IN THE AIR.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3359, 11 December 1919, Page 5

IN THE AIR.

ROSSISMITH ARRIVES. lOROSSED AUSTRALIAN COAS'D- 1 LINE. 1 LAN’DED ‘IN AUSTRALIA. I A GREAT RECEPTION.‘ Received 9.40 am. PORT DARWIN, Dec. 10. "Ross-Smith crossed the coast-line of this afternoon. Less than half an hour .la'.ter he landed on Australian soil, at Fannie Bay Aerodrome, 'a.n.d the flight from Londofi’T»“co Australia was over. The aviators have still to cross the continent, but that is a minor matter after crossing parts of three continents and of two oceans. _ , The actual flyin-gtime from -London to Darwin. was 124 hours? and the average speed was about 85 miles an hour. Port Darwin was on the tiptoe of expectationall day. The first actual news that -the aviators had begun the last stage of their journey was given by a wireless mes» ‘sage from Koepang, in Timor, stating that the aviefiors hadspent the night in Timor, and weren then leaving for Port D'al'Win..

At one o’clock the warship Sydney sighted the machine 180 miles from Port Darwin, and flying strong. As soon as the news went round crowds went to tiiae landing ground. where everything was inlreadiuess. The pilot took for his landmark the lighthouse -at Point Charles, sixteen miles from Port Darwin, and those on board sighted it when forty miles‘ away, and'wh'lle flying at a. height of 6000 feet. The giganfic aeroplane came straight for ’the aerodrome, gradually comjng down to about 1000 ft. The white guiding mark in. the centre was picked out nearly twenty miles away, and the landing was perfect. The machine flew straight over The ground with one of the pilots waving his hand to the crowd '-below,‘ and then geiroled round and swooped downilike a .gigan2tic bird. _ I‘ The, 10nd journey w-a_s'finish"ed land" the Commonwealth prize Wes’ Won. ' “Before V .Ros.srSu:nith——neat, clean 'shaved,,_,zi.nd. with A.'nn'ifol~nl spic and span-—,w_zlsi‘w:alloWed to leave his _nlacllin.e and _sh»a.ke_ hands with’ Lieuteiiant Fy'sh,'-who welcomed him. on be, half of ‘the Defence Department, he had to be exa.mind.by the quarantine .officol'_ A V

.KEEN INTEREST [IN BRITAIN. M- AWONDERFUL PIONEER UNDER ‘ . »'rAKm-G.. TRIBfJTES mo ROSS-SMITH. '- ‘ “Ree_eived., .25 antn. ' 3 V: LON-DQN, Dec. 19. T -‘The keenest i-nferest "is shown, gind Warm newspaper tributes are accorded the accomplishmenf of Ross-Smith’s flight. General Sykes, interviewed, de. scribed it as brilliant, .a wonderful pioneer gndertaking, ‘and he complimcnted the Australian Government on initiating the en'terpr'ise,

I TWO DAY’S,S-PELL. TO OVERHAUL ENGINES. THE AVIATOR-S ENTERTAINED. | Received 11.40 =a..—m. DARWIN, Dec. 11. Ross-Smith will stay two days to overhaul his engines, then starts his flight to Melbourne, as already outlined. The aviators were entertained at dinncr'la.st night, at which there was a large gathering. One of the features of the voyage lwag the fear the aeroplane inspired in [natives in more out: of the way coun[tries. In Timor the natives had hid ;behind trees or throw themslcves flat ion the ground. It was the -same" in ‘Siam, Burma, and parts of Syria. No’where did the natives show any hostility towards the airmen. ‘ Received 11.25 am. , DARWIN, Dec. 10. After"they had passed the qual'a,n. tine officer, the .avia-tors were carried to the residence of the governor of the gaol, where, in replying to a brief speech of fwclcome, Mr RossSmith said the success was mainly due to the mechanics, Bennett and Shicrs, who WAork"ed_-tremendously hard. ‘The machine ffe‘vv by way of Italy, Egypt, India, and Burma to -Bangkok, then to Singapore. From fiinagpore the route ran through, Java, touching at Sourabaya, to Anatobo, in Timor, the last stopping‘ place, which is 500 miles from Port"-Darwin. The aeroplane left shortly after half-past eight this morning, covering the flight in about seven hours. A good-' deal of bad weather was encountered on the Way. eerily in the flight the machine had to land at Pisa, on ground covered with about ei-gh-teen inches of Water. Storms later were usually avoided by rising above them. At Akyab the Vicketrqf-Vimy ,overtook.f Pmfllet, who Was flying what one of the aviartors described as “a rotten old bus."’_ ,Tlley.j left a.bol'lt~tho the same’-tinle_ as iP‘o\ile‘t-

next morning, but beat’ him by an hour.’ ' Poulet took this like a. good‘ sport, and next day both machines got under way for Bangkok. A storm we encountered seemed to be "too much for Poulet, for they_ saw him nomore. The Vickers-Vimy had its worst time at.‘ ISourab}aya\; it lzuxied ‘on "some neclaimed ground,~and was nearly bog.-3 ged, going right down” on one side till one wing was nearly in the mud. Next morning it seemed to stick fast, but ‘about two hundred cooloives set to work and covered an area of 300 yards 1 long with bamboo matting, which en-if tabled the machine to get a run and iI‘ISB. The aeroplane was flying very ‘light during the last part _of the voyage, as at Singapore the "aviators jettisoned their photographic outfit, and everything else that could be spared. “Not of], your life,” said Rosssmith, when asked if he had a Wireless outfit. “It weighs 150 lbs, and it I was not worth it, unless we had meant ‘to give our absolutely accurate position. What was the use of sending SBO.B. calls and Wasting people’s time looking for us.” One -of the aviators I expressed the opinion that the disaster which overtook Ross and Dougllasnswas due to having the niachine ‘beverweightod, The aviators paid tribute to the remarkable keenness and hospitality of the Dutch residents of places stopped at. With the exception of a few reserves, such as bully beef, the ' aviators carried no food, but depended on securing it at stopping places. Their last meal before reaching A'ustra’,li’a lives a few sandwiches given them before they left Timor. The Weather in the Net.hcrlands W‘2Ts very hot and close. except when they were actually flying well above the earth, and with occasional storms. One of the mechanics summed up his Views of the jourlney as a whole. by saying that he would not do it again for £l_oo.ooo.