CHICHESTER’S FEAT

Hokitika Guardian, 27 January 1930, Page 6

CHICHESTER’S FEAT

DARWIN REACHED. (Australian Press Association). DARWIN, January 26. E. C. Chichester, the New Zealand airman, arrived here at 3.15 o’clock on Saturday afternoon. He thus completed the flight thirty-six days after his unadvertised departure from Croydon, in England. His explanation of his secrecy at the start was that he was prepared to talk about the flight after it, rather than before it was accomplished. By his wonderful solo journey, Chi Chester joins the splendid company of Hinkler and Lindbergh. His flying time for the present flight has not yet been worked out, but it is expected that it will not greatly exceed Bert Hinkler's time, which was 134 hours. It must be remembered, of course, that Hinkler’s flight was made with the old type of machine, while the New Zealander is using the latest D.H Gipsy Moth plane, with a cruising speed of ninety miles an hour. Chichester had a crash in the swamps at Tripoli, in North Africa, early in January, damaging tire propellor, and this ended his chance of beating Bert Hinkler’s record. Spare parts were obtained, and Chichester resumed the flight on January 9th. Though his zest for the adventure was damped by the receipt of the news of his wife’s death at Wellington steady progress attended the airman’s journey. Ari eight hundred miles nostop run from Tripoli brought him to Abosivia, where he has a brother in charge of the oil supplies at the Raffia Wells. He had there to get his valves overhauled, and at Calcutta further attention was given them by native. mechanics, who worked at high pressure, and thus enabled him to get away next day. Chichester narrowly escaped a crash owing to the small space and the boggy nature of the landing ground at Point Victoria.

Singapore welcomed the flier warmly, and he had one day’s rest at Batavia, owing to the monsoons. Chichester says he had to drop Sourabaya, the visibility being poor. His next hop was to Atamoea, one of the longest that he had, but that journey only occupied six hours and ten minutes. From there he flew to Darwin direct, having a good trip. Chichester picked up Melville Island only a quarter of degree out of his bearing. This hop included three and three-quarters hours over the water. Chichester says that he would have reached Darwin on Friday but for the fact tnat the Dutch plans proved faulty. The people here were much concerned at the airman’s non-arrival on Friday but their delight to-day was shown in a wonderful reception that they accorded him. His present intention is.-to leave for Sydney on Sunday. He will go via Brunette Downs, and he expects to reach Sydney on Tuesday . SYDNEY, January 27‘.

There is no word yet whether Chichester has left Darwin in contnuation of his flight to Sydney. CHICHESTER’S SUCCESS. LONDON, Jan. 26. Ohichester’ssuccess was broadcast throughout the country, there being many complimentary references to his pluck and perserverance. CHICHESTER LEAVES DARWIN. DARWIN, Jan. 27. Chichester left here on Sunday morning for Brunnette Downs, where he will travel to Cloncurry and Clareville, and in easy stages to Sydney., omitting Brisbane. No word has yet been received of his arrival at Brunnette Downs.

A GREAT EFFORT. Air F. C. Chichester has put up a remarkable performance. With comparatively little experience as a pilot, he embarked upon a flying tour of Europe as a prelude to the exploit in which he is at present engaged. A forced landing. in a corner of Rumania on this trip provided its greatest and probably most unpleasant feature of the tour. Immediately after the landing he was arrested as a Bolshevik spy, afterward being informed that he would be shot. Nobody there had heard of New Zealand, and Mr Chichester must have been very near to being placed against the wall. While in England Mr Chichester tookevery available opportunity to gain experience, always having the Englaiul-Australia project in mind. Air G. D. M. Goodwin, his partner

the Goodwin-Chichester Aviation Company, received a letter from Mr Chichester recounting some of his experiences in England. He rose at 2 a.m daily and was in the air by 2.30. On one occasion he encountered a 60 mile an hour gale, and took an hour and ten minutes to fly twenty miles between Brooklands and Stag Lane. A gust as he turned into the wind turned his machine upside down, and when he landed six men hung on to the wings, but they could not keep it down. The letter is dated December 12, eight days before Mr Chichester took off for Lyon on his first hop. At that date he had been flying four months, and in that time had spent 160 hours in the air. In preparation for the great journey Mr Chichester had drawn up* a set of maps which when unrolled measured more than 71 feet in length. A total of 1300 gallons of petrol was laid down for him along the route by the Shell Company.

Leaving London at 3 o’clock, on the j morning of December 20, Air Chichester set his course for Lyons, arriving there at 10.22 a.m. After refuelling he left again at 12.10, the next port of call being Catania, which is situated in the Gulf of Catania, in Sicily. From there he crossed the Mediterranean Sea and arrived in Tripoli on December 22. A forced landing in the marshes there was necessitated by a fog, which prevented him from seeing the adjacent beacons. When taking off again he broke the propellor and also one of the new parts. This kept him there for 18 days, and after fitting the replacements he left Tripoli on the morning of January 9 for Bengazi, Egypt, from whence he went on to Ohabai. His journey across India occupied two days, as against the five days taken by Sir Alan Cobliam. From Cliabar, which is in Persia and on the Arabian Sea, he went to Karachi, Jliansi, Calcutta and Rangoon. This journey, across seven hundred miles of the most difficult portion of India, took him 6J hours, which is regard as a record for ft liglit plane under such conditions. From Rangoon he dropped down the Malay Peninsula to Singapore, breaking the journey at Victoria Point, which is a little less than half-way from Rangoon. Leaving Singapore on Monday last he hopped down the archipelago to Java, and from thence started for Timor, from which he made the final jump over 525 miles of ocean to the mainland of Australia.

UNLIKELY TO FLY TASMAN. Mr Goodwin stated that he thought that statements that Mr Chichester would fly to New Zealand were incorrect. Chichester is not a fool,” he said, “though he is very determined and he would try if lie considered that he had a reasonable chance of success.” Mr Goodwin adder! that he did not see how Air Chichester could do the 1200 odd miles in a light ’plane such as the one he was flying, while the chance of having good weather for the whole trip rendered the chances still more remote.