HALF-WAY ROUND WORLD IN 8 DAYS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 11, 4 September 1931, Page 6

HALF-WAY ROUND WORLD IN 8 DAYS

MOLLISON'S STORY VIVID DESCRIPTION OF RECORD BREAKING FLIGHT. « ^ Moliison's flight half-way round the world in 8 days 21 hours 25 mmptes (official time) has gripped the iraagination "of a world already accustomed to remarlcable feats of young airmen. Surely he has reached the Iimit of mental and physical strain of which human nature'is capable. As he him"self says "The only way the present,, record can he beaten is by flyihg all night and all day, dispensing with sleep." The chief f'aotors in his success are personal qualities — 'the will and courage to overpome, physically and mentally the hardships that such a flight entails, "the knowledge of, and slvill in aviation, the selection of the right machine and fuel of proved quality. Organisation also played a vitai part. The selection of the route, and the laying down of sxipplies of Plurae spirit were otlier important details, incidental to the attempt on the record, Mollison set out to hreak G. W. A.* Scott's record from Australia to England of 10 days 23 hours. He not only substantially lower ed this record, but he smashed Scott's other record of 9 days 3 hours, made when the latter flew from England to Australia. 1800 IVlites in One Hop. No fanfare of trumpets marks the departure of Mollison on July 30. Only a -handful of people see him disappear into the gloom and listen till the noise of his engine is muffled in the distance. The first day, he startles the world by reaching Batavia — 1800 miles- in one hop ! No \vonder people reach for their atlases and begin to follow the progress of this airman with amazement. He arrives at Batavia after dark, only to flnd that the lights at the aerodrome have been extinguished. They did not expect him to come all that distance in one day. He flies oh till he flnds a clearing in the jungle, where he malces a safe landing. He explains to the headman of " tribe that he wants a runway made, and this being done, Mollison takes off an hour later. At 3 a.m. the next day, he sets off in the blinding rain for Alor- Star. This hop is 1200 miles. The strain of the flight and lack of sleep are beginning to m>ake serious onslaughts on his store of nervous energy. He is now running into "the monsoon weather; the rain is lashing him in terriffic fury; the wind is cutting him to the bone. Skimming the Tree Tops. From Alor Star, he sets out for "Bangoon. The fury of the storm has increased. At this stage,- he loses his goggles. Gales and rain blind him . . . His eyes smart from the cold wind which smites his unprotected eyes. At times he is skimming the tree tops; the onslaught of the monsoonal gales increase.. He climbs and climbs to get out of the reach of the storm. He loses his way, but eventually picks up the coast, and follows it to Rangoon. He tells in terse graphic language of his battle against a storm that bowed the trees of the jungle. and whipped the ocean into creamy foam. Three days have passed, and he is at Hangoon — well ahead of' Scott. Thc Vacuum *Oil Company representative is there to meet him with hot coffee and refreshments, and while Mollison sleeps at the 'drome, his 'plane is again refuelled with Plume. The next day, he leaves Rangoon, but the storm is unabated, and lie is forced back — back instead of forward! Oalcutta lies 12 hours ahead, hui ahead also lies the Bay of Bengal — a grey waste of heaving waters . . . as treacherous as the Timor Sea. Soon Rangoon is a memory, and now thc Bay of Bengal is fading on the horizon behind. The flight from Galcutta to Allahabad is resumed. The race has now boguft in earnest — time, the relentless, is pursuing, confldent of victory with such allies as Monsoonal storms, and sleep. The monsoons have delayed him but nothing'can stem his flight of progress. It is sleep that troubles him now, his eyelids are like lead. The fourth day has arrived, and 900 miles ahead Karachi slumbers peacefully in the stifling Indian climate After 12 hours battling against the elements, he reaches Karachi. Plane Behaves Splendidly. The flfth day, and this time Basra is the goal — 1400 miles from dawn to dusk. The 'plane and machine are behaving splendidly — he was wise in his choice of fuel to wage a relentless combat against the strong head winds. While following the river Euphrates, he loses his way in a stand storm, and has to descend on an Arab encampment. The Arabs put him on Ihe right track, but he is so .worn out he forgets to place his tools in the 'plane. On the seventh day, he swoops out of Basra and is swallowed into the hlackness of midnight. The air is hot against his cheeks — his eyes are redrimmed and weary. This time his goal is Alloppo, wliicli lies beyond the sindy wastesi — a ten hours' flight over monotonous sand dunes. Aleppo at lastl The roar of the engine for the past seven days has made him stone deaf. He has had little sleep — the strain on nerve and sinew has made sleep impossible. At midnight, he starts again for ancient Athens, and after a short rest there, sets out on his four hours' flight to Rome. Ile must lose no time Ihere, for he is out to break the record, and panting time is now labouring not far behind. Climbing the AIps. At Rome, he is so weary that he ig unable to sleep a winlc. He leaves that morning on his 14-hours' flight. Ahead lie the Alps, towering 10,000 feet into the ®lcy. Weary and worn out, h-e must clirnb this difficult range of mountains and the mouhtains that lie beyond. • It seemed as though the elements had concentrated on Ihe last stage of the journey to deliver their flercest onslaught. As he passes over France. he runs into weather conditions which the Air Ministry describes as the worst for months. The fury of the storm was so great that rockets wero sent up continually on the foggv morning of August 5 to guide aircraft. At Paris, where he stopped for a breather, they warned him of the storm raging over the channel. He replied, "I do not care about the weather ... I have had enough this week. I leave at midinght." Over Ihe English Channel, he has reached the last stages of exhaustion.

He can scarcely keep himself from falling asleep. The angry sea rolls below his feet — ^he shakes himself to keep the drowsy numbness at bay for one hour longer. As his 'planer comes to rest; he has scarcely enough strength to climb out of the cockpit. HeTands at Pevensey Bay ' (Sussex) at 1.35 p.m. on August 6, and later leaves for Groyden. • But Mollison in his hour of triumph loes not forget 'those who helped him achieve this record. . Before going to bed for a 12-hour sleep, he cabled to the Vacuum Oil Company — "Plume !s on its own. Vacuum Service Wondei'ful."