The Sun TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 1928 A FOURSOME IN THE SKY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 372, 5 June 1928, Page 9

The Sun TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 1928 A FOURSOME IN THE SKY

THE spirit of highest adventure is on the wing from Hawaii to Fiji, building, as it flies, .the longest span in the airman’s bridge across the vast Pacific. As these words are being written the “mixed foursome” of Australian and American airmen, in their monoplane, the Southern Cross, are about the same distance from the middle goal of their great enterprise as Wellington is from Auckland. Sunrise, noon, sunset, twilight, dawn, twice repeated, have come and gone in the course of the intrepid men’s journey through day and night, through tropic calm and tropic storm, and still they fly on and on, cheerful and confident of final triumph. Who has not thrilled at the rare story out of the equatorial sky and felt better for the ardent courage that makes men laugh at tremendous hazards and carries human effort to the loftiest summits of achievement ? “That man Smith deserves credit. He is a good pilot ” Such is one of the many intimate messages from the merry radiooperator in the Southern Cross. And what more could anyone add to this spontaneous praise without marring its perfection of appreciation? It is the tribute paid by one gallant man to another in circumstances which reveal the resourcefulness, the resolute purpose, and the courage that invest their enterprise with something greater than the greatest pleasure within the compass of men who follow the flight in imagination from the safe comfort of a hearth at home. But the praise need not, and will not, be confined to the skill of Captain Kingsford Smith, the leader of the soaring expedition. As observers see the flight and, with growing and glowing interest, watch its amazing progress throughout the piled hours, its promised success is due to the accuracy of the navigator and the splendid team work of the mixed foursome, the entente aerial. The wonder of the long flight, so far, has not been its demonstration of man’s courage and endurance. It lias been the perfect manner in which, by means of the magic of wireless telegraphy, the crew of the Southern Cross has kept continually in touch with the world. And so vivid has been the airmen’s story that millions of people in many lands have been able imaginatively to travel with them and enjoy the thrill of flying through immensity. “It would he unfortunate if it wasn’t for our old friend the moon.” How many Aucklanders, watching the glorious orb these past evenings, thought hopefully and encouragingly of the airmen flying in the glory of its light on a wilderness of sea? It would be foolish to compare this flight across the Pacific with any one of the great flights in the other hemisphere. Lindbergh’s lone feat, carried out with the sangfroid and colossal pluck of youth, must always stand alone, incomparable and glorious. Tlieu Hinkler’s lonely, almost impertinent hopping in a kangaroo of the air from London to Australia, must also remain in a class by itself. And so with Six' Alan Cobham’s thorough, painstaking, almost phlegmatic flights aci’oss many continents and seas. Yes, the outstanding wonder of Kingsford Smith’s feat is its assurance that soon men will navigate the air without losing touch with the friendly world. This is the air age with a heritage of prowess in a new element.