AIR CHALLENGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 478, 6 October 1928, Page 9

AIR CHALLENGE

Britain Makes Bid For Non-stop Record TWO ATTEMPTS British Official Wireless Reed. Noon. RUGBY, Friday. Details are available o£ the attempts which Britain is to make to establish new records. In addition to the bid tor the speed record, which Flight-Lieutenant D’Arcy Greig is waiting to make at Southampton, the Royal Air Force is preparing for two endurance flights. One of these is a non-stop flight of 6,000 miles from Capetown to London, the other is an attempt to fly round England for three days and nights. The pilot for both attempts will be Squadron-Leader Jones-Williams, who was selected after Squadron-Leader Jack Noakes was incapacitated by an accident.

Squadron-Leader Jones-Williams will have as navigator Flight-Lieutenant Major. The attempt to make a three days’ flight round England will first be made. A special Fairey-Napier monoplane has been under construction for some months, and is now ready. The main considerations are to produce a machine capable of carrying a big load, and an engine that will consume a minimum amount of petrol and oil. It is understood that in less than a fortnight this machine will be at the disposal of Squadron-Leader JonesWilliams and his colleagues. If this attempt is satisfactory, the flight from the Cape to London will then be made. The record to be beaten is that of the Italians Captain Arturo Ferrarin and Major Carlo Delprete (who later was killed in a crash). They flew 4,632.86 miles from Rome to Brazil, the journey taking 51 hours.