LURE OF THE AIR

Hokitika Guardian, 28 October 1933, Page 6

LURE OF THE AIR

j M.Ka BONNEY’S AD VENTURES. | EXPERIENCES IN MANY LA/NDS. S The adventures of a- lifetime crowded j into six months! That is the impression i that is left in one’s mind after reading I the thrilling story told try Mr s H. Epnney, the Brisbane airwoman who , flew solo from Australia to England, but took nrany months to complete the journey. She returned to Australia last week with her machine, "My Little Ship,” in the hold of the vessel oil which, she travelled. Mrs IVonney said that although her aeroplane crashed on a beach near Alor Star, and was flown through weather worse than she imagined could exist, the engine never faltered once. The 1 machine was little the worse because of the adventure, and neither was she. “I ; at least know for certain that I have the necessary endurance for long i 'flights,” she said. “I am determined to attempt the Austmlia-England route again, and this time I hope to do much better.” “When I crashed on the beach near Alor Star for no apparent reason, and the safety belt had me trapped into the cockpit while water swirled around me and the propeller went on whirring, I felt dazed and I imagined that the end had come,” Mi's Bonney said. “Then suddenly I realised that I could breathe in between waves, and there was a dry ,beach only a few yards away. Because the (fastenings of the safety belt had bent, it .took me a few minutes to crawl out of the machine, HOSPITALITY OF NATIVES. “To my intense relief, when I got firce, I saw natives staring at me on the fringe of the sand. But when I rushed ■after them they fled, and it wa s some time before curiosity mastered their fear, and they took me to live in their native village for four days until help came from civilisation. During .those days I subsisted on the rations of bully beef and biscuits which I always carried in the aeroplane, as the native food was a little frightening. “The kindness of those natives was only surpassed by the treatment of some (Czechoslovakian women when officialdom 'surrounded me and crowds of peasants mobbed my machine when I landed in the fields near the town of I wiljt gt.ever forget , those women. They took me to their homes and gave me food while I w.as detained by officials who seemed to think that I was a 'spy, despite my passport and my letters of identification. Later I received an apology from the consul in London.” ’Mrs Bonney told how she had flown through a monsoon near Aftor Star, j through blinding sandstorms near I Bushire, aoro'ss the treacherous moun- [ tains stretching from Aleppo to Cbnf stantinople, and through the heat of the Persian Gulf. After what she had been through she was prepared to admit that the conditions in Australii for flv-! ing were ideal, though the facilities did] not equal those provided in many other Oountniesi. 'England was airminded, and as small machines in good repair did not cost more than £2OO, the number of private owners was increasing every month. People were beginning to realise that the aeroplane offered a' quick and cheap method of travel. “NEVER. REALLY BEEN LOST.” “The only thing of- which I feel T have reason to be really proud is the fact that I have never really been lost,” said Mrs Bouncy. “I have been down in various places, but I have always. been able to locate myself, and have never had to 'be found, being able to supply the necessary information as, to my whereabouts.” .This she saw, was due...to her knowledge of navigation, f which she regarded as one of the most important aspects of long-distance flying. 'The. same knowledge, she .added- 1 had enabled'her to arrive at Ooydpr on schedule ; in fact, 10 minutes ahead Describing the |flight, Mrs Bomuu i sa’gl she had had her only really bit thrill when slip arrived over Oroydov [ and saw the . n nme written on the 'ground j below. “Then. I confess that mv heart I pumped with excitement. I had left ! Europe in storms a,nd flew through storms all the way across from Germany, and, seeing England below me, so tiny, so compact, so green and peaceful, and looking so like an old lady’s workbasket, filled me with an excitement I could scarcely describe. I was there !” she said. Describing her experiences when she made a (forced landing on the island of Bangbiang, off the coast of Siam, in April, ‘Mrs Bouncy said that she had felt like “Mrs Robingon Crusoe.'’ She had spent four days on the island alone with a crowd of natives. Eventually she had succeeded in making her requirements known, and a native had set off through the jungle for the village of Gnow. Soon <% party of tin miners came to her rescue. Tn the meantime, ea"er natives had assisted her to bring her machine ashore, not without some misgivings on. her wh»n she saw them grasp delicate portions of the mechanism with far from gentle hands. “One .can at least come down gr-ce-fuflv in the water,” Mrs Bonney said, “an#, being a woman, I prefer to crash eraeefully I if T have to crash. Give me the water crossing every time in preference to those dark f orb hiding mountains. you know, the notorious Taurus ones.’’ Mrs Bounev said that she .had felt more comfortable over the Timor Sea than in the mountainous regions of Europe. On one occasion she had flown over a railway cutting between 1 two steep mountains, and had not known when she might .pome down on the j mountain side. “While I was in the air]

I felt a hundred per cent,” she said, “but I often went to pieces 10 minutes after landing, when I had to deal with foreign officials and their red tape.”