SAFE ARRIVAL

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 19, 19 December 1932, Page 7

SAFE ARRIVAL

MRS MOLLISON AT CROYDON. JOURNEY FROM CAPETOWN. LANDING MADE YESTERDAY. TUnit-ed Press Association —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received December 19, 8.45 a.m. LONDON, Dec. 18. Mrs J. A. Mollison, who left Capetown on December 11 in an attempt to beat the flying record from there to England, landed at Croydon at five minutes past 12. ARRIVAL AT LE BO UR GET. A message received from Paris yesterday stated that Mrs Mollison encountered bad weather after leaving Oran whither she returned. Restarting at sunrise she flew north, but was delayed by head winds and bad visibility. During the day the oil filter was continually troublesome. She tried hard to reach Croydon, but when above Beauvais she ran into a fogbank and as night was at hand she decided to land at the French airport of Le Bourget which she found with difficulty. She arrived exhausted, but was warmly welcomed.

Last month Mrs Mollison set up a new record for the flight from England to Capetown, when she beat her hueband’s record of 4 days 16 hours by 10 hours 24 minutes. On December 11 at 5 a.m., she started from Capetown in an attempt to break the record for a flight from Capetown to England. This was established in April, 1930, when the Duchess of Bedford, Captain C D. Barnard, and Mr It. Little flew the distance in 11 days. They used the famous Fokker, “The Spider,” on the flight. Mr Oscar Garden made two unsuccessful attempts on the record recently, but in neither case did he complete the journey.

MR BERT HINKLER’S PLANS

LONDON, Dec. 18. Mr Bert Hinkler has completed plans for his flight to Darwin. He believes he can do the trip in four or five days, and intends to arrive in Darwin before Christmas.