Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-04
NOTED FLYER SETS
new RECORD IN AIR
Kingsford- Smith Flight, Eng
land to India, Compared
With Da Cana Exploit.

Five days from England to India was
the new aerial record recently set by
Wing Comdr. Kingsford- Smith. vasco
da Cana made record trip 10 India,
too; his was the first ail-water trip
from Europe to the East, and 1t took
him SIS days to sail from Lisbon to
Calicut, according to a bulletin from
the National Geographic Society.
Da CANA Listed rs Pioneer.
"It took months for Da Cana to plan
his voyage in search of Christians and
Spices" says the bulletin. -Four
ships were chartered, large crews were
enlisted, Heavy stocks of provisions
were slowed for the trip of unknown
duration. With great ceremony the
mariner paraded toward the Tagus
River bank amid the plaudits Of Portu-
guese crowds
Bands played, priests chanted. wives
and children Of sailors wept. for such
voyage was a fateful undertaking.
Maps of the fifteenth century showed
the waters of West Africa infested with
strange, mythical monsters, large
enough TO capsize the Portuguese ships.
'Kingsford-Smith went to a London
flying field early one morning with
few friends Without ceremony except
few hand shakes he stepped into the
cockit of his plane alone and zoomed
off into space. He needed no food sup
plies. His tanks were filled with de-
pendable power-gasoline; Da Gamas
power was the inconstant wind.
Spit Over Bow to Reckon Speed.
Imagine for a moment that vasco
da Cana and Kingsford-Smith left
Europe at the same instant The avi-
ator was looking down on Paris before
Da Gamma got under way and,
perhaps the Portuguese mariners fleet
had scarcely disappeared over the ho-
rizon when KingSford- Smith was dining
In Rome. Da Gamma's first stop was
the Canary Islands. but before he drop
ped anchor, the aviator had landed at
Karachi, India.
"Da Cana had the best instruments
his era afforded. With clumsy make
shift for a sextant called the astrolabe,
he reckoned latitude. Longitude was
estimated by variations Of the compass
needle and guesswork. When the sea
was calm he spit over the bow and esti-
mated the speed of his craft by the time
1t took to pass the comparatively fixed
spot. His maps were almost useless:
he was his own weather forecaster.
The only available information about
his proposed route was derived from the
Diaz expedition, but Diaz had merely
uUuUiCu I4lC OdPC Va NUN AAORG o0 hAAot
the East African Coast was still UNI
known.
Kingsford- Smiths Problems.
"Kingsford- Smith faced a panel
clustered with deliacte, modern instru-
ments. When he sought to learn how
high he was flying, he consulted an
altimeter. He reckoned latitude by Q
sextant and chronometer. A climb and
turn indicator showed whether he was
flying straight and on an even keel.
There were gas and oil gauges and o
thermometer to register the temper
allure of the water-cooling system of his
engine. Wireless apparatus kept
weather men at his instant call.
Geographically. Da Gamma's voy-
age was immortal. His landing fields
were quiet bays. He was greeted by ma
/ tives who had never seen white men.
Among them were Hottentots who car
ried long spears in one hand, famed
themselves with foxtails tied to stick
with the other hand, and their ears
were adorned by as many shells and
| pieces Of copper as the lobes would
support. Da Gama's next stop was
always a hazard. One time he was 80
days out Of sight Of land"