TWICE CROSSED

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 647, 27 September 1933, Page 2

TWICE CROSSED

ATLANTIC OCEAN italian massed flight triumph for 1 ' ' balbo. ' , T WENT Y -THRE'E MACHINES It was during the afternoon of August 9 that the 23 flying boats of General Italo Balbo' alighted' ori the River Tagus, having flown the 780 miles from the Azores on the return journey' from Shoal Harbour tor Italy, says Flight. Twenty Portujguese rpaehines met the Italians at the mouth of the river and' escorted th'em' to the moorings whieh had been prepared for them. On disembarking, G6neral Balbo was received by the Italian Ambassador, the Portuguese Ministers of War and MJarine, and a number of diplomatic officials. The same evening General Carmona, President of the Republic formally welcomed the Italians. It had been the intention of General Balbo to call at Mlarseilles. In fact, preparations had aetually been made there for his reception, even to the extent of voting £1000 towards the expense of entertaining the air-. men. Owing to the death of Lieutenant Squaglia, however, it was deeided to fly from Lisbon to Rome non-stop. Before he left Lisbon, General Balbo decorated all his airmen with the Trans-Oceanic Aviators' Wings. On Saturday, August 12, the flight left Lisbon early in the morning on Ihe last lap of their pourney. In the meanwhile Rome had been preparing a tumultuous reception for th'e membefs of the flight. Fifty seaplanes were prepared to escort them home, thousands of people flocked down to the beach, and H.M. the King of Italy himself hastened back to Rome from the mountains. The Return. Just after sunset on the same day the-squadron appeared on the horizon. A few minutes later, flying in close fnrmation. thev crossed the coastline

and cireled the city of Rome. General Balbo's was the first machine to , alight, and as he stepped ashore he was greeted by Signor Mussolini, who, according to the daily press, embraced the general three times and kissed him on both cheeks. On Sunday, August 13, Rome officially celebrated the return of their successful airmen. The King received them at the Quiriiio, a procession was formed, which wended its triumphant way through the streets to the Coliseum and the Arch of Constantine. On the heights' of .the Palatine Hill, Mussolini officially received the airmen, congratulating* them on the success of the flight, and read a royal decree promoting General Balbo to1 be Italy's first Air-Mar-

shal. II Duce then placed upon the general' s head a Marshal's hat, pinned a golden eagle on his breast, and presented him with a baton of office. Once again has Italy demonstrated j the efficiency of her Air Foree. When j the 24 Savoia Marchetti twin-hull S55 , X flying boats, powered by two Isot- j ta-Fraschini 18-cylinder engines, set j out fronn Orbetello on July 1, few people imagined, even though they may have hoped, that 23 would arrive safely back to Italy in 43 days' time, having flown over 12,000 miles and crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice. It is a magnificent performance and one of which General Balbo, the officers, N.C.O's and men of the whole flight may well be proud. To plan a formation flight of over 12,000 miles with a double crossing of a wide expanse of ocean was ambitious in itself, but to have carried through this project with such success bespeaks not only the complete confidence which General Balbo and others in authority had in their machines and personnel, but also perseverance and skill which has not often, if ever, been equalled in the past. It is, of course, to be regretted that the flight was marred by two fatal accidents, but even so the Italians are to be congratulated. that the number was not greater. After all, it was a writer from Rome of ancient days who said that no success worthy of the narne can be achieved without suffering. Rome has seen many triumphs, some in the name of individual glorification, others in the name of conquests, some even in th'e name of hate and conceit, hutrarely cari.Rome have b^asted such : a triumph, not only of individuals over the elements of Nature, but of the skill and brains of designers and of org^niteation which counted tihe merest detail of great import. The Italian nation has every right and cause to be proud of their Air Force in general, of General Balbo and the personnel of the flight in particular, and oLthe brains which designed the machines and engines. The following message was sent by Lord Londonderry, the British Air Minister, to Air-Marshal Balbo: — "I am glad to learn the news of the return of your trans-Atlantic squadron to Ostia/' A double flight across the Atlantic by so large 'a formation is a feat of which the Regia Aeronautica may well be proud, and on behalf of the Royal Air Force I send them most cordial congratulations." QVr. Pierre Cot, French' Air Minister, also sent a message to Air-Mar-shal Balbo.— "At the end of your

