ROSS SMITH OVER SYDNEY.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 March 1920, Page 11

ROSS SMITH OVER SYDNEY.

GREAT AVIATOR WELCOMED Sydney, Feb. 19. There was something peculiarly thrilling in the arrival of Captain Sir Ross Smith over the city of Sydney last Saturday morning. The great aeroplane was the first tangible link in air communication between London and Australia, and even the least imaginative could see the tremendous significance in it. The event stirred Sydney deeply. The aviators had telegraphed that they would leave Narromine in sufficient time to allow them to cover the 300 miles and /each Sydney at '0.30. At 10.30 every roof-top in Sydney was crowded. The people were expectant—but every one was prepared to wait half-an-hour, perhaps. (An aeroplane is still regarded as an uncertain sort of thing). But almost exactly at 10 30 a little flight of aeroplanes appeared out of the haze which shut off the Blue Mountans, in the west. There were three little machines from the local aerodromes, one in front, and one on eit'""- hand, and, in the centre, the huge Yimy- The little machines dropped isiert. and began to amuse themselves with "stunts," and the big machine fla\, avay to the south of the city. The carelul Rosa Smith wanted to get the location of the landing place cl"ar and fixed 'before he did anything else. He found the Mascot aerodrome at once, seemingly, for, in a minute or two, ho turned, and flew over the city towards the Heads. At this time he was flying very high, one could only realise the size of the Vimy by comparing it with the local machines, now playing about in the air over Mascot, and awaiting the Vimy's return. The Vimy carried five men—Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, two mechanics,- and Captain F. Hurley, the famous Antarctic and war photographer, who is well-known'in New Zealand. Captain Hurley joined the crew in Queensland, and secured a unique series of cinema pictures. He and Ross Smith used to fly together on war work iri Palestine. * As soon as he got over the Heads, Ross Smith brought the Vimy down to about 500 or 600 ft, "buzzed over Manly, ate up tha intervening seven miles in less than five minutes, and then delighted the waiting crowds in the city by flying over them at a low altitude for perhaps 15 minutes. They could'see the men waving to them in the 'plane, could distinguish Captain Hurley, out in the nose, industriqusly turning the handle of his cinema camera, ami could hear the lioarse roar of the Vimy's powerful engines. Then the Vimy flew off to the aerodrome. A splendid landing was made on this strange ground, but there was nearly a tragedy, the eager mechanics who ran out to seize the wingtips and steady them doing so before the way was off the huge machine, and being nearly decapitated. The two Smiths stepped from their machine and m«t their mother and father—quietmannered Scotch pastoralists from South Australia who had come to Sydney to meet their famous sons. Mrs. Smith is a most attractive type of Scotch mother, and her boys are devoted to her. The latter look on their new knighthoods now as a sort of joke—they accepted them with positive horror at first —and were very eager to see how their mat-ter-of-fact mother now regards them. "Mother doesn't know what she's going to do with two knights hanging about the house," chuckled Sir Keith afterwards. Another warm welcome was received simultaneously 'by Sergt. Shiers, one of the mechanics. He was met by his fiancee, whom he had not seen since he went away in a common steamship to the war, five years ago. They were married yesterday, bv the way. There waa an enormous crowd round the aerodrome, and it broke all barriers before these meeting and greetings were really complete. The aviators were rescued with great difficulty, and carried off to a formidable series of official welcomes. Sydney was very pleased with Ross I Smith. Federal authority, which really seema to go out of its way to slight Sydney whenevor the chance arises, had decreed that the Vimy should fly straight to Melbourne from Darwin (just as it is taking the Prince of Wales direct I to Melbourne from New Zealand). Sydney was to be visited after Adelaide—a ridiculous arrangement, seeing that Sydney was almost on the direct route, and is the actual, if not the nominal, capital; Ross Smith, however, with Authority's reluctant consent, broke away from that programme and paid his first respects to Sydney. And then, later, he stated publicly, that after flying adross half the worid he had seen no finer siaht than the harbor from the air. So Sydney loves him!