ACROSS THE TASMAN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 244, 5 January 1928, Page 8

ACROSS THE TASMAN

THE ban against the flight from Australia to New Zealand having been removed and the airmen assured that they are welcome to proceed at their own risk—though both the Commonwealth and the Dominion Governments have their doubts as to the wisdom of the attempt—Captain Kight and Lieutenant Moncrieff have announced their intention of “hopping off” on Friday They will then have the advantage of a full moon, and there is every hope that the prevailing fine weather will continue. Given favourable conditions, there is no reason why the flight should hot be successful. The machine in which it is to be attempted is of the same kind as that which carried Colonel Lindbergh over the wide Atlantic, and compared with that achievement the journey by air across the Tasman does not sound at all formidable, though it will by no means be free from risk. But of what merit in the eyes of the adventurous is a journey that has no risk? This will be the essay of pioneers, prepared to face all or any danger in cutting a new track through space. The machine is reported to have had a splendid test flight from Melbourne to Sydney. The airmen did not have the slightest trouble with the engine and they averaged the fine speed of 140 miles an hour against a strong head wind. That speed, if maintained, would bring them to New Zealand in about nine hours. Their craft has been prepared with the assistance of the finest airplane mechanics in Australia, under the direction of the experts of the Commonwealth Government, and it may be relied upon to be in the most perfect order when it takes off. The airmfen face the test with a courage that defies the warnings of the timid, and they will be fervently wished full measure of the success they so richly deserve.