magnificent exploit I hasten to send you the salutations and congratulations of the French Air Force, .'tYhich has followed with admiration the'tfiumphant progress of your courageous squadron. I regret that cir cumstances have not allowed me to express by the spoke.n 'word the feelings of ' esteem and comradeship which unite our aviation with its Latin sister. My very cordial greetings." Log of the Flight. " ' Mites July 1— Orbetello -Amsterclam .... 875 july 2— Amsterdam-Londonderry 625 july5_L,ondonderry-Reykjavik 940 July 12— Reyjavik-Cartwright (La- . brador * 1500 July 13 — Cartwright-Shediac (New Brunswick) ' 750 July 14 — Shediac-Montreal 500 July 15— Montreal-Chicago .875 July 19 — Chicago-New York 1000 July 25— New York-Shediac "650 July 26— Shediac-Shoal Harbour (Newfoundland 500 Aug. 8 — Sboal Harbour- Azores 1200 Aug. 9 — Azores Lisbon 780 Aug. 12 — Lisbon.Ostia 1850 Total 12,045 General Balbo in his first report to Mussolini emphasised the valuable assistance that wireless had given, espcially during the most difficult sections of the flight over the Atlantic. S-ix deep-sea trawlers fitted with wireless by the Marconi organisations in Italy and England were stationed I at various places to give wireless direction finding services as required. Marchese Marconi and his colleagues placed the world-wide organisation of the Marconi Company at the disposal of the Italian flight. The . following telegram was received from General Balbo by the Marconi Company -.—f'l thank you together with all _ your worthy co-operators for your kind greetings which the Atlantic squadron reeiprocate, remembering services rendered by the Miarconi Company tp • the Italian Air Foree." Most of the apparatus was specially manufactured at the Marconi works in Genoa, while the directioil-finding equipment was supplied from the company's works in England.

Carefull Planning. "Viva Balbo! Viva Mussolini." Thus roared the Italian throngs with an enthusiasm that only the Latiiis can produce. But behind all this are the cairn waters of poised, eareful planning, of-caution, of resisting temptations to "take a chance." Less spectacular than the colourful parts of theflight , these were the founda-tion-stones on which it was built, says the Christian Science Monitor. Months were spent in equipping the ships and laying out the route for this flight. Once under way disaster befell when one of the ships turned ! over at Amsterdam at the end of the

first leg of-the journey, killing a mechanic. Bi^t on went the twentyfour. Londonderry, Ireland, was the next stop and th'en hop to Ieeland. Here the bad weather settled down. The natural urge was to push forward at all costs but discretion had its way. A whole week— a week which must have''"'been difficult, where the ships were moored with nothing to see but fog and rain — was spent at Reykjavik. Finally the weather lifted enough so th'at the long hop to Labrador could start. Bad weather dogged their trail all the way. This was the most difficult leg of the journey. After leavirig Labrador tlm flight took them across wild country' where landings would have been impossible, but the twenty-four ships' flew on without even a single miss in their forty-eight motors, and landed at" Chicago. Good Beginning. On the return trip the flight to New York was uneventful. From New York to Newfoundland motor trouble caused two of the ships to come down, but having pursued a wise close-to-the-coast course these flying boats were able to land in frkndly harbours and were quickly repaired. ■ They joined the rest of the aii-mada at New Brunswick, leaving the next day for Newfoundland. _ Here another important decision had to be made. The temptation was to make the more striking flight across the North Atlantic to Ireland, but after days of waiting for good weather discretion again ruled and a flight to the Azores was started after a twelve-day wait in Newfoundland. Taking off from the Azores one of the ships was wrecked and one man 'killed. The rest of the journey was uneventful. They- hopped to Lisbon, Portugal, and from there they left' for Italy. Th'e exceptional mechanical performance of the sljips is a particularly bright-hued feather in the caps of the Italian engineers. This mechanical perfection has a great portent for ' the future. If the fifty motors of the original fleet all were to be put into one single mammoth aeroplane, it would mean the ability of this ship to fly across the Atlantic and back with uneventful mechanical incidents. So when the Italian throngs are cheering General Balbo they are not cheering the heroism of iriipulse. They are cheering judgment, reason, splendid engineering, and. the marking out of the way of future crossocean travel.