Thrills En Route

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 975, 19 May 1930, Page 9

Thrills En Route

AMY JOHNSON AT SINGAPORE Lost in Clouds and Rain SEEKING PASSAGE THROUGH RANGES OLA KRATj hours of blind flying through fogs and rain in a j search for a passage through the mountains caused Miss Amy Johnson some anxious thought on her journey from Rangoon to Bangkok, a stage in her flight from England to I Australia. Miss Johnson is now at Singapore, and leaves today for Sourabaya. She hopes to reach Australia in two and a-half ! days.

United P.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright Reed. 10.35 a.m. SINGAPORE, Sun. Miss Amy Johnson, who is flying from England to Australia, made a perfect landing here, having covered the 460 miles from Singora, Malay Peninsular, in six hours. She said it was now quite impossible for her to beat Bert Hinkler’s record. “I hope to reach Australia in two and a-half days,” she said, ‘‘hut if I strike a head wind, I may be three or three and a-half days.” She would have beaten Hinkler by two days only for her accident at Rangoon, but she is now one day behind owing to her taking two days from Bangkok to Singapore. She expected to cover that 1,000 miles in one day, but head winds, rainstorms and poor visibility compelled her to land at Singora. The' flight over the jungle worried her, because of the possibility of a forced landing. She said the worst part of the flight was from Calcutta to Singapore. Her spare propeller was used from Raugoon, and she was unable to fly at full speed or she would have overheated her engine. She is leaving for Sourabaya tomorrow and says she may attempt to beat Hinkler’s record next year. SEEKING PASSAGE When Miss Johnson left Rangoon for Bangkok on Friday morning she encountered blinding rain. She headed in the direction of Moulmein, South Burma, in order to find a pass through the mountains. She was faced with nothing but clouds and rain and could not find the pass. Miss Johnson rose to an altitude of 0,000 feet and tried to cross the mountains blindly. Then she turned north and flew first to the right and then to the left, trying to get through. At last she came into clear weather and found herself still on the Burma side of the mountains. The intrepid girl had another try, and this time came out on the Siam side of the mountains, hut her position was not on her map, and she could not pick up any landmarks. For three hours she was still surrounded by heavy clouds and she said she was becoming frightfully worried when she saw a railway junction at North Ayuthia. She found its position on her map and the rest was easy. When she arrived at Bangkok she seemed to he really exhausted. BORED AT HOME A message from London says Miss Johnson’s IS-year-old sister Molly tells the “Sunday Express” how Amy was bored with her work in a solicitors office and thought she would like to be an airplane saleswoman. She gained her certificate as a ground engineer, went home, called a family conference, produced a map,

put her finger on Australia and said: < “I want to fly there. I am going to | fly there.” Eventually her father surrendered j and bought the machine that Amy is now using. The “Daily Express” editorially refers to Miss Amy Johnson’s complaint about finance, and after prefacing with a reference to “the romantic and indomitable litle heroine,” the paper ! adds that her complaint that England j only wants to support ready-made sue- j cess is not quite true. “Anyone might rightly decline to ! finance an enterprise such as hers Gff \ the ground of foolhardiness, which \ will only be forgotten if it proves a brilliant success,” the writer says. “Besides, it is not good for inventors and pioneers and 22-year girls who want to fly to Australia that the path should be made over-easy. “Anyway, the applause and good wishes of all her fellow-citizens are with her, and will 'support’ her on the last stage of her journey.” Miss Johnson’s father is at present in London, and is in frequent touch throughout the day with the Australpress Fleet Street office. He displayed a little anxiety owing to the length of time the news of her arrival at Bangkok took to reach London. Miss Johnson has reached Singapore in 13? j days, or only half a day behind Mr. Hinkler’s time to that port, in spite of the forced landing near Rangoon and the delay in effecting repairs. The last stage of her flight to Darwin includes a stretch of 450 miles over the Timor Sea. Miss Johnson has still about 2,250 miles to fly before reaching Darwin. Her route now lies from Singapore to Batavia, Java, about 575 miles; Batavia to Sourabaya, Java, about 425 miles; Sourabaya to Tambora, Sumbawa Island, Dutch East Indies, about 400 miles; and Tambora to Darwin, about 850 miles. The girl flier’s record to date is: May s—Left5 —Left Croyden and arrived Vienna. May G—Arrived Constantinople. May 7—Arrived Aleppo. May B—Arrived Bagdad. May 9—Arrived Bunder Abbas. May 10 —Arrived Karachi. May 11—Arrived Allahabad. May 12 —Arrived Calcutta. May 13 —Arrived Ins€:in, near Rangoon. May 14 and 15.—Delayed for repairs. May 1 6 —Arrived at Bangkok. May 17. —Arrived Singora. May IS. —Arrived Singapore. AERIAL ESCORT SYDNEY PREPARES RECEPTION SYDNEY, Sunday. There is still some doubt whether Miss Amy Johnson intends to come to Sydney from Darwin. She has cabled to friends saying she would make her decision when she reached Darwin. Arrangements for receptions at Sydney and Melboune, however, are proceeding actively. Messages of congatulations and goodwill have been cabled to Miss Johnson by prominent women s organisations in Australia. The Federal Government and the avitaion authorities are to be prominently identified at the welcome at Darwin. Six women aviators from Sydney will form an aerial escort for Miss Johnson some distance out from this city.