EXCITING AIR RACE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 783, 2 October 1929, Page 9

EXCITING AIR RACE

PLANES BATTLE AGAINST ELEMENTS PUZZLE FOR THE JUDGES (Australian and 2V.Z. Press Association J Reed. 10 a.m. ADELAIDE, Today. The flight of 17 planes competing in the air race from Sydney to Perth provided an exciting battle with the elements between Melbourne and Adelaide. The judges, owing to the nonarrival of a telegram showing the wind speed and direction, on which the handicaps are based, are unable to state who now is actually leading. Baker’s Klemm monoplane failed to reach Adelaide owing to strong winds.

and lias been eliminated. Major de Havillancl, in a Moth, recorded the best time for the actual flying speed to Adelaide, followed by Heath and 11. Miller. This race of 2,400 miles, one of the longest ever contested, is connected with the Perth centenary celebrations. The prize is £I,OOO. Every precaution has been taken for safety. The rules make turns at certain points compulsory. One turn meant that the competitors must miss the mountain country close to Sydney. Another means that the airplanes will not pass over more than eight miles of sea in the Australian Bight, between Adelaide and Perth. On the stage between Adelaide and Cook the machines must carry full rations because the desert nature of the country makes it unlikely that they will be rescued for two or three days were they forced down. Once the competitors reach the transcontinental railway they will not have any need for worry. Forty line maintenance gangs, with fast motor-trolleys, first-aid experts, and water, and with telephone facilities to the nearest station, will patrol the line. An Air Force doctor accompanies the machines in one of the Wapitis.