SOUTHERN CROSS

Hokitika Guardian, 29 June 1929, Page 5

SOUTHERN CROSS

ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE, i. RADIO STORY OF FLIGHT. A FINE PERFORMANCE. (Australian Press Association) SINGAPORE, Juno 28. ! Ie Southern Cross landed safely at Singapore at a quarter to one, after a non-stop flight from Derby.' All the crew were well. Wireless messages were received here from the plane throughout the night. “A great night up here. The following wind looks as though our luck has changed.” This was on e of tho\ first wireless messages picked up at Singapore from the Southern Cross when it was in the centre of the Indian Ocean between Derby and Java, at one o’clock this morning. - The story of the flight was,, told in brief wireless messages 'received at Singapore from 9.30 on the 27th onward. These show the airmen were flying at an altitude of from four to five thousand feet, in cold, pleasant moonlight. Tjiey were following the regular steamship route, until striking the west coast of Java. When passing through the Sunda Strait they were compelled to descend to 1600 feet, as the Strait was difficult to locate through thick clouds, ’the ground being totally obscured. •.. . , They struck Java near Cape Genteng, in the early morning. They then ■’ encountered a thick mist and rain, experiencing two bad hours of heavy clouds and rain before the dawn. They emerged from the bad conditions over Sumatra, where they wire-, lessed that the weather was delightful ' and that the motors were running perfectly, and also that they had plenty of fuel. The last two hours were flown in consistent rain and the visibility was ' not good. They arrived over Singapore at 12.15 p.m., and they landed, after a search for the landing ground, at 12.45 p.m.

QUITE FRESH AFTER JOURNEY. A DEFECT TO MAGNETO. (Received this day at 8 a.m.) SINGAPORE, June 28. Looking the freshest and not tired, despite their twenty hours in the air, Smith, Ulm and Lichfield from the Southern Cross at the nfival base greeted Squadron-Leader Livock and officers of the Air Force, and proceeded immediately to refuel and an inspection of the engine. The 'only trouble was a defect to the magneto that developed, just after leaving Derby, which they • were unable to remedy at Singapore, but hope to obtain at .Rangpdtf they arrive there .on Sunday. The last six hours was the worst rain yet exexperienced. '-f [The distance from Derby to Singapore on the route that was followed by Kingsford Smith is about 2020 miles.]