BERT HINKLER’S FLIGHT AN UNPARALLELED PERFORMANCE

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6541, 24 February 1928, Page 7

BERT HINKLER’S FLIGHT AN UNPARALLELED PERFORMANCE

“BoX of Tricks” Fuel Cost for Trip to Commonwealth Oily £33 e> One Can Buy Such a ’Plane for £730 (By Electric Gable-Copyright—Aust. and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received Thursday, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 22. The Morning Post’s aviation correspondent says that Bert Hinkler's flight ranks as the greatest of all air achievements. Nothing approaching it in magnitude has been previously attempted. Fuel costs amounted to £33. The machine is a standard one than can be bought like a motor-car by anybody for £730. OFF FOR BUNDABERG TO-DAY. (Received Thursday, 8.40 p.m.) DARWIN, Feb, 23. . Hinkler is resting to-day and overhauling his machine. He starts at dawn to-morrow for Bundaberg, his home town, where he intends to settle. He hopes to do the journey of 1675 mile's in two hops.

No Big Financial Prize, But Pure Sporting Venture

Folding wings usually make a machine top heavy, and a crew of three people is necessary to manoeuvre it, but Hinkler’s sliding under-carriage obviates this difficulty. Throughout the journey he landed the machine without any assistance. Air Minister’s Message. Hinkler’s feat in flying to Australia in record time in a light airplane has caused the greatest satisfaction here. Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary for Air, has expressed official appreciation in the following message: “Your flight from London to Australia in 15 days, flying unaccompanied in a light airplane is one further proof of what British pilots and British aircraft can do to link up the Empire by air.” Time Taken, Fifteen Days. Port Darwin, where Hinkler landed, is nearly 12,000 miles from Croydon by the route taken. He left Croydon at dawn on 7th February, and landed at Port Darwin at 6 o’clock this evening, Australian time, which was equivalent to 8 o’clock this morning, Greenwich mean time. Thus the time taken was almost exactly 15 days. Hinkler has not only easily beaten the record made by Sir Ross Smith and Sir Keith Smith, who in 1919 flow from England to Australia in 28 days. The manner of his doing it has been extremely remarkable. He made no big preparations, he had no financial support, and his airplane was not a big, high-powered machine, but an ordinary light machine such as anyone can buy for £675. For the past 18 months Hinkler had used this machine for touring England and Northern Europe. The machine had however proved its capability and reliability in air races, having won many prizes. No Assistance. Through tho flight Hinkler received no assistance with his ’plane, not even in moving it on the ground. Never during tho whole flight was it necessary to make adjustments to the engine wMch is an ordinary standard 30 h.p. Cirrus, which is of itself a remarkable testimony to the good workmanship of this British-made motor. The cost of the flight has boon only about £SO, which is less than the cost of travelling to Australia by sea. It has to be added that Hinkler incidentally made the first non - stop flight from London to Rome, and also the fastest journey between England and India. No Gain Financially. Tho newspapers state this evening that tho insurance which was supposed to have been effected at Lloyd’s against Hinkler beating the record of 28 days set up by the Smith brothers was never executed, and therefore he will gain nothing financially. Tho reference to insurance is explained by the following message from London on Bth February to Australian papers:—A distinctly sporting aspect is given to Hinkler’s flight by a policy taken out with Lloyd’s under which he may net a considerable sum. For a premium of £l5O Lloyd’s has undertaken to pay a reward increasing in geometric progression for each day taken off Sir Ross Smith’s record of 28 days. If ho reaches Australia in 27 days ho receives £l, in 26 days £2, in 25 days £4. In the event of his occupying 20 days ho receives £l2B, 19 days £256, 18 days £512, and 17 flays £1024. Hinkler is aiming at the lastnamed sum.

(British Official Wireless) RUGBY, Eeb. 22. Captain Hinkler to-day completed his England to Australia solo flight on Ms Avro-Avion Cirrus-engined light airplane. The aerial journey was accomplished in 16 days, which easily constitutes the record, the fastest time Mtherto being that established by Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, who in 1919 with a 720-horsepower Vickers Rolls Royce machine, flew to Australia in 28 days. •When Hinkler left Croydon on 7th February, he expressed the hope that he would reach Port Darwin within 18 days, but ho has improved on his own expectations, and experts here regard the flight as a stupendous achievement. Clock-work Regularity. News of his progress on the final stages of the flight has been awaited with some anxiety, for it was known that the' rainy season having set in, the skill of the airman and the airworthiness of his machine might be severely tested in the flight across the unfrequented seas north of Australia. If difficulties were encountered in today’s 950 mile flight from Bima to Darwin, they must have been splendidly surmounted and with the same clock work regularity which marked the flight in the earlier stages, Hinkler maintained his ‘hops’ from Singapore through tho Dutch East Indies to Australia. Light ’Plane, Little Engine. It is a remarkable achievement for Hinkler’s airplane, which was not specially built for the. journey, but has been in constant use for the past two years, and was designed for light airplane competitions in which he took part. Tho small Cirrus engine ,of 30 h.p,, made at Croydon, is reported to have come through the journey without being pressed in any way. Visit ’to Mother at Bundaberg. No big money prize awaits Hinkler. Tho enterprise was without heavy financial backing, and was undertaken in a sporting spirit by tho intrepid airman, who incidentally was anxious to make a visit to his mother, who resides at Bundaberg, Queensland. Ho will continue the flight to Bundaberg, his birthplace, where a great reception awaits him. Many Records. While the completion of the journey in 16 days is itself without a parallel in history, several other records are established by tho flight. If he had failed by several thousand miles to reach his objective, the flight would still have been the longest solo flight ever achieved. A further record was established when ho completed the London to India section of the flight in seven days. His Own Invention, Tho only new departure of his airplane is an undercarriage of his owp invention, patented by him just before he left England. One of tho purposes of the flight was to test it. Tho airplane is fitted with folding wings of his own invention, and the undercarriage swings back when the wings are folded. Tho machine can thus bo housed in a garage built for a medium-sized car, and can bo easily handled by one man.