Struck by Lightning.

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 10, 21 September 1928, Page 7

Struck by Lightning.

"Southern Cross" Experience. TUE radio outfit on the Southern Cross, with which communication can be obtained with the land while the machine is in fight, is a short-wave receiving and transmitting set, which ‘ also operate at 600 metres. There i aerial for each wavelength. These -gerials consist of trailing wires with a weight on each to keep them taut. As is well known now, the radio operator, Mr. McWilliams, fared badly on the flight. The Southern Cross encountered an electrical storm, and a flash of lightning put. both antenna ammeters out of action. After working on it for hours, lying on the floor of

the cabin, a torch in one hand, Mr. McWilliams was just about to reassemble the pieces when the aeroplane ran into one of the worst bumps ever experienced, and the loose equipment was seattered everywhere. The operator persisted in his job, and eventually got the set into working order again, Had it not been for the mishap in the storm the public would have received many more messages from the ‘Southern Cross.