SMITH TO FLY TASMAN

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 375, 8 June 1928, Page 1

SMITH TO FLY TASMAN

WITH NEW ZEALANDER SHARING THE HONOURS (Special to THE SUN) CHRISTCHURCH, To-day. After he has reached Australia in the Southern Cross, Captain Kingsford Smith intends to fly across the Tasman, landing at the Wigram Airdrome, Christchurch. In this flight, if his original arrangements still hold good, he will be accompanied by a Christchurch man, Mr. S. F. Napper, who was a member of the Royal Flying Corps during the war, and was trained at the same school as his friend, Smith. When Captain Smith passed through Wellington on his way to America, he arranged with Mr. Napper that when the flight to Australia was accomplished, Mr. Napper should go to Sydney, and about a week after Captain Smith's arrival they should take off for the Tasman flight. “Captain Smith was very definite in his intention to come over,” said Mr. Napper, in an exclusive story to The Sun to-day. "He believed the Tasman flight should be a combined effort, both Australians and New Zealanders sharing the honour.” > Mr. Napper says backers in both Australia and New Zealand are interested in the venture, and finance will not be a difficulty. The Sun is in communication with Captain Smith regarding the proposed flight. . - |M|