in initiative, VOsoujae, and endurance, and their team work with us lias been the keynote of our suceess. C. T. P. ULM. AT THE LANDING GROUND. A NIGHT OF STRAIN .MUCH APPREHENSION FELT (Received this day at 9.25. a.m.) SYDNEY, Oct. 15.

U 1 in appear ed_Jdie least affected by the long hours of anxious work aboard the plane. Kingsford Smith acknowledged he was dead beat. He looked haggard and worn, which was no wonder after the strain of such a journey. Several thousand people remained hroughout the night awaiting the flyers passing the time in a variety of ways. C'f.rs were pressed into service as card rooms, while music of a hundred varieties resounded around the drome. The night was dark and thick at times with low hanging clouds. As a result the guiding lights were not easily picked up from aloft. When word came that the plane had passed , over Newcastle, sighs ot rel.ef ascended from many breasts, only to be succeeded by a period of tense anxiety, when it appeared from the plane s long silence that she bad missed the landmarks and was flying through the black night to find them. Then came th,e reports that the Southern Cross was over Way Way, Wyong and Gosford. The airmen asked if there was fog over ■Richmond, and were told no.

A in. 4 ther ailomo followed, lasting nearly an hour till a little before two o’clock a message came that the petrol was practically down to the last drop and tlie craft must land soon, .and hoped to* do so at 2.15 a.m. At 1.55 the plane passed over Roseville on the North Shore line, and just twenty' minutes later these argonauts ol the ah came out of the dark into enulgenoe of many powerful floodlights, positioned around Richmond Aerodrome. The planes huge wings silhourted against the faint background of the night sky that had now grown, grey as the clouds showed rifts here and there. The whirr of the propellers and acclamation of spectators made' up an accompaniment to the most unique act ever staged by human agencies in Australia. Then “Smithy,” for by this familiar title he will always be known to the people, brought the Southern Cross down gently as if doing an exercise in broad daylight.

It was a perfect landing and a fitting end to the wonderful adventure. Among incidents of the evening at Richmond, one of startling character was the failure of the flood lighting system From 10 to 11.50 o’clock mechanics worked feverishly .til V felie light was restored. The danger of their absence if the plane had arrived before they wore restored was fully realised, and motor cars were ranged around the field with head lights blazing, while nuge red flares burned high in the air to- mark the danger zone. Fortunately the lights were restored in ample time.

AYhen the plane appeared a further guide to her pilot wiis afforded by the ignition of a number of oil and petrol flares, which created smoke screens indicating the direction and strength of the wind. All these precautions proved most valuable and the airmen feel greatly indebted for the great work they did. One of the most cheerful people in Richmond yesterday was Airs Uhn who listened all day to the spasmodic reports of the Southern Cross’s progress. Never once did she have doubts regarding the issue of the flight, “Charlie will get here all right,” lie declared. He uid and her feminine faith and intuition was vindicated.

Among the spectators was Capt. Frank Hurl.v, who shortly starts a flight to England and back in the machine “Spirit of Australia,” which Mrs Ulm inspected during the day at Richmond, where it has just undergone the final tests satisfactorily.

AFTER. THE FLIGHT. THE OIL LEFT. (Received this dev at 8 a.m.) SYDNEY. October 15. The aviators slept soundly till noon io-day and then awoke refreshed in great spirits. Smith and Ulm motored to Richmond and .conversed with the ’drome officials. They received an ovation from thousands of enthusiastic spectators and motorists who hung around till nightfall. Smith had a hurried glance over the faithful old bus and saw everything was O.K,

They received congratulations from scores of admirers. His arm is stiff with handshaking. Him on behalf olf the crew gave a representative message for New Zealanders. He was delighted on the safe journey and heartily grateful to the New Zealand Government and l)r Kidson for their great help and hospitality. Ho was equally thankful to the Blenheim people and Marlborough aero clubs for their hospitality right up to the last minute. He concluded: — “ Cheerio, New Zealand.” Ulm didn’t know what became of lleWilluuns and Litchfield after they landed and added that not more than thirty gallons was' left in the Southern Cross when they landecj. He was reminded that Smithy had said three gallons. Ulm replied: “No; 1 think not more than thirty. Anyhow we have not measured it yet.”