KINGSFORD SMITH

Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1931, Page 2

KINGSFORD SMITH

- STARTS FOR ENGLAND. ATTEMPT ON RECORD. IN GOOD HEART. (Australian Press Association.) SYDNEY, September 24. Air-Commodore Kingsford Smith has hopped off from Wyudham for England on his record-breaking Australia to England and return flight. When he left, he and his machine were in great heart. He told'the onlookers that he would be back in eighteen days. The weather conditions were perfect for his objective to-day, which was Cheribon, in Java. It is a 1532 miles hop. Kingsford Smith passed over Bali at one p.m. local time.

THE FIRST LEG. OFF AGAIN THIS MORNING. (.Received this day at 9.25 a.m) CHERIBON (Java), September 24. Kingsford Smith arrived at 5.30 local time, on his longest solo non-stop flight, He did not enjoy Timor Sea crossing us there was some blind flying before dawn. He had a scare over tho water when the gravity tank cut out. He is tired, but is determined to get the record and is leaving at daylight for .Victoria Point, Everything is well. SYDNEY, September 17. When Air-Commodore Kingsford Smith this week announced his plans for a new" record-breaking flight from Australia to England and back, he surprised no one, not even his wife, to whom he had said, on the occasion of hjs marriage, that he- had seen the last of big flights. It was not natural for a man of his type to rest contented after Mollison had broken his record. Kingsford Smith has planned to reach ■London in seven days, against the eignt days 21 hours occupied by Mollison, and he is also anxious to beat Scotf’s record of nine days for the outward journey. He says it is not a : stunt flight, hut will he undertaken for the sole purpose of showing the world that it is possible to visit London (rom Aus. tralia, spend a week there, and return —all within'’three weeks. Here is Kingsford Smith’s route for the outward journey.— ;■ ;H, Males. Wyndham (Clheriboii (near Bataviaji'l s»*»... ••• ••• Cheribori to Victoria Point. 1390 Victoria Point to Calcutta. ... 1196 Calcutta, to Karachi ... 1383 Karachi to Bagdad ... ... 16A0 Bagdad to Athens ... ... 1232 to Paris «•«..•. ... ... 1514 Paris to London 217 “ HERCULEAN TASK.

Outlining his plans, Kingsford Smith said he realised the herculean task that had been set him by Scott and Molli- > son; but he was confident that he could lower their records a.nd so bring the aerial .“ashes” back?to Australia, He had an - excellent knowledge of the r:ute both ways, and he expected to avoid many of the setbacks that Mollieon received. Although on his flight f:om England to Australia, when he vas overhauling Hill, he went- “all out,” he had not long recovered from an operation' for appendicitis, and he was not fit to make the daily stages any longer. Now he was fit and weft. The Avro Sports Avian machine, in vhich he would make the flight, was all British, and arrived only a few days ago, and would be christened Southern Cross Minor. The machine would c n*y a big load of petrol—ll 3 gallons —but that was necessary, on account of the hops he had planned. He explained that he would make his 'Australian hop off from Wyndham instead of Darwin, as that would lessen the jump across the Timor Sea. There was an excellent aerodrome at Cheribon 1 elonging to the Dutch military air service. He would leave Karachi long before dawn in the fifth day, for there were plenty of landmarks up th° Person Gulf to Bushire, from which he would "make a bee-line for Bagdad. If the weather was good, and he felt fit io-tough on arrival at Paris, he might go straight to Croydon, arriving there * oii the seventh day. Otherwise he ' would cross the Channel on the eighth day. He would stay a few days in London, and then return by the same route, except that he would t try to make Aleppo 1 in two days. AIRMAN FEELING FIT. " cal strain which the flight will impose, Kingsford Smith, with characteristic thoroughness, has been tuning up •- his body with the same care that he will tune up the little machine. He starts each day with a cold hath, followed by a sprint-. Later, at a city gymnasium, he goes through a series of physieial jerks, and Inis half-an- ' hour’s massage. In the afternoon he often plays tennis with Mrs Kingsford Smith, who is a first-class player, and heats her husband easily. As to crier, lie has been paving special attention to the vitamin content, of all he eats and drinks, and has been storing energy by drinking a bottle of stout each dav. He has rationed his smoic-

ing to a maximum of ten cigarettes n day—half his usual tally. With all this lie has put on 4Uj. in weight in two weeks, and he feels better than he has done for a long time. “I am not the slightest bit worried about the physicial factor,” he said, “and there is no reason to believe that the mechanical side will let me down. As long as the engine, keeps turning 1 will be there on schedule.” He is not sacrificing safety for lightness in equipment. The Minor will carry a full set of all spare parts that are likely to be needed, an emergency radio set. and a rubber ring which, when inflated, would he sufficient to keep him afloat. The radio set would weigh only 141 b. and would have a continuous transmitting life of four or five hours. If forced down anywhere he would probably wait until night before he sent out messages, as the transmitting range would then he doubled. During the dash he will be quite content to get four hours’ sleep each night